The Norwegian government is moving its paper-based local and central public administration systems on to the internet and will supposedly incorporate The Open Group’s IT DialTone architecture within a procurement model for what it is calling the Public Sector Network. But Norway’s government has first got to help Open Group actually put IT DialTone together, and has joined the standards development body to help push the IT DialTone along. The Norwegian government says it will use the architecture – Open Group’s net-enabled security, OLTP, location and management technology specifications, software and standards – to help it integrate technology from a range of suppliers. The model it creates will define the procurement policies of each its departments and each municipality, and will be re-negotiated each year to reflect the dynamics of market development. It’s really a challenge to match the formal legal framework with the needs of the marketplace, especially under the EU rules for public procurement, a government representative said. Norway says its Public Sector Network will replace more than 100 paper-based tax and welfare and other public administration systems, all of which it hopes to have converted to an internet format by 2001. More than 35% of Norway’s population already uses the internet.
