OREANDA-NEWS. On 16 February 2009 was announced, that e-Government in Karelia isn't something that's going to happen in the year dot but is almost a reality. In 2008 much has been don for its creation. Measures which have been taken particularly were discussed on February 9 at the operational conference in the Government of the republic.

Minister of Economic Development Mikhail Yurinov has told, that the basic tool of the e-Government building in Karelia is the Informatization in the Republic of Karelia regional target program for 2008-2012. And teamwork of the federal and regional authorities for the e-Government development is based on the Concept of using information technologies in the activity of federal bodies of the government through to 2010.

According to the Minister, priorities of the e-Government creation has two basic directions. First, it is development of systems for providing of access of citizens to information on the activity of state authorities on the basis of using information and communication technologies. For this purpose it is supposed to develop public authorities' sites on the Internet, create public access infrastructure to information on the activity of public authorities and to the government e-services. Today in Karelia the network of public Internet access points totals 176 centers. Last year their number has grown by 20. Besides, it is supposed to develop departmental centers to process telephone calls of citizens, create a uniform system of directory support of interaction between the citizens and public authorities.

The second priority direction is granting government services using modern information and communication technologies. This direction assumes granting government services on the basis of multipurpose centers, development of protected interdepartmental system of e-document circulation, formation of necessary normative legal base for the e-Government organization.

In the opinion of the Ministry of Economic Development, some functions of multipurpose centers may be performed by public Internet access points on the basis of post offices. Today public Internet access points are established in 135 of 255 post offices. In coordination with the Federal Postal Administration it is planned to have 205 points in the republic.

As for granting 'virtual' government services, prototype of the portal of government services is already entered into pre-production operation in the region. The site offers forms of documents for 80 government services. Besides, introduction of the typical system of e-document circulation has begun in the republic.

e-Government will allow the citizen to obtain information concerning a question sent to the authorities, to trace stages document passes in power structures in the real-time mode. Also introduction of the e-Government should lead to reduction of the number of documents to be submitted by citizens of the republic to receive government services, and to reduction of the number of interactions with officials due to organization of interdepartmental and documentary interaction with use of information technologies. Minimization of contacts to officials, in the opinion of the acting Acting Assistant to the Prime Mnister of the Government of the Republic of Karelia and Chief of the Administration of the Head of the RK Lyudmila Kosiuk, will also become a corruption countermeasure.

Perfection of the official portal of authorities of the republic in Karelia proceeds. Last year volume of information materials on the site of the Government of Kareliya has increased by 28%. In the near future the portal's design will update, there will appeat new network services, its construction concept will change.

Prime Minister Pavel Chernov has noted that information technologies in the republic develop actively. It is no accident that last July Session of presidium of the State Council of the Russian Federation devoted to implementation of Strategy of information society development in the Russian Federation was held by President Dmitry Medvedev in Petrozavodsk, where the issue of the e-Government's operation was exemplified by Karelia. After this session representatives of regions of the Northwest, as well as from the central Russia addressed to the republic to get acquainted with Karelia's experience in introduction of information technologies.