Now that the government is well on its way to having all services e-enabled by the 2005 deadline, the focus of the e-government initiative has shifted. Rather than the focus being on e-enabling services, the issues of physical public access to this information must be considered. As a result the government has now committed to a multi-channel service delivery strategy whereby online services should be available through multiple channels in order for them to generate the desired usage levels.

Internet Access in the UK:

· Only 52% of households in the UK have access to the internet – As a result the government must attempt to enable the other 48% of the public to have access to a public internet terminal
However…. When asked what they thought of the Internet:
· 32% of respondents felt they lacked the knowledge or the confidence to use it*

*Source:
Individuals accessing the Internet – National Statistics Omnibus Survey (www.statistics.gov.uk)

The survey uncovered that a large proportion of the UK are still adverse to using the Internet. This could be quite a hurdle considering the amount of time and money the government are investing on providing on-line services for all. It means that other Internet access solutions such as basic PC’s in public places may not be successful in generating the kind of use that the government hopes, furthermore they are unlikely to do anything in terms of reaching government objectives for social inclusion. After all, the Internet is still the Internet whether at home or not.

As a solution to this problem the Internet Access Kiosk offers all the benefits of public Internet access without the burdens of people being adverse to usage. Dicoll kiosks operate an intuitive interface that is highly user-friendly, and because they can be configured with a touchscreen instead of traditional mouse and keyboard they are very approachable.

Should be in convenient and easy to reach places

Dicoll Kiosks in government will:

· Improve public access to information
· Help to open up lines of communication between government and the public
· Reduce payment queues
· Enable social inclusion through easily accessible, and DDA friendly kiosks

Dicoll are well established in this field and have already helped with several council projects to implement e-government strategy.

Why Dicoll?

· Standard PC Windows based system and software means that the kiosks can easily be networked
· All kiosks are wheelchair friendly
· All units are Ruggedised
· All units are Customisable
· Internal PC is easily updated
· ISO 9001:2000 accredited
· BSi registered