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E-gov: HANDS system soon available to citizens

Sir,

Regarding 'E-gov: When the town hall has all the answers you need': 

The author of the article seems to deplore the fact that "the European Commission preferred to give its annual e-services award to [HANDS] a project offering the same advantages to users as Watson [a system currently in use in Waterloo] does, despite being still at an experimental stage." 

As a matter of fact HANDS was not 'given' its award by the Commission - it was selected following a vote by thousands of eGovernment, e-Inclusion and eHealth professionals. And it did not receive an 'e-services' award, but the 'eTEN Project of the year 2007' distinction - because HANDS is indeed a project, and not (yet) a publicly available service. 

The HANDS project aimed at validating a new online communication service thanks to which citizens can put queries to public administrations, via the internet, using everyday language. It works as follows: the system matches each query with the information stored in the repository of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), and automatically sends a relevant answer to the user. The system is very flexible and easy to use: it works using any web browser, with a simple PC or Mac onto which no specific application needs to be downloaded – unlike Watson, which only works with Internet Explorer and MSN Messenger. 

The HANDS project market-validated the service, proving its technical maturity and economic viability. This success was acknowledged by the professionals who voted for the project. HANDS is now ready for full deployment - it will first be made publicly available in Bologna within the next few months, and various public administrations across Europe have already expressed an interest in adopting the system. Do not worry! Citizens will soon be able to enjoy the benefits of HANDS.

Patrizia Marani, HANDS Project Coordinator, City of Bologna

Maeva Zebrowski, HANDS Communication and Dissemination Officer, EUROCITIES

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