Presidência do Conselho de Ministros (Council of Ministers' Presidency)
Resolution of the Council of Ministers
With the Resolution of the Council of Ministers no. 60/98 dated May 6th, the Government gave an important impulse to the construction of the information society, providing incentives for communication between the State and its citizens via electronic means by ordering the creation of an electronic mail address for the organisms and services directly and indirectly integrated in State administration and the amount to be attributed to correspondence transmitted by electronic means.
In the same way, the Resolutions of the Council of Ministers numbers 95/99, 96/99 and 97/99 dated July 29th also contributed decisively to the recognition of the importance of the universal information society and the advantages to be gained from making use of the immense potential of new technologies by determining the steps necessary for the Public Administration to make information available on the Internet, and the rules concerning accessibility of the contents of public organisms on the Internet through the creation of the National Initiative for Citizens with Special Needs and the approval of the respective documentary guidelines.
Considering the need to provide harmonious Access to the government Office sites and information at present available on the Internet, we must create a Government portal that ensures a single point of access to each and every presence of governmental office in the world wide web and which is a result of the adjustment of the existing Presidency of the Council of Ministers site.
As the adoption of a Government portal would naturally come within a global framework of the Government in the information society, synthesised with the consolidation policy of the objectives established in the Europe Plan of Action 2002 adopted by the Santa Maria da Feira European Council in July 2000, motivation is multifaceted:
Provide the exterior with an image of coordinated and useful information of the Government and its activities, facilitating Access to the sites of governmental offices and indicating links to certain Public Administration sites, namely INFOCID (the Public Administration portal) and other entities and information, both national and foreign, considered worthy of mention;
Add potential to the use of the world wide web, expanding and improving the means of communication with the civil society and ensuring accessibility for people with special needs;
Promote collaboration between governmental departments.
Thus:Under the terms of paragraph g) of article 199 of the Constitution, the Council of Ministers orders:
1 - The creation of a Government portal on the world wide web that will facilitate access to up to date information about the Government, to be produced and maintained by the government offices, with the objectives of:
a) Guaranteeing a single point of access to each and every presence of governmental offices on the world wide web;
b) Improving the transmission of information, ensuring accessibility for people with special needs;
c) Guaranteeing a reasonable useful access for foreign citizens who wish to access information about the Portuguese Government and its presences on the Internet;
d) Maintaining and making available historic archives about the different governments and its members.
2 - That the Government Information Network Management Centre (GINMC) ensures the coordination of the project for the construction of the portal, its maintenance and the technical links with those responsible for other sites, ensuring the following development phases of the portal independent from the content which will be determined in the execution of the present resolution,
a) In a first phase the development of a site that interconnects and is interconnected to the generality of the sites of the different members that constitute the Government, with these maintaining their individuality and identities, but ensuring a pattern of construction or renovation for their respective pages;
b) A second phase would include the availability of a set of functions to users, such as the inclusion of a search motor and other facilities that would permit users to personalise their access, aimed at speed of access to that which is considered the most important information;
c) Later phases would cover the development of diverse actions associated with the natural evolution of the portal, new types of information to be contemplated, the reorganisation of archives and the introduction of new concepts and technological tools.
3 - Mandate the Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers to coordinate the supplying of contents for the ministerial offices and the management of the pages that make up the portal, including the respective publication, updating and translation, where possible and into English, of relevant information, ensuring interconnection with the said offices.
4 - Determine that information necessary for the updating of the portal's pages is made available to members of the Government in good time, including such information as the addresses of the respective presences on the Internet and summaries of their contents, the foreign agenda and news about actions considered to be of worthy of special mention and interest during a fixed period of time, instructing the organisms and dependent services to maintain the GINMC informed about alterations to the addresses of the respective sites.
5 - Determine that members of the Government must inform the Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the name of the operational connection element responsible for the coordination of the supplying of information by the remaining ministry offices in question and the respective regular communication, within 15 days.
6 - Determine that GINMC submit a document guideline to the Government, in as short a period of time as possible, to serve as a reference for the creation or updating of sites of the different governmental offices, existing or to be created, in terms of access and visual uniformity, presentation and organisational structure, information and the communication of information referred to in nº 4, promoting a process of consultation with the diverse offices for this purpose.
7 - Mandate the Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers to promote the accompaniment and evaluation of the execution of the present resolution, providing the Government with regular information about its application.
8 - The present resolution shall come into effect on the date of signing.
Presidency of the Council of Ministers, August 9th 2001. - The Prime Minister, António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres.
