Track: Public Access and the Internet
Opening City Government to the People via GIS on the Web
Baruch HeinochThe City of Kfar-Saba, Israel, has the leading comprehensive GIS in the country and therefore had decided to be the first one to introduce its GIS on the Internet. The first Israeli GIS on the Web is not only a technological breakthrough (a beta site for Esri's IMS in 1997), but mainly a practical turning point in opening government information and databases to the public, using the Web as the principal vehicle. This is a whole new approach taken by the City's officials, and it is regarded as another major step toward the ultimate goal of offering better services to the public. Israel is enjoying a major breakthrough in GIS technology with the implementation of several large projects in the federal government, local governments, and public utilities. But more recently, the Minister of Science and Technology has announced his Ministry's goal for the year 1998: to make government information available to the public by using the Web and other means of communication. The first Israeli GIS on the Web is highly regarded as a practical turning point in opening government databases to the public, using the Internet and answering the call of the Minister of Science and Technology.
Baruch Heinoch
President G.G. Systems Ltd
45 Tchernichovsky st
Kfar-Saba, 44281
ISRAEL
Telephone: 972-9-7414404
Fax: 972-9-7445267
E-mail: gsystem@netvision.net.il