The Centre for e-Innovation (CeI) has called for expressions of interest for the redevelopment of the Cape Gateway portal and its associated content management system (CMS). The CeI is the Provincial Government of the Western Cape's e-government component. Its objective is to improve the quality and efficiency of government service delivery and to increase public participation in government, by using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

Cape Gateway is one of the CeI's flagship projects. The Cape Gateway service provides local, provincial and national government information to the public. It covers information such as how to get a pension and where to pay traffic fines, and gives access to a range of government documents like budgets and reports. The service aims to be user friendly, and to remove the need for citizens to know which part of government provides which service.

In order to make government information accessible to the widest possible audience, the service is not only provided through a portal (www.capegateway.gov.za), but also a call centre (0860 142 142) and a walk-in centre (142 Long Street, Cape Town), where the public can get face-to-face help with their queries. All three channels are provided in English, Afrikaans and Xhosa.

The Cape Gateway portal, in its present state, was designed and developed from January 2002 to March 2004. The portal and CMS, which are the technical backbone of the service, were developed as custom-built solutions. The CeI now intends to enhance and redevelop the portal and CMS. The CeI has thus called for expressions of interest from software suppliers and developers.

Read the call for expressions of interest at: www.capegateway.gov.za/other/2005/5/cfi_cape_gateway.html