UK defence joins health and IT

UK Ministry of Defence and LogicaCMG announced a new IT system that allows military medical records to be accessed across the UK, overseas and on the battlefield has taken a major step forward, reports eGov Monitor.

After piloting at two small sites, Colchester Medical Reception Station was the first large military medical centre to implement the system, known as 'DMICP' (Defence Medical Information Capability Programme). The system is now being progressively rolled out to all UK Army medical facilities, before being extended to the RAF, Royal Navy, Defence Dental Services and permanent overseas bases by August 2008.

After 2008, a version of the system will be available in field hospitals, on board ships and on the battlefield via laptop and other portable equipment under development. This will mean instant access to casualties' medical records to aid diagnosis and improve and speed up treatment.

Australian federal Government has showed signs its hunger for IT projects may be easing following an early slip in the number of initiatives planned this year, reports Australian IT.

Market research firm Intermedium has reported that federal Government agencies plan to make 398 information and communications technology purchases during the current financial year, down from 424 in 2006. The Intermedium survey found that the Department of Health and Ageing would make the largest number of information and communications technology purchases of any federal department or agency.

Health submitted 25 plans for ICT procurement compared to 13 at Centrelink and 12 across the Department of Defence and Defence Materiel Organisation.

AppGate Network Security has announced that its next-generation network security solution has been deployed by a metropolitan police force in the UK to support specialist officers working in the field, reports Dark Reading.

For the police force, AppGate's technology will help specialist officers operate more effectively, enabling them to access highly sensitive data and applications wherever and whenever they need to.

The AppGate solution supports access from any mobile device including laptops, PDAs and smart-phones, for any operator over any network, which makes it possible to move between mobile and wi-fi networks.