This second issue of the European Journal of ePractice presents a variety of case studies that show Governments are willing to experiment. From interoperability, to RFID via online portals to bridging the digital gap, public actors take home important insights every day. Government's ways are now naturally e-enabled.

Sylvia Archmann finds that the interoperability challenges at local and regional levels are formidable. Based on an analysis of European good practice in the area, she recommends massively deploying open standards in order to avoid the blockage of legacy systems that cannot work together with new technology. Enrico Ferro and Lucy Dadayan document that Government can benefit from online auctions to sell its surplus property and generate significant revenue. New York State, which is their case, was challenged to respond more quickly to feedback, improve service and track return on investment – all of which we are used to thinking of as private sector tools.

Trond Arne Undheim provides an in-depth exploration of three best practice cases in eGovernment. Findings from the Norwegian portal Mypage, the Austrian portal Help, and the Dutch Horeca1 project, all previous European Award winners, indicate that even successful projects face significant challenges. However, generic success factors do exist, and lessons learned for practitioners include: Achieving leadership buy-in, keeping technology as simple as possible, getting early stakeholder and user involvement, gaining momentum and planning for sustainability.

Elena Sini, Paolo Locatelli and Nicola Restifo showcase the safe and efficient clinical processes that can be achieved through an integrated Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) strategy in a healthcare organization. Applications include making the blood transfusion process more effective as well as tracking surgical instruments. Elina Harju documents how Tampere City Library tries new ways to bridge the digital divide. Through an Internet bus with hands-on tools one can bring to life a combination of mobile library, literacy enhancer, and outdoor cinema.

Opinions expressed here are the author's and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the European Commission.