�MY LOCAL GOVERNMENT DATA� SERVICE IN R�GA, VENTSPILS
A new service, �My Local Government Data� is being offered in co-operation with the R�ga City Council and the Ventspils City Council.  People no longer have to visit local government institutions to examine the information which has been accumulated about them � this can now be done electronically.  At this time people can examine their personal data, their declared place of residence or additional address, as well as other information that has been collected when people have dealt with the local governments in the past.
Each local government can expand these services if it is able to do so.  They can offer information about documents that have been issued to the individual, data about the individual�s relatives, information about employers, land, buildings and flats, the individual income tax, protocols related to administrative violations, contracts, etc.
Special Assignments Minister for Electronic Government Affairs of Latvia, Signe B�li�a:  �The �My Local Government Data� service is one of the secretariat�s co-operation projects in terms of development E-services.  I am very pleased at the initiative and hard work of the R�ga and Ventspils city council in providing increasingly convenient and diverse opportunities for local residents.  I would like to call upon other local governments to follow this example and to be more active in developing E-government and E-services which are simpler and more accessible.�
�riks Z��elis, director of the R�ga City Council�s Information Technology Centre:  �This new service will allow many people in R�ga to save time and money that would have to be spent if they had to travel to various institutions to obtain the same services.  I would also like to emphasise our successful co-operation with the secretariat of E-government in the introduction of E-services, thus setting an example for other local governments in Latvia.  The �My Local Government Data� project is just one of the services that we are working on together.�
The �My Local Government Data� project offers data that have been accumulated by the two city councils, and it is available through a centralised location � www.latvija.lv, looking under the heading �E-Services�.  The secure electronic signature is needed to access the service.
Information about data collected by the R�ga City Council is also available on the council�s homepage, www.riga.lv.  Users require authorisation from the portal or via bank authorisation systems.  More information is available from the portal.

ELECTRONIC EXAMINATION OF DOCUMENTS
The Secretariat of Special Assignments Minister for Electronic Government Affairs of Latvia has developed a second project in collaboration with the Information Centre of the Interior Ministry � �Checking Documents in the Register of Invalid Documents�.  Users can check to see whether the register contains information about the validity or lack thereof of documents which relate to Latvian individuals and their rights.  This applies to citizen, non-citizen, diplomatic and service passports, certificates of repatriation, identity cards, sailors� documents, driving licences, and forms related to these various documents.
This is an important service when people deal with loans or leasing services, conclude contracts, receive notary services, are preparing to travel outside of Latvia, or doing anything else which requires a check of the validity of the aforementioned documents.
This service, too, is available through the �E-Services� section of the www.latvija.lv portal, and here again, a secure electronic signature is needed.  The Register of Invalid Documents is supervised by the Interior Ministry�s Information Centre.  Invalid documents have been stored in the register since 1998.  There is information about documents that have been registered as stolen, lost or destroyed, ones which have not been handed over to the relevant institutions after a change in personal data or status or the death of an individual, as well as documents which have been declared invalid for other reasons.  Since the end of 2005, the register has no longer listed documents which have simply expired.