Tuesday, October 03, 2006

electronic scholarship

Today I applied for a scholarship to study at the university. That's not very special, as a lot of people do this every year, but starting from this year it is possible to do it via the internet.
Over the last few years, my government is putting a lot of effort into administrative simplification and e-government. A lot of government departments are starting to process forms and information digitally, using computer and internet. This means that a lot of information is available through digital databases. Because of this, less forms are needed and the forms that still exist are shorter. You don't have to provide the same information over and over again, as part of it is already available to the administration.
Part of this e-gov wave is the possibility to fill out the tax-form using the internet, for the past 4 years now. Starting this year, applying for a scholarship is also possible using the internet.

I don't have to leave home to submit my application for a scholarship. Using my digital account on the government website I can fill out the digital form and send it electronically through the internet.
The best part is that a lot of information is already filled in, like my postal address and social security number.
In the past I had to prove I could get a scholarship, providing documents of my university, the tax-departement, etc. But due to the e-gov thing, the scholarship department can access this information directly from my university and the tax-database. I don't need to provide this information anymore, which makes it much easier to apply for a scholarship.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Sore throat

I'm feeling ill and I have a sore throat. Or the other way around, but I can't be bothered about what came first or which is causing which.
It started saturday after I woke up. Previous times when I had this it lasted about 5 days before I was healthy again. So this probably means I can pick up everyday activities starting wednesday or thursday.
Until then I'll have to fill my days with sleeping, taking some rest and doing nothing. Maybe I can watch some television or read a book.