Government must set an example, Telecommunications and E-Commerce Minister Renee Webb said on Friday.

She was speaking during the House of Assembly's debate on her Ministry's budget.

"There is a long way to go in respect of the vision of an E-Government,'' she said. "We are looking at ways of enhancing our activities in that area. It will cost us but it is something we definitely need to do. If people come to Bermuda and cannot access information over the Internet then clearly they cannot say that the Government is serious about e-commerce.'' And in a bid to rectify this, the Ministry is looking as getting as many Government departments as possible online. There were 19 departments online as of Friday.

The idea was backed by Shadow Minister for Development, Opportunity and Government Services Allan Marshall who called for all Government legislation, education information and archival records to be put on the Internet.

He noted people could be charged for accessing the information which would provide revenue.

More and more Government employees were being given Internet access while all had e-mail now, she said.