SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Sun Microsystems announced that the Norwegian government has deployed a combination of Sun hardware and software technologies as the foundation of its national rollout of the "eNorway 2009" initiative designed to provide the country's citizens with Web-based access and support for all government services.

Norway will enable citizens to have secure, browser-based public access to government services through a secure and personalized portal interface. This allows the government to drive innovation and provide an online platform for citizens to vote, pay taxes, obtain social security benefits, register and manage automobiles, communicate with public officials and conduct other civic initiatives and services.

The use of Open Source Solaris OS will facilitate a strong ecosystem of developers and independent software vendors (ISVs) that can be leveraged by the Norwegian government as it scales the initiative and provides more services to the country going forward.

"It is an important goal for the Norwegian Government to make daily life easier for the population as a whole, and ensure security for future prosperity and welfare. This portal -- called "MinSide" -- will give a better and more coordinated digital service for the population, across sectors and levels of administration. At the same time we get a more cost-efficient public sector," said Mrs. Heidi Grande Roys, Norway's minister of government administration and reform. "We want to ensure that each citizen is given a secure, simple and personalized digital experience when accessing and taking advantage of national public services."