Meanwhile, online appointment booking is at least two years away and some of the most innovative ideas deployed in other countries are but a distant dream.

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He pledged to push ahead with electronic school report cards, online GP appointment booking, neighbourhood "crime mapping" and video identification of suspects.

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But thanks to online doctor appointment scheduling service services like ZocDoc and DocASAP, your odds of meeting such urgent medical needs are rising.

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Yesterday, online financier Kabbage announced the appointment of former PayPal President, Yahoo!

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Cars will book themselves in for servicing, hospitals will consult online diaries before scheduling an appointment, and fishing boats will sell their catch at market before reaching port, all thanks to these software agents.

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Allowing patients to book an appointment with one call or online.

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If you can book dinner on Open Table, or a flight on Southwest or United online, then why shouldn't you be able to make an appointment at your local Social Security office the same way?

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I'm one of the latter set: The notion of entering a store on Black Friday is about as appealing to me as a dentist appointment in the dead of winter, but I'm quite happy to pick off some good online deals.

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