Darrell West, Vice President of the Brookings Institution, kicked off the forum with a keynote speech, saying that, “The world now has many challenges to address in various areas - economic development, health care, education – and technological innovation can be utilized to deal with the social and economic issues. Research has shown that there is a very strong association between broadband and economic development, both in developed and developing countries. Each 10 percentage point increase in broadband penetration adds 1.3 percent to Gross Domestic Product, and the association is stronger in the developing world.”
He utilized various examples of how information technology can improve the quality of citizens’ life around the world. In Tokyo, where transportation is a big issue, drivers can conveniently find parking places through their smart phones. In Seoul, people at the bus stop can easily check where the bus is, and when it will arrive via their smart phones. In Washington D.C., by clicking the map on the web, people can see the crime statistics near any particular neighborhood at a glance. Cloud service improved the U.S. government procurement process and gave them access to the latest software and packages as opposed to undergoing a lengthy procurement process. The cities of Los Angeles and Washington showed 23.6% and 48% cost savings respectively following a shift to cloud computing.
“The Brookings Institution rated the performance analysis of e-government of each country in terms of service delivery, availability of information, multiple languages, privacy, and security. The top performing country was Korea (74.9%) followed by Singapore (54%), Taiwan (51.1%), United States (49.4%), and Great Britain (44.3%). Korea topped the index with the high-level of technology usage, plethora of digital services, and interactive aspects between citizens and the government. By continent, North America (43%) was the highest, followed by Asia (36%), Europe (35%), and Russia (31%).” He emphasized that efficiency improvements in the private sector need to be matched by changes in the public sector to improve productivity and deliver better services.”
Hyung Kyu, Maeng, Minister of Public Administration and Security, said in the opening ceremony, “The advancement of e-government has brought about the changes for both individuals and the government. The government has become more democratic and transparent while citizens are able to use administration services more conveniently anytime and anywhere. However, not all countries seem to enjoy the benefits of the technology due to infrastructure gaps. For this, I believe, the international society should help each other and share their experiences. Korea was able to achieve great economic development by receiving a lot of aid from the international society. Since we promoted the e-government project ten years ago, we have had remarkable development in informatization, topping the UN’s e-government index for two consecutive years. This couldn’t have been done without the neighbors and friends who helped us when we were in need. Korea will thus take the lead in sharing its e-government experience and knowledge with other countries.”
He continued on saying that “A new buzzword in the rapidly changing IT environment today that is often used is smart technology. The rapid penetration of smart phones has drastically changed the way of our lives. People can handle their daily tasks such as banking, weather forecast, transportation information, and work in a smart environment. Information technology, on the other hand, raises social problems such as Internet addictions, digital gap, and cyber terror. I hope that all the participants gathered here will find global cooperation plans for symbiotic development and for the better future of mankind through the Global e-Government Forum.”
Prof. Sung-Hee Kim, Associate Dean Director, College of Business Public e-Governance Research Center, KAIST spoke on ‘Smart e-Governance for Participation and Communication’. “This is the age of information sharing and access – internally within organizations through new collaboration technologies and with external clients via new web interfaces. However, government agencies must be sensitive as to what is made publicly available. In some instances, there is little control as third parties are beginning to take government and nongovernment information and provide mash-ups that organize data and information in specific contexts and needs. Certainly, information is always at risk to security vulnerabilities, resulting from poor access controls and intrusions via malicious attacks from the web interface.”
The Global e-Government Forum was comprised of three tracks: government, business & academic sector, and international organization. In the government track, under the theme of ‘e-Government Best Practices and Development Strategies’, high-ranking officials from 19 countries including Kalamullah Ramli, Senior Advisor to the Minister, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Indonesia, and Nguyen Minh Hong, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Information and Communications, Vietnam attended and gave presentations regarding the best practices of e-government. In the business & academic track, under the topic of ‘Social, Technical Changes and e-Government’, IT specialists from United Nations University, IBM, LG and KT introduced new technologies related to mobile, big data, and cloud computing. Specialists from academic sectors had a heated discussion on the role of e-government according to social change and strategies of safe e-government. In the international organization track, under the topic of ‘Global Cooperation on e-Government’, key officials from IOs including the UN, World Bank, and CIS debated ‘global e-government development trends and challenges’ as well as ‘international strategies in e-government for developing countries.’
On the second day, Seoul communique was adopted at the high-level round table where twenty ministers and vice-ministers including those from Korea, Panama, Rumania, Cameroon, Ukraine, and CIS attended. The aim was to demonstrate that e-government should enable a transparent and efficient work process, and help the citizens participate in the policy-making process, ultimately making the life of mankind more convenient and contributing to enhancing democracy. The statement referenced that the participant countries should put an effort into building an international cooperation network through which they can share experiences and knowledge of e-government, as well as bridging the global digital divide by supporting and developing less-developed countries. As a follow-up, the leaders agreed to hold the forum every year, and organize ‘Global CIO Network’ among participant nations and international organizations.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Shin Ji-hye
Quelle/Source: Korea IT Times, 20.10.2012
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