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4th Asia-Pacific
Urban Forum in Hanoi (12-14 October 2005)
Symposium F: E-Governance
Symposium F provided the opportunity to share good practices
in e-governance. It also debated the potential of e-governance
for increasing efficiency, good governance and citizen participation
and the implications of progress in these areas for achieving
the MDGs. The symposium included an opening address by the Executive
Director of UNITAR and a keynote address by an IT expert from
Estonia, one of the leading countries in e-governance, followed
by five presentations on various aspects and activities related
to e-governance.
The symposium was opened by Dr Marcel Boisard, UN Assistant Secretary
General and Executive Director of UNITAR, who introduced the theme
and outline of the symposium followed by an overview of UNITAR’s
work on e-governance in Asia, particularly China.
The keynote address was given by Mr Villem Alango, IT expert
of the municipal government of Tallinn, Estonia. Among the varied
projects implemented on the local level were a geographical information
system, e-school and schools on-line, mobile parking, ID-ticket,
e-Libraries, and local e-elections in October 2005. In addition,
the Tallinn City Government had changed its sessions to paperless
sessions using a digital document management system which had
significantly brought down copying costs and had shortened delivery
time from 15-30 days to no more than 3-5 days. Problems faced
during the implementation of e-governance had so far included
a lack of adequate focus, underestimating human and organizational
issues, providing adequate access to the internet, and limited
human and financial resources.
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Presentation
The symposium was further enriched by a number of other presentations:
Mr Hahm Myung Chul from the Seoul Metropolitan Government focused
in his presentation on the experiences Seoul had gained since
1997 with planning and implementing e-government.
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Presentation
Mr Jesse Robredo, Mayor of Naga City in the Philippines, spoke
on furthering change management through the use of ICT.
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Paper
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Presentation
Alcatel representative in Ho Chi Minh City, Mr Vo Si Hao, introduced
Alcatel’s approach to public-private partnership in e-governance.
His presentation was followed by Mr Ramon Penagaricano, senior
advisor of the 2nd World Summit of Cities and Local Authorities
on the Information Society speaking about the roadmap to the Bilbao
Summit and an introduction to the mission and work of the Digital
Solidarity Fund by the current president of the Fund Mr Guy-Olivier
Segond.
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Alcatel Presentation
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Digital Solidarity Fund Presentation
Participants of the symposium were concerned that the digital
divide was continually widening and that political leaders were
not always aware of the magnitude of the problem. Another focus
of the discussion was the potential but also the costs of information
and communication technologies. They obviously opened up new vistas
for participation but what were the costs to establish and maintain
them? What were the human resources needed? And how many citizens
were actually using these devises? These were some of the questions
which were discussed and which deserved further attention.
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Symposium
A: Localizing MDGs
Symposium
B: Urban Environment
Symposium
C: Health
Symposium
D: Education
Symposium
E: Gender Equality
Symposium
F: E-Governance
Symposium
G: HIV/AIDS
Symposium
H: Children
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