E-governance practitioners, researchers to meet next week in Macao

UNU-IIST co-organizes 1st international conference on theory and practice of electronic governance

The concept of “Electronic Government” — the application of modern information and communications technologies to facilitate governmental processes — has been incorporated by many governments worldwide as part of their reform initiatives. Most Electronic Government initiatives, however, have met with limited success, constrained by an over-reliance on technology, too little emphasis on building human capacity, insufficient intra-governmental collaboration, or inadequate public consultation.

Recently, therefore, the focus has been shifting from “Electronic Government” (technology-enabled improvements in governmental operations) to “Electronic Governance”: using appropriate technologies to achieve improved interactions between governmental, non-governmental and civil society stakeholders.

“Under this new focus, it is no longer acceptable to let technical or organizational issues drive Electronic Governance initiatives alone. Instead, a multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder and community-oriented approach is required”, said Dr. Tomasz Janowski, a Senior Research Fellow of UNU-IIST and the head of UNU-IIST-EGOV. “Electronic Governance seeks to harness information and communications technologies to enhance the provision of public services, improve managerial effectiveness, and promote transparent, democratic processes. It even may encompass the creation of regulatory frameworks to facilitate information-intensive initiatives towards a ‘Knowledge Society’.”

“Many of the challenges of Electronic Governance present either new problems or new contexts for action. While these offer opportunities to advance democracy, accountability and service, they also present risks for all stakeholders,” said Dr. Sharon Dawes, a professor of the State University of New York (SUNY) and a board member of UNU-IIST. “We need to learn to treat this domain as a knowledge-sharing enterprise, where experience and research complement one another to create well-informed policies, strategies and tools.”