Discussing e-Government Globally

United Nations Global E-Government Forum brought together 700 participants from all around the world. It took place in Astana, Kazakhstan in 7-8 October 2014 under the theme of “Smart Governance for Sustainable Development”.

Due to its importance for the development of societies and international interaction opportunities, e-government is one of the serious points in UN’s agenda. To bring it on an international round table, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) organized two Global e-Government Forums cooperatively with the Government of Republic of Korea. The first Forum was in 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. In the following year, the second Forum also took place in South Korea. 

As it was stated in the information about the Forum released by the UNDESA, “to continue its global initiative to promote e-government development”, the UNDESA collaborated with the Government of Kazakhstan for the third Global Forum on e-Government. When we look at the themes of the previous Forums, it can be seen that “Smart Government for a Better Future” and then “Smart Government and Smart Society: Openness, Sharing, Communication and Collaboration” is followed by this year’s “Smart Government for Sustainable Development: New Opportunities for Partnership in the Networked Society”. UNDESA’s Under-Secretary-General Wu Hongbo said that smart government could “broaden public participation in decision making and service delivery”. The participants discussed a number of important topics such as Citizen Involvement for Smart Government, Bridging Digital Divide, The Evolution of E-Services during two days. The Winners of the United Nations e-Government Survey were also presented and awarded in the first day of the Forum.

Here is the list of UN e-Government Survey Special Awardees