With autumn welcoming new beginnings it is with great appreciation to the hosting country of Japan that we bid farewell to yet another successful ICA Conference event. The 51^st ICA Conference themed "Bold Digital Government | Leading through disruption" took place in the city of Tokyo during the 9^th - 14^th of September.

We welcome you to this special Conference edition of our Newsletter and hope you enjoy it!

The ICA Secretariat Team

With participations from over 30 countries and organizations, the 51^st ICA Conference in Tokyo, Japan focused on how governments can stay in sync and even a step ahead during the vast technological race which can progress into a course of development and advancement but also one of disruption and vulnerability.

Through the sharing of valuable know-how and best practice examples, this year’s conference examined how government CIOs and eGovernment leaders can translate and embrace latest technologies within their digital strategy, infrastructure and services.

The Tokyo conference gathered officers from Azerbaijan, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Mozambique, New Zealand, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, The Netherlands, UK, OECD and World Bank as well as a number of organizations and institutes among which: ASUKOE, the Institute on Governance of Canada, Concent, Gartner Research, GLOCOM, IAIS, Microsoft, National Chengchi University, Nihon University and Stockholm University.

The hosting country extended a warm welcome and ensured the smooth course of all conference activities through the dedication of agency staff involved.

A special note of appreciation goes out to the Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), Mr. Shuji Yamada and Government CIO and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretariat for Information Technology Policy, Mr. Koichi Endo. The two officials attended the ICAconference and kicked-off the official Conference Programme on September 12^th.

On behalf of all ICA members and the Secretariat a very sincere thank you goes out to the ICA Chair, Executive Advisor to GCIO and Technology Advisor to MIC, Mr. Toshi Zamma who lead the many key roles he was called to support before, during and after the conference hosted by his Country.

See more Conference news and more Conference photos

The annual Board and Council meetings took place on Governance Day, with a number of topics that were presented, discussed and voted upon. Minutes of these 2 meetings have been reported and distributed to all ICA members.

On the Organization’s governance front we have a couple of changes and additions to the Programme Committee following Council elections. Frank Leyman (National Representative for Belgium) has stepped down from his successful tenure as Programme Committee Chair. To serve in this post, Vasilis Koulolias (Deputy National Representative for Sweden) has been elected as the new Programme Committee Chair.

Another new addition to the Programme Committee is that of Canadian CIO Peter Littlefield, as Marj Akerley moves forward after a productive participation to the PC.

With this opportunity we also welcome Japan’s new National Representative, Tadashi Kuroda and Karen Kee who is the newly appointed Deputy National Representative for Singapore

Vast change is apparent in our everyday lives but transformation is more so evident in technology. So how do governments stay in sync and even a step ahead in this technological race, which can progress into a course of development and advancement but also one of disruption and vulnerability?

During Information Day as well as throughout the entire conference we examined how government CIOs and eGovernment leaders can translate and embrace latest technologies within their digital strategy, infrastructure and services.

Mr. Cheow Hoe Chan, Government CIO with the Government Technology Agency of Singapore shared on being Agile, Bold and Collaborative in facing the world of digital disruption and democratization of technology during his keynote speech themed “The A.B.C of the Ds.”

The Government Update, dedicated to the organization, implementation and practice sharing of Digital Transformation, allowed us to take a closer look at how a number of governments have adapted or are coping with in some instances with new technologies with presentations by Toshiyuki Zamma of Japan, Tim Occleshaw (GTCO, New Zealand), Victor Lagunes (CIO, Mexico), Frank Leyman (Digital Transformation Office, Belgium), Alex Benay and Jennifer Dawson (CIO and Dep. CIO respectively, Canada).

Next was the Technology Update session which addressed the new Technologies that have emerged while noting others that are transforming at an exponential pace. Our speakers Marj Akerley (CIO, Canada), Soichiro Takagi (Research Division GM, GLOCOM), Yih-Jeou Wang (Head of International co-operation, Agency for Digitization- Ministry of Finance, Denmark) and Anna-Maija Karjaleinen (Director General, Ministry of Finance, Finland) shared their insights on how they have adopted these new technologies including Blockchain, Robots and Artificial Intelligence as well as means to secure data.

A special presentation was given by Andrea Di Maio (Managing VP, Gartner Research) themed “Digital Government: A Journey not a Destination.” He explained the use of data to address intractable problems and analysed the different digital maturity levels involved.

 Finally, we rounded up the day with the Members Update where our member countries presented their country’s report. Peter Bruce, treasured past ICA Board member and currently a Senior Associate at the Institute on Governance of Canada, introduced each country and its representative report. This year’s session showcased some new sharing from Azerbaijan, New Zealand and Romania. We look forward to see them join us at upcoming conferences as well!

Interaction Day triggered creative thinking to seek solutions for governments in order to face disruption and misinformation in today’s digital era.

The day kicked off with a presentation by Vasilis Koulolias (Director of eGovlab, Sweden) of the issue at hand and more specifically its effects on public policy developments. He stressed the points that for the available technological advancements to succeed in tackling misinformation at a broader scale, they need to be: extended, integrated and embedded into a co-creational ecosystem of policies, stakeholders and tools in order to achieve a more collaborative and effective management of misinformation and to persuade more informed behaviours.

Throughout the day and with the guidance of their group leaders and experts from the Swedish eGovLab and Stockholm University, break out group participants navigated through the process for modeling of organisational structures, administrative agility and disruptive technologies for the development of a business model.

A special presentation was in store on IoT, AI and drones by Microsoft Technology Evangelist, Mr. Motoaki Nishiwaki which left everyone with the greatest impressions

Consolidation Day brought together conference outcomes and recommendations in order for the ICA community to utilize this information in an effort to succeed greater UX .

Professor Harald Kjellin (Stockholm University) consolidated these outcomes through his presentation of recommendations and take-aways themed “Learning Systems- Examples of how they can be implemented.”

On this final day of the conference and with Ken Wang (Senior Analyst of National Development Council, Taiwan) and Frank Leyman (Digital Transformation Office, Belgium) leading the day’s panels, three more Member States represented by: John Kootstra (International Coordinator Citizenship and Information Policy Department, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, The Netherlands), Shahar Bracha (Director of Strategy and Planning Division at the ICT Authority, Office of the Prime Minister, Israel) and André Lapa (Project Manager, Digital Transformation Unit AMA, Portugal) shared their expertise on Digital Transformation and focused on topics such as: how to improve services and enable businesses’ growth through the use of government data; how a government’s focus should be the citizen experience during digital transformation, while we were also presented the Dutch Digital Policy in practice.

Samia Melhem (Senior Operations Officer, Global Information and Communication Technologies Dept, The World Bank Group) explained how Digital solutions will be key to accelerating realization of the SDG goals (by 2030) and Barbara Ubaldi (Senior project manager, Digital Government and Open Data within the Division for Public Sector Reform of the Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate, OECD) highlighted the importance of “the Digital Transformation of the Public Sector: Making the right decisions to serve the needs of networked societies.”

Dr. Naiyi Hsiao (Deputy Director, Taiwan E-Governance Center (TEG)) carried out the quite challenging and key role of conference rapporteur. He concluded that to achieve innovation, various bold solutions have been implemented in various social, economic, political, and cultural contexts; disruption inevitably conflicts with DNAs of the public sector, control/stability/adaptability/sustainability, so let’s keep being bold delicately; and finally that real solution teams in different ICA countries must be organized. His thorough reporting will contribute to ICA’s next publication focusing on the topic of this conference.

Finally,  no ICA conference would be complete without an on-site visit. Mirai (未来) means “the future” in Japanese and at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) provided a unique experience of science and technology from a scientific point of view of the future that awaits

Welcome Reception

Conference networking began on the eve of Governance Day, with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands hosting the Welcoming Event on the embassy grounds under the imposing structure of Tokyo Tower.

Innovation, Science & Technology Counsellor, Mr. Jan-Hein Crisstoffels and Deputy Head Councellor for Public Diplomacy, Political and Cultural Affairs, Mr. Ton van Zeeland received conference guests on behalf of the Dutch Embassy. Among other Japanese officials, Mr. Toshihiko Wako, Vice-Minister for Policy Coordination (MIC) represented Japan during this Welcoming Event.

Japan Night

Japan Night was a gathering that presented an intriguing display of tradition and culture as well as taste! The networking event was a memorable one for all attending while the opening statements by Director General for Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications/ Administrative Management Bureau, Mr. Tetsuo Yamashita made everyone feel welcome.

Closing Evening Event

The curtain came down to another successful ICA annual conference with a farewell dinner held on the evening of the 14^th. It was an opportunity for everyone to meet and network during this formal and yet comfortable gathering. Certainly everyone left with plenty of anticipation for next year’s conference already in the makings!

The evening was marked with many special moments including a speech by Mr. Hiroyuki Horie, Deputy Director General for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications/ Administrative Management Bureau and an honoring to Frank Leyman who has completed his tenure as Programme Committee Chair.

Imperial Palace

A one of a kind opportunity awaited those who were in Tokyo the day following the conference.

A private tour of the Imperial Palace gardens left ICA visitors with a memorable closing to the hospitality extended by the hosting country!