Recent economic developments have put additional pressure on governments and on their national budgets. Whilst the emphasis in the public eye has shifted to the distribution of taxpayers' money to aid and stimulate their suffering economies, it has become even more paramount to deliver integrated and effective public services. Governments are experiencing a renewed emphasis on efficiency and effectiveness, and have to deliver integrated, customer-oriented public services at the same time as negotiating new expectations of what government can deliver.
Irrespective of how and when the crisis resolves itself, the picture of government is likely to be a very different one and information is likely to be even more central.
eGovernment plays a major part in transforming administrations, service provision structures and booster programmes, both for citizens and businesses. Of major importance for democracies is the principle of transparent and open government. Here ICTs play a vital role by providing a base for consultation and participation, changing the way information is accessed and presented and providing greater customer access to administrative processes.
At its 43rd Annual Conference, held from 6-8 October in Brussels, the International Council for Information Technology in Government Administration (ICA) explored in depth the following key questions:
- What is the impact of the current climate on investment programmes for ICT?
- How can government deliver world class, customer-oriented, ICT-enabled services?
- What are the core ICT programmes that must survive?
- What returns on investment (ROI) are we seeing from past/existing ICT programmes?
- What game-changing technologies and approaches can assist us?
- How can a sustainable approach be developed to support integrated service delivery through interoperable, secure solutions?
Distinguished expert speakers presented the results of recent studies and input into key themes were discussed during a series an interactive, actions-oriented conference breakout sessions.
As every year, the conference was based on the ICA country reports and CIO leader opinions that are compiled on an annual basis and discussed in plenary open sessions.
If you have any questions or need some more information, please don't hesitate to contact the secretariat.