Aide-Memoire. The 7 th Annual Forum on City Informatization. in the Asia-Pacific Region (CIAPR VII) May 2008

Transcription

1 UNDESA RCOCI Aide-Memoire The 7 th Annual Forum on City Informatization in the Asia-Pacific Region (CIAPR VII) May 2008 Shanghai, People s Republic of China

2 Co-Sponsors: The Shanghai Municipal People s Government, P. R. China The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) The State Council Informatization Office, P. R. China The Ministry of Science and Technology, P. R. China The Ministry of Information Industry, P. R. China The Ministry of Commerce, P. R. China The Chinese Academy of Sciences, P. R. China Honorary Chairmen: H.E. Ambassador Dalius Čekuolis, President, United Nations Economic and Social Council Mr. Sha Zukang, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Mr. Kemal Dervis, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme Mr. Kandeh Yumkella, Director-General, United Nations Industrial Development Organization Mr. Wang Xudong, Minister of the State Council Informatization Office and of the Ministry of Information Industry, P. R. China Mr. Wan Gang, Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology, P. R. China Mr. Chen Deming, Minister of the Ministry of Commerce, P. R. China Mr. Lu Yongxiang, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, P. R. China Mr. Han Zheng, Mayor of Shanghai Municipal People s Government, P. R. China Chairmen: Mr. Guido Bertucci, Director, Division for Public Administration and Development Management, UNDESA Mr. Chen Dawei, Vice Minister of the State Council Informatization Office, P. R. China Mr. Liu Yanhua, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology, P. R. China Mr. Gou Zhongwen, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Information Industry, P. R. China Mr. Yi Xiaozhun, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce, P. R. China Mr. Jiang Mianheng, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, P. R. China Mr. Yang Xiong, Vice Mayor of Shanghai, P. R. China Executive Chairmen: Mr. Yang Xiong, Vice Mayor of Shanghai, P. R. China Mr. Guido Bertucci, Director, Division for Public Administration and Development Management, UNDESA Forum Secretary-General: Mr. Fan Xiping, Vice Secretary-General of Shanghai Municipal People s Government 2

3 BACKGROUND Governments throughout the world are competing to attract knowledge workers to live within their jurisdiction, regardless of where they work, in order to preserve and grow property taxes, sales taxes and other revenue sources. In the race to become a competitive city, governments have to consider technology infrastructure, attract knowledge workers and high-tech industry, facilitate e-commerce, and improve their e-government frontline public service delivery, as well as their back office operations. The ability of today s cities to leverage the Internet is one of the key factors in determining competitive advantage in a global digital economy. A single government may have anything from 50 to 70 different agencies or departments. But the citizen does not need to know, nor should he care, which governmental department actually processes an Internet-based transaction provided by the city. And he or she should not have to surf down through multiple departments to find a specific service. Leading-edge governments are therefore beginning to rethink their Web strategies from their citizens perspectives. Instead of launching on-line services on a department-by-department basis, they are aggregating services across departments, accessible through a common portal. A governmental portal is a multifunctional window offering a variety of capabilities aggregated in one place. On a governmental portal, the citizen is offered a variety of services. When the citizen sees a category, Online Citizen Services, he or she can click once to access an alphabetical list of all available online transaction services, regardless of department. So when he or she needs to pay a parking fine, or apply for a marriage license, he or she simply clicks the desired transaction from the list. A form comes up along with secure credit card payment capability in the case of a financial transaction. The citizen completes the transaction and gets confirmation right then and there. The transaction is processed in the back office using Web-enabled tools which access, update and transfer data to and from disparate legacy systems and data bases of the responsible departments. Not all governmental operations consist of one simple form and one payment. Many governmental services require the complex collaboration of employees across departments, and may in certain cases involve various intergovernmental levels. Permitting and rezoning are examples which include various players, such as citizens, businesses, utilities, different government departments, the executive office or the legislative body. Obviously if all those players had high bandwidth access to each other, seamless processes, electronic workflow and data exchange, the overall process, including service quality and delivery time to the citizens and businesses would be carried out more effectively and efficiently, paving the way for a transformed government. This supposedly transformed government is more responsive to the needs of citizens and businesses, more efficient, more transparent and participatory. The e-government initiatives of various jurisdictions at the municipal level need therefore to be directed at improving operational efficiency through integration of back-office functions. Whilst such initiatives, if successful, will deliver benefits to citizens, the primary purpose is to improve the effectiveness of government and governmental agencies. Back office covers areas that support front line delivery of services such as finance, human resources, information technology, administrative support, legal services, facilities management, travel services, marketing and communication. 3

4 Integration of these services occurs vertically, between tiers of public administration, or horizontally, across agencies and public sector bodies. The primary delivery modes for back office integration include in-house delivery, a strategic partnership model (for example through a joint venture) and through outsourcing. Each of these modes has differing strengths and weakness in terms of the acquisition and utilization of resources (technological, financial and people) and the likely impact on benefits realization. Models of back office integration, irrespective of the delivery mode, fall into three broad categories, single function integration, cross functional integration and back office to front office integration. The level of complexity, expressed in terms of numbers of functions within scope and numbers of organizations involved is the primary factor influencing a successful outcome with a tendency amongst the more ambitious projects to fail to deliver the full anticipated benefits. The key variables involved in the delivery of back office integration are the people, process and technology required. Whilst the technology is increasingly resilient and fit for purpose, evidence indicates that success or failure is less a technological issue and more a people issue in particular the ability to change public service cultures and motivate public sector workers to new ways of working, address trade union concerns and provide adequately skilled and competent management and leadership. ABOUT CIAPR The Forum on City Informatization in the Asia-Pacific Region (CIAPR) is the initiative of the Shanghai Municipal People s Government and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), in response to the call for bridging the digital divide of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Ministerial Declaration, the United Nations Millennium Summit, and the World Summit on the Information Society. CIAPR is also co-sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Industrial Organization, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force, and the Chinese Government, including: the State Council Informatization Office, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of the Information Industry, the Ministry of Commerce and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Under the auspices of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), six successful CIAPR Forums have been held since So far, more than 4,500 participants from over 180 cities in 105 countries have attended these Forums. At CIAPR VI, there were more than 800 representatives from 78 cities and 42 international organizations covering 43 countries from Asia, Europe, Australia, the American continent and Africa. This initiative, with its core notion of city informatization, has been widely accepted and supported, and the notion has been popularized from Shanghai to the Asia-Pacific region and to the rest of the world. The colorful and fruitful activities accompanying CIAPR have attracted the attention and interest of the world, and the Forum itself has become an arena for exchange and cooperation among governments and enterprises. Mr. Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, in recognizing this success has stated, I applaud the decision of Shanghai, in conjunction with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the United Nations 4

5 Development Programme, to provide an arena in which public officials from cities throughout the Asia Pacific region can address this challenge. The Forum will undoubtedly assist cities in this region, as well as others worldwide, to put ICT at the service all people. The objectives of CIAPR are to: provide a platform for policy and decision makers of municipal governments in the Asia-Pacific region to exchange their views, strategic plans, and experiences in the development of the information industry and the applications of information technologies, so as to increase their understanding and cooperation; promote the economic and social development of the municipalities (or regions), and further reduce the unevenness in informatization and in the citizens access to information among cities in the region. The Forum will also join in the efforts to boost the development of the information industry and city informatization of the region. CIAPR will put emphasis on substantive subjects and topics about ICT and sustainable development while focusing on city informatization. In particular, the Forum will focus on the emerging needs and trends of informatization worldwide. Special attention will be given to the needs of developing countries and the strategies to strengthen cooperation and advance development. CIAPR has become a premier gathering of government leaders, mayors, the private sector and IT business leaders, experts and ICT professionals of the world. It is the only annual event focusing exclusively on municipal-level ICT and the related local-to-global knowledge economy. It is an unprecedented opportunity for governments, the private sector and ICT specialists worldwide to benefit from the expertise, knowledge and experiences of each other, and to use this process to strengthen strategic partnerships. CIAPR VII will be held in Shanghai, China, from May 2008, on the theme Smart Use of ICT for Better Cities. The Forum will further discussions on a series of topics with intensive global attention, including: bridging the digital divide; advancing sustainable development and e-government for development; and the role of governance authorities and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICT applications. OBJECTIVES CIAPR VII will serve as a platform for key decision makers and policy developers to: 1. Share their visions, policies and strategies on how to take advantage of ICT to facilitate city development and improve their citizens lives; 2. Exchange experiences of ICT applications for sustainable city development throughout the world; 3. Further discuss among participating cities on the establishment of a global knowledge base and data-sharing on e/m-government at the local level; 4. Strengthen links and partnerships between the public and private sectors for local e-government development, focusing on local government back office management through ICTs; 5. Create a favorable environment for innovation, participation and emergency management of ICT tools for city development; and 5

6 6. Assist technical professionals, in particular of developing countries, to identify up-to-date e-government practices and solutions. THEME The theme of CIPAR VII is Smart Use of ICT for Better Cities, with the main topics of: 1. Informatization Policy and Sustainable Development Strategy 2. E/M-Government Knowledge Base Development 3. Scientific Date Sharing and Emergency Management 4. South-South Cooperation and Innovative Technologies 5. Global Informatization and World Expo 2010 Shanghai 6. Strategy and Policy on Digital Ocean Economy Development ACTIVITIES CIAPR VII will host the following activities: 1. Opening ceremony: keynote speeches at the opening of the Forum will be delivered by VIP government leaders, ICT business leaders, and leading ICT scientists and experts; 2. Plenary session: keynote speeches will be delivered by government officials, ICT entrepreneurs, scientists and experts, Chinese and international policy developers and decision makers in the forefront of ICT for development, leading entrepreneurs and well-known international experts and scholars on ICT will be invited as panelists and to make addresses and presentations at the parallel sessions; 3. A series of parallel sessions will be held in the framework of CIAPR VII, including a Workshop on E/M-Government Knowledge Base Development in Asia and the Pacific, a Forum on Innovative Technologies involving United Nations South-South Cooperation, a Workshop on Scientific Data Sharing and Emergency Management, a Symposium of Logistical Informatization in the Yangtze Delta, a Workshop on Global Informatization and World Expo 2010 Shanghai; 4. The United Nations Public Service Awards will be presented by UNDESA to recognize outstanding achievements and contributions in local e-government applications; and 5. Exhibitions: a UN Achievements Exhibition for Sustainable Development; and an Outcomes Exhibition for City Informatization in China will be launched during the Forum, and the ranking of Top 50 City Informatization will be released as well. The working languages of CIAPR VII will be English and Chinese, with simultaneous translation. All related information regarding this Forum will be available on the UNPAN-RCOCI web page of the UNPAN portal. 6

7 PARTICIPANTS Participants of CIAPR VII include: 1. Government leaders, ministers, chief information officers (CIOs) of governments, and policy developers and decision makers of ICT for development; 2. Mayors, decision-makers, and representatives of municipal governments from the Asia-Pacific region and worldwide; 3. Business/corporate leaders and entrepreneurs in information and communications technologies, and information and knowledge industries; 4. International experts and scholars on information and communication technologies, information and knowledge industries, and ICT for development, particularly, city informatization; 5. Representatives from the UN system, international and regional organizations, civil societies and non-governmental organizations from the region and worldwide. CONTACT LIST United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) Ms. Haiyan Qian Chief Knowledge Management Branch Division for Public Administration and Development Management Department of Economic and Social Affairs Two United Nations Plaza, DC New York, NY Tel: Mr. Michael Mimicopoulos Senior Economic Affairs Officer Knowledge Management Branch Division for Public Administration and Development Management Department of Economic and Social Affairs Two United Nations Plaza, DC New York, NY Tel:

8 Mr. II Jae Kim Advisor on e-government Knowledge Management Branch Division for Public Administration and Development Management Department of Economic and Social Affairs Two United Nations Plaza, DC New York, NY Tel: Shanghai Municipal People s Government Mr. Genxiang Wang Director The Regional Cooperation Office for City Informatization (RCOCI) Room 1505, 915 Julu Road Shanghai China Tel: (86-21) Fax: (86-21) gxwang@apcity.org, gxwang@siecc.org Website: Mr. Yugang Wu Deputy Director The Regional Cooperation Office for City Informatization (RCOCI) Room 1302, 915 Julu Road Shanghai, China Tel: (86-21) Fax: (86-21) ygwu@apcity.org; ygwu@siecc.org 8