MEDIA COVERAGE: INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY. July 2005

Transcription

1 6 th Global Forum on Reinventing Government Towards Participatory and Transparent Governance May 2005, Seoul, Republic of Korea MEDIA COVERAGE: INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY July 2005

2 Table of Contents 1. E-GOVERNMENT PROJECTS BENEFIT THE PUBLIC AND BUSINESS p. 2 The Korea Herald, Republic of Korea 2. INTERNET CANNOT SUBSTITUTE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS p. 4 Asia Media, the Asia Pacific Media Network 3. TECHNOLOGY CRITICAL FOR GOVERNMENTS p. 6 Joins.com, Republic of Korea 4. U.N. STUDY ON 'UNDERSTANDING KNOWLEDGE SOCIETIES' RELEASED p. 7 US Fed News, United States of America 5. 'UNDERSTANDING KNOWLEDGE SOCIETIES' RELEASED IN SHANGHAI p. 9 Information for Development, India 6. UN STUDY ON 'UNDERSTANDING KNOWLEDGE SOCIETIES' RELEASED p.10 M2 Presswire, United Kingdom 7. EXPERT WARNS INTERNET IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRACY p.12 The Korea Herald, Republic of Korea 1

3 The Korea Herald KOREA POLICY REVIEW JULY \ Policy Zoom-In By Kim Tong-hyung E-GOVERNMENT PROJECTS BENEFIT THE PUBLIC AND BUSINESS Advancement of Korea s e-government projects is necessary to improve the business environmentand offer new opportunities in the private sector, said a senior executive at the International Business Machines Corp. E-government is not only about providing better services for citizens, but enhancing partnerships between government and the private sector. It has the potential to create an environment where businesses can thrive, said Jeffrey Rhoda, the head of IBM s e- government division. Rhoda is responsible for IBM s e-government strategies, alliances, and solutions. He visited Seoul to speak at the Global Forum on Reinventing Government, held May Increasing flexibility is the key to operating a successful e-government project, he said. The government must not only respond better to social changes, but be flexible enough to adapt to the global changes that affect the market. Increasing efficiency through e-government projects is considered to be a crucial part of contemporary economic policies, said Rhoda. It is especially true in developed countries that are being challenged by moderate economic growth, tight budgets, rising social costs and increasing competition in international business. There are four distinct stages in implementing e-government projects, Rhoda said. The first two stages require the establishment of a central database that links all government departments. Through its Internet sites and portals, it should provide citizens one-stop service. The third stage sets up a horizontal integration between government organizations and agencies by sharing communication infrastructure. This enables them to work together and create a more efficient environment for businesses. The stage also establishes new partnerships with the private sector, supporting the development of new business models. 2

4 The final stage is what Rhoda calls On-Demand Government. In this stage, government organizations and agencies focus ontheir central missions. And they outsource functions, such as information infrastructure and human-resource development, by building partnerships with government bodies or private companies. Many governments are having trouble advancing to the third and fourth stages of e- government implementation because governmentorganizations usually develop separately, Rhoda said. A recent United Nations report ranked Korea s e-government infrastructure fifth, behind the United States, Denmark, Britain, and Sweden. The ranking is based on the integration levels of information and readiness in online services. Korea s information and communication technologies are considered to be one of the most advanced in the world. The country s Internet penetration rate exceeds 70 percent. 3

5 The Korea Herald Thursday, May 26, 2005 KOREA: INTERNET CANNOT SUBSTITUTE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS IDEA secretary-general Karen Fogg discourages heavy reliance on Internet services by the government Seoul Active consultation on the Internet between the government and the public can be a useful complement to democracy but should not become a substitute to the democratic and political process, the head of an international democracy organization said. "(The Internet) is encouraging the individual to be a purely egoistical component of the society," Karen Fogg, secretary-general of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance said in an interview with The Korea Herald yesterday. Fogg is in Seoul to take part in the 6th Global Forum on Reinventing Government, the largest international event to be hosted by South Korea, gathering over 5,000 state leaders, business representatives, international organizations and civic groups to discuss how to improve governance in the new globalization era. Fogg explained the important aspect in democracy is grouping together the people to express common interest, but the Internet enhances the atomization of society instead. "I would personally feel unhappy in a situation where the individual in their isolated existence is asked to judge or react to the acceptability of a government policy because it is reducing the notion of community and collectivity," Fogg said, also adding another negative aspect of the Internet would be the guarantee of anonymity of users. Fogg, who has been with the International IDEA since August 2002, commented South Korea should be pleased with its progress toward sustainable democracy. "Korea has a very lively debate. Koreans have great open mindedness about reform. Korea is a politically involved society with a quite high interest with relatively low cynicism," Fogg said. Fogg has been with the European Commission since 1973, and is currently taking a leave of absence to work in IDEA. She is slated to go back to the EU Commission later this year. 4

6 Her past positions in the commission include ambassador and head of delegation in Ankara and Bucharest, and her main areas of work involved employment, social policy and education. She also focused her studies on European integration and East-West relations. IDEA, founded in 1995, is an intergovernmental body comprising 23 member states devoted to supporting sustainable democracy worldwide. Karen said she believed most members would welcome the application of Korea to join as member. Fogg talked more about how sustainable democracy would balance improving the basic rights of the people, such as abolishing poverty. "You cannot have a flourishing democracy unless you have circumstances which allow that." Fogg explained that it is both a target and an instrument of democracy to ensure that the government has a capacity to govern, which is legitimate, responsive and representative. Fogg, whose institution (IDEA) has worked extensively on reconciliation in the European region post World War II, assessed it would take patience for the Asian region to reach reconciliation surpassing deeply rooted historical issues. She explained that Germany became a modest player in the new future of Europe because it was crucial to be a part of the European enterprise. Fogg said the difference in the Northeast Asian region and the overhanging dispute over Japan's past invasion could be that Japan did not have a chance to take part in building new community in the region. Date Posted: 5/26/2005 5

7 Joins. com Wohn Dong-hee 27 May 2005 TECHNOLOGY CRITICAL FOR GOVERNMENTS International leaders have reached a consensus that the innovative use of information communications technology and the development of electronic government systems can enhance citizens' participation in politics. In a statement read yesterday by Home Minister Oh Young-kyo at the closing ceremony of the Sixth Global Forum on Reinventing Government, representatives from over 140 countries agreed that governments must continue their efforts at reinvention by institutionalizing innovative practices, and to achieve these aims they should make use of tools such as communications technology. Governments are trying to adapt to the new environment caused by globalization, the spread of democratic processes, and the information and communications technology revolution, among other issues, Mr. Oh said. The four-day event at the COEX Convention and Exhibition Center was hosted jointly by the United Nations and the Korean government under the theme 'Toward Participatory and Transparent Governance.' 6

8 31 May 2005 U.N. STUDY ON 'UNDERSTANDING KNOWLEDGE SOCIETIES' RELEASED IN SHANGHAI SHANGHAI, China, May 31 The United Nations issued the following press release: Cultures and countries that maximize the creative inputs to the development process are aided by information and communication technologies, but the key factor is their people, the main asset of a knowledge society, and the possibilities for the free interchange of knowledge and ideas, finds a follow-up study issued today by the United Nations. Understanding Knowledge Societies, released today at a Shanghai conference on City Informatization in the Asia-Pacific region, suggests the possibility of "institutions and organizations that enable people and information to develop without limits, and that open opportunities for all kinds of knowledge to be mass-produced and mass-utilized throughout the society as a whole". Produced under the auspices of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), the study pursues and further develops themes explored in World Public Sector Report 2003, on e-governance. The 2003 report traced the uses made by governments, in developing and developed countries, of new information and communication technologies (ICT), as well as obstacles to their successful application. Taking the challenges examined in 2003 one step further, the new study "puts forth the idea that if societies desire to follow the path of knowledge-based growth and development, a very thorough reconstruction of their institutions must occur", says Guido Bertucci, Director of the Division for Public Administration and Development Management of UN DESA, in the book's foreword. Understanding Knowledge Societies examines the parameters of participatory and transparent governance from the fresh perspective of policy focused on mass-production of knowledge. "The social institutions of the currently existing democracies and currently existing markets must allow (or be transformed to allow) limitless development and use in the process of knowledge development of people and information", the study says. "This poses a challenge, as currently existing democracies feature minorities with narrow encompassing interests that are allowed, by lack of genuine participation, to control public power and to channel in a disproportionate way, public resources and developmental opportunities in their own direction", it says. "This translates into limited development opportunities for many (or most) that happen to be on the other side of the power divide." 7

9 Thus widespread application of ICT for uses ranging from, for instance, issuing drivers licenses to increasing productivity and profit in business operations, or e-voting is not an end in itself or even the main factor in arriving at a "smart knowledge society", the authors argue. "ICT as a means for accelerating production of knowledge is a resource whose impact on this process will diminish and stabilize as a constant. People are the only factor for accelerating the development of knowledge that is not finite and will not become obsolete." Further, ownership and management of ICT assets will not produce widespread betterment if lacking a new sense of direction in development, and a commitment to assure high levels of quality and safety of life. However, such commitment must be put in the framework of transparency and genuine participation to revert today's highly unsafe situation, in which development of products with high risk content -in other words taking private risk with the well-being of all people everywhere - is allowed. A ranking of 45 countries in an "Index of Knowledge Societies" is provided, in which Scandinavian nations score highly. But some transition and developing countries appear in the top five countries in related indexes, such as Costa Rica and Slovakia in the "foresightedness" category, and the Republic of Korea in "assets". Mr. Bertucci and Jerzy Szeremeta, the main author of Understanding Knowledge Societies, present the study today at 2:50 p.m., at the Shanghai International Conference Centre, Pudong, in Shanghai, China. The two-day long Fifth Annual City Informatization forum is focusing on themes of e-government, e-commerce, communication technology for development and the role of the local governments in today's information society. The Shanghai conference closely follows the Sixth Global Forum on Reinventing Government, held in Seoul from 24 to 27 May. Hosted for the first time in the Asia- Pacific region, the meeting was organized by the Republic of Korea in cooperation with the UN Division for Public Administration and Development Management. The forum, attended by over 5,000 global leaders, business and civil society members, addressed challenges for improving governance and public administration and was one of the largest gatherings on governance issues. For more information on the Fifth Annual Forum on City Informatization in the Asia- Pacific Region, Shanghai, please visit: For more information on Understanding Knowledge Societies or for interviews, please contact: Jerzy Szeremeta, Shanghai, tel.: , szeremeta@un.org; or Oisika Chakrabarti, UN Department of Public Information, New York, tel.: , chakrabarti@un.org. Understanding Knowledge Societies available for $35 (Sales No. E.05.II.H.2 ISBN ) from United Nations Publications, 2 UN Plaza, Room DC2-853, Dept. PRES, New York N.Y USA, tel.: or , fax: , e- mail: publications@un.org; or Section des Ventes et Commercialisation, Bureau E-4, CH-1211, Geneva 10, Switzerland, tel.: , fax: , unpubli@unog.ch; Internet: 8

10 Information for Development, India 2 June, 2005 'UNDERSTANDING KNOWLEDGE SOCIETIES' RELEASED IN SHANGHAI 'Understanding Knowledge Societies', released recently at a Shanghai conference on City Informatisation in the Asia-Pacific region, suggests the possibility of institutions and organisations that enable people and information to develop without limits, and that open opportunities for all kinds of knowledge to be mass-produced and mass-utilised throughout the society as a whole. UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA ) has sponsored the study and it pursues and further develops themes explored in World Public Sector Report 2003, on e-governance. The 2003 report traced the uses made by governments, in developing and developed countries, of new information and communication technologies (ICT), as well as obstacles to their successful application. Guido Bertucci, Director of the Division for Public Administration and Development Management of UN DESA writes in the book s foreword that taking the challenges examined in 2003 one step further, the new study puts forth the idea that if societies desire to follow the path of knowledge-based growth and development, a very thorough reconstruction of their institutions must occur. Source: 9

11 31 May 2005 UN STUDY ON 'UNDERSTANDING KNOWLEDGE SOCIETIES' RELEASED TODAY IN SHANGHAI SHANGHAI -- Cultures and countries that maximize the creative inputs to the development process are aided by information and communication technologies, but the key factor is their people, the main asset of a knowledge society, and the possibilities for the free interchange of knowledge and ideas, finds a follow-up study issued today by the United Nations. Understanding Knowledge Societies, released today at a Shanghai conference on City Informatization in the Asia-Pacific region, suggests the possibility of "institutions and organizations that enable people and information to develop without limits, and that open opportunities for all kinds of knowledge to be mass-produced and mass-utilized throughout the society as a whole". Produced under the auspices of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), the study pursues and further develops themes explored in World Public Sector Report 2003, on e-governance. The 2003 report traced the uses made by governments, in developing and developed countries, of new information and communication technologies (ICT), as well as obstacles to their successful application. Taking the challenges examined in 2003 one step further, the new study "puts forth the idea that if societies desire to follow the path of knowledge-based growth and development, a very thorough reconstruction of their institutions must occur", says Guido Bertucci, Director of the Division for Public Administration and Development Management of UN DESA, in the book's foreword. Understanding Knowledge Societies examines the parameters of participatory and transparent governance from the fresh perspective of policy focused on mass-production of knowledge. "The social institutions of the currently existing democracies and currently existing markets must allow (or be transformed to allow) limitless development and use in the process of knowledge development of people and information", the study says. "This poses a challenge, as currently existing democracies feature minorities with narrow encompassing interests that are allowed, by lack of genuine participation, to control public power and to channel in a disproportionate way, public resources and developmental opportunities in their own direction", it says. "This translates into limited development opportunities for many (or most) that happen to be on the other side of the power divide." 10

12 Thus widespread application of ICT for uses ranging from, for instance, issuing drivers licenses to increasing productivity and profit in business operations, or e-voting is not an end in itself or even the main factor in arriving at a "smart knowledge society", the authors argue. "ICT as a means for accelerating production of knowledge is a resource whose impact on this process will diminish and stabilize as a constant. People are the only factor for accelerating the development of knowledge that is not finite and will not become obsolete." Further, ownership and management of ICT assets will not produce widespread betterment if lacking a new sense of direction in development, and a commitment to assure high levels of quality and safety of life. However, such commitment must be put in the framework of transparency and genuine participation to revert today's highly unsafe situation, in which development of products with high risk content --in other words taking private risk with the well-being of all people everywhere -- is allowed. A ranking of 45 countries in an "Index of Knowledge Societies" is provided, in which Scandinavian nations score highly. But some transition and developing countries appear in the top five countries in related indexes, such as Costa Rica and Slovakia in the "foresightedness" category, and the Republic of Korea in "assets". Mr. Bertucci and Jerzy Szeremeta, the main author of Understanding Knowledge Societies, present the study today at 2:50 p.m., at the Shanghai International Conference Centre, Pudong, in Shanghai, China. The two-day long Fifth Annual City Informatization forum is focusing on themes of e-government, e-commerce, communication technology for development and the role of the local governments in today's information society. The Shanghai conference closely follows the Sixth Global Forum on Reinventing Government, held in Seoul from 24 to 27 May. Hosted for the first time in the Asia-Pacific region, the meeting was organized by the Republic of Korea in cooperation with the UN Division for Public Administration and Development Management. The forum, attended by over 5,000 global leaders, business and civil society members, addressed challenges for improving governance and public administration and was one of the largest gatherings on governance issues. For more information on the Fifth Annual Forum on City Informatization in the Asia- Pacific Region, Shanghai, please visit: For more information on Understanding Knowledge Societies or for interviews, please contact: Jerzy Szeremeta, Shanghai, tel.: , szeremeta@un.org; or Oisika Chakrabarti, UN Department of Public Information, New York, tel.: , chakrabarti@un.org. Understanding Knowledge Societies available for $35 (Sales No. E.05.II.H.2 ISBN ) from United Nations Publications, 2 UN Plaza, Room DC2-853, Dept. PRES, New York N.Y USA, tel.: or , fax: , e- mail: publications@un.org; or Section des Ventes et Commercialisation, Bureau E-4, CH-1211, Geneva 10, Switzerland, tel.: , fax: , unpubli@unog.ch; Internet: 11

13 The Korea Herald July 2005 Korea Policy Review45 By Lee Joo-hee EXPERT WARNS INTERNET IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRACY Stimulating dialogue on the Internet between the government and public can complement democracy, but it should not replace the democratic process, said the head of an international democratic organization. (The Internet) is encouraging the individual to be a purely egoistical component of society, said Karen Fogg, secretary-general of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). Fogg attended the 6th Global Forum on Reinventing Government. The forum brought together more than 5,000 state leaders, business representatives, international organizations and civic groups in order to discuss how to improve governance inthe globalization era. Fogg said democracy gives people the right to express their common interests. The Internet, however, only fragments society. I would personally feel unhappy in a situation wherethe individual in their isolated existence is asked to judge or react to the acceptability of a government policy because it is reducing the notion of community and collectivity, Fogg said. Fogg, who has been with IDEA since August 2002, said Korea should be pleased with its progress towardsustaining democracy. Korea has very lively debates, she said. Koreanshave great open mindedness about reform. Korea is a politically involved society with relatively low cynicism. Fogg has been part of the European Commission since1973 and is currently on leave to work with IDEA. She isslated to return to the EU Commission later this year. Her past positions in the commission include ambassador and head of delegation in Ankara and Bucharest. Her main areas of work involved employment, social policy, and education. She has also extensively studied European integration and East West relations. IDEA, founded in 1995, is an intergovernmental body that comprises 23 member states. It is devoted to supporting democracy worldwide. Fogg said most members would welcome the idea of Korea joining the organization. 12

14 Fogg said sustainable democracy would improve the basic rights of the people and reduce poverty. You cannot have a flourishing democracy unless you have circumstances which allow that, she said. Fogg said democracy should ensure a legitimate government the capacity to govern responsively. In the post WorldWar II era, IDEA has long worked to build better relationships between European countries. Fogg said patience is needed in reconciling deeply rooted historical differences in the Asian region. Fogg noted that Germany slowly worked its way into becoming an essential economic player in the new future of Europe. She added that the difference in Asia is that Japan did not have the opportunity to take part in the shaping of the Northeast Asian region after its colonizing period. 13