Technical Meeting on e-government Readiness and Initiatives in Central America. Second Meeting of the e-government Task Force for Central America

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Departamento de Asuntos Económicos y Sociales, Naciones Unidas Foro de Vicepresidentes Centroamericanos Consejo Nicaragüense de Ciencia y Tecnología Gobierno de Italia Technical Meeting on

1 Departamento de Asuntos Económicos y Sociales, Naciones Unidas Foro de Vicepresidentes Centroamericanos Consejo Nicaragüense de Ciencia y Tecnología Gobierno de Italia Technical Meeting on e-government Readiness and Initiatives in Central America and Second Meeting of the e-government Task Force for Central America April 2005, Managua, Nicaragua AIDE-MEMOIRE April 2005

2 I. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT The 2002 Conference on ICT and e-government for Regional Integration and Development in Central America 1 marked the beginning of a unique international cooperative effort for e-government for development by the countries of the Central American sub-region; the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and the Government of Italy. A major outcome of the conference was the establishment of the e-government Task Force for Central America and the Dominican Republic, which was endorsed by the Central American Vice Presidents at their February 2003 meeting. The Task Force inaugurated its activities in a meeting in Honduras in August 2003, during which the terms of reference and a blue print for future action was developed. The primary mandate of the Task Force is the creation and implementation of a Regional Strategic Plan of Action on E-government in Central America (SPA) and of specific projects which will work towards strengthening the institutional capacity of the Central American governance system, especially that of regional, central and local government institutions to improve policy making, coordination and delivery of public goods and services using ICT. The e-government Task Force for Central America is integrated by Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, as well as Belize and the Dominican Republic. The Members of the Task Force have managerial responsibility and knowledge and experience on e- government in their respective countries. The Task Force operates under the aegis of the Forum of Vice-Presidents of Central America and is supported by a Secretariat. UNDESA, the Government of Honduras and the Regional Secretariat of the Forum of Central American Vice Presidents acted initially as the Task Force Pro-tempore Secretariat. 2 Twenty two officials from 6 countries in the sub-region (Honduras, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama) participated in the first meeting of the Task Force, as well as a number of regional organizations, including SICA, ICAP (Central America Institute on Public Administration), COMTELCA (Communications and Telephone Organization of Central America), and the Regional Secretariat of the Forum of Central America Vice Presidents. Multilateral and bilateral donors present included the Government of Italy, Spain, the Government of Canada, UNDP, ITU, and the Development Gateway. 3 In its first meeting the Task Force formulated the Terms of Reference of the Group and a short-term Plan of Action, and identified six major areas along which there was consensus to moving forward the initiative. The participants signed an Agreement on the six areas, making commitments in the name of their respective Governments on pending tasks. In particular, it was agreed that a proposal with the definition of functions of the Task Force and of its Secretariat would be prepared by Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Honduras, immediately after the Task Force meeting. In view of the above, in 2004 three Members of the Task Force 4, supported by UNDESA, elaborated a proposal aiming at defining the attributes and functions of the Task Force and its Permanent Secretariat. This proposal has to be submitted to and endorsed by the Forum of Vice-Presidents of Central America in their next meeting 5. 1 See the following link for a complete posting of documents relative to the Conference on ICT and e-government for Regional Development and Integration in Central America: 2 In October 2004 Nicaragua received from Honduras the Coordination of the Forum of Central American Vice-Presidents, a responsibility that rotates every six months among the member countries of the Forum. In March 2005 the Coordination of the Forum will pass onto Panama. 3 For a complete posting of documents relative to the Fist Meeting of the e-government Task Force for Central America see 4 Nicaragua as leader, with the support of El Salvador and Panama. 5 The meeting of the Forum of Vice-Presidents scheduled for November 2004 was postponed to April 2005.

3 During the past year and a half relevant changes and developments have taken place in the Central American sub-region, including in the political landscape, and in the area of e-government. National elections took place in several countries of the region, and this resulted in changes in the structure and staffing of public administrations. It is therefore expected that Members of the Task Force will have changed in a number of countries. In addition, countries in the sub-region have advanced in the implementation of e-government according with their own agenda, in different sectors and at a different pace. At present, e-government is not equally pronounced within Central America and there is a risk that inequalities in critical success factors such as levels of leadership, policies, laws, regulations, strategic public investments, education, including ICT education, and connectivity may further increase without deliberate actions and improved coordination. A regional approach to e-government development, undertaken in a phased manner, can help to address these disparities, enhance the capacity of the less digitally advanced countries, and to build a better knowledge infrastructure for the 21 st century. In realizing the opportunities of the Knowledge Society, and confronting the challenges in doing so, regional cooperation and integration has proved to be a goal within almost every region in the world. Central America is no exception. The work of SICA, through COMTELCA, and the Plan Puebla Panama have both focused on laying the ICT infrastructure for the knowledge society through regional cooperation on regulatory frameworks and connectivity. In this regard, they are also helping to lay the foundation for ICT applications at the national and regional level, including e-government. Yet, the importance of e-government and the specific challenges associated with its implementation warrants a separate and more focused effort at cooperation. There is no other Forum but the Central American E-Government Task Force that focuses specifically on the sub-region on matters related to e-government. In all other fora, attention for Central American issues is diluted within the whole Latin America and the Caribbean region. Most countries of the Central American sub-region are active participant of the Latin America and Caribbean E-Government Network 6, established in 2003 by OAS (Organization of American States) and ICA (Institute for Connectivity of the Americas). In addition, Central American countries are participating in the WSIS Phase II regional preparatory process for Latin America and the Caribbean, which aims at formulating a regional declaration and a regional action plan (elac2007) 7. It is in this context that the Government of Nicaragua, through the Nicaraguan Council of Science and Technology (CONICYT), the Regional Secretariat of the Forum of Central American Vice Presidents, and UNDESA, with the financial support from the Government of Italy, are organizing the Technical Meeting on e-government Readiness and Initiatives in Central America (hereinafter referred to as The Meeting ) which will be held back-to-back with the Second Meeting of the e- Government Task Force for Central America in Managua, Nicaragua, on April Red de Gobierno Electronico de America Latina y el Caribe (REDGEALC).See 7 See and 3

4 II. OBJECTIVES The proposed Meeting aims at: III. Exchanging experiences on progress made and challenges faced in implementing e- government in individual countries of the region; discussing and agreeing on the next steps leading to the formulation of a sub-regional strategy for e-government, and to the identification of specific joint initiatives; this includes the conduct of e-government readiness assessment in selected countries of the sub-region; discussing the elements of a common Central American platform on e-government to serve as an input to the formulation of a Latin American and the Caribbean regional strategy and action plan for WSIS Phase II (elac2007). OUTCOMES The immediate outcomes of the meeting are expected to be: Participants will be better informed and more knowledgeable about successes and failure of e- government implementation in the region, and therefore to make better policy decisions in this area; An on-line compendium of resources on ICT and e-government in Central America, accessible to all participants; A medium-term Action Plan leading to the formulation of a regional strategy on e- government for Central American countries, and including the conduct of e-government readiness assessments in selected countries and the identification of specific joint initiatives at the sub-regional level; A set of recommendations for immediate action. On a broader scope, the strategic importance of this initiative has many facets: The e-government readiness assessment at the national level with allow each country to identify its own strengths and weaknesses in order to better position itself with respect to the sub-region and the rest of the world; The formulation of a common strategy in the sub-region, and the establishment of strategic alliances with donors, regional and international organizations and academic institutions for the implementation of the strategy; Better coordination and linkages with other initiatives, in order to identify synergies, avoid duplication of initiatives, and build partnerships; Increased capacity of the sub-region as a block to identify and access sources of funding for e- government projects at the national and regional levels. Increased capacity at the subregional rather than national level to mobilize resources from donors (multilateral and bilateral); at the same time, increased possibility that funds and donors attention that are assigned to Central America do not get diluted within more general programs involving all Latin American countries; Better capacity to define a special space for Central America within more general programmes for Latin America; Relatively more independence of the Working Group with respect to donors conditionalities, 4

5 as a result of UNDESA S technical support and participation in the Task Force s Permanent Secretariat; IV. Economies of scale in the design and implementation of joint projects; better policy decisions at the national level, due to better information and knowledge on successes and failures, good practices and experiences in other countries within the region and outside it; Possibility of learning and interchanging experiences with the similar initiative which is being implemented in the Caribbean with UNDESA support, and which is at a more advanced implementation stage. AGENDA The meeting will take place during two days. On the first day, a representative of each participating Central American country will present the country experience in e-government implementation during the past two years. Time will be allowed for discussion between presentations. During the second day participants will discuss a common position of Central America with respect to e-government policy, and the next steps toward the formulation and implementation of a regional strategy and specific joint initiatives. V. PARTICIPANTS It is expected that some people will participate in the event. Invitees will include representatives of Central American countries, Belize and the Dominican Republic who are responsible for e-government implementation at the central level. It also includes representatives of international and regional organizations, bilateral agencies, and experts and staff of the United Nations. A provisional list of States and institutions to be invited includes: Regional Participants Belize Costa Rica Dominican Republic El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama Bilateral Agencies Italy European Union China Regional and Global Organizations Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CBEI) Central American Forum of Vice-Presidents Central American Institute for Public Administration (ICAP) Central American Integration System (SICA) Development Gateway Foundation 5

6 Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Latin American Economic System (SELA) Organization of American States (OAS) Regional Technical Commission of Telecommunications (COMTELCA) United Nations, Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) World Bank (WB) VI. ORGANIZATION The two-day meeting will take place in Managua, Nicaragua on April The working language will be Spanish. The meeting will be hosted by the Government of Nicaragua and will be organized by the Government of Nicaragua, through the Nicaraguan Council of Science and Technology (CONICYT) and UNDESA, with the cooperation of the Forum of Vice-Presidents of Central America, and with the financial support of the Government of Italy. VII. FURTHER INFORMATION A web-site devoted to the event has been established in English on UNPAN (United Nations Online Network in Public Administration and Finance) at the following address. Queries should be directed to: Government of Nicaragua: Mr. Fermín Antonio Pineda Vanegas Director of Projects Nicaraguan Council of Science and Technology (CONICYT) Vice-Presidency of Nicaragua Phone: (505) ferminp@vicepresidencia.gob.ni Website: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Ms. Angela Capati-Caruso Economic Affairs Officer, Knowledge Management Branch Division for Public Administration and Development Management, Phone: (212) ; fax (212) capati-caruso@un.org Website: Ms. Solange del Rosario Duluc Project Assistant, Knowledge Management Branch Division for Public Administration and Development Management Phone: (212) ; fax (212) rosarios@un.org Website: 6

7 Regional Secretariat of the Forum of Central American Vice Presidents Mr. Orlando Lopez Regional Secretary of the Forum of Central American Vice-Presidents 7

Porters, St. James, Barbados June Aide Mémoire

Porters, St. James, Barbados June Aide Mémoire Fifth Caribbean Ministerial Consultation on Regional Cooperation for E-Government Capacity Building Porters, St. James, Barbados 17-18 June 2004 Aide Mémoire CONTENTS Executive Summary Context Objectives