DPADM Monthly Update to CEPA Members: March 2015

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1 DPADM Monthly Update to CEPA Members: March DPADM Participation at the 2015 Annual Conference of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) held in Chicago from 6 to 10 March 2015 DPADM participated at the 25th Annual Conference of ASPA at the invitation of its President, who is also a current member of the UN Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA). The theme was on Building a Stronger and more Equitable Society: The Role of Public Administration. There were around 1200 participants, of whom 200 were international. On 9 March, the Chief of DMB made a presentation on behalf of DPADM on the UN perspective at a critical issues roundtable dialogue entitled ASPA in the International Arena: How can we interact best with colleagues abroad. The roundtable concluded that the many regional public administration associations and bodies could usefully collaborate with ASPA and amongst themselves to assist governments in the implementation of the UN post-2015 development agenda as well as with other ongoing public administration challenges. 2. E-Government for Sustainable Development presented to Member States from Africa at the African Association for Public Administration and Management (AAPAM) Conference in Rabat, Morocco From 2 to 6 March, DPADM made presentations on e-government for sustainable development at two sessions of the 36th AAPAM Roundtable Conference on Effective Partnerships for Citizen-Centred Sustainable Development held in Rabat, Morocco. The Conference was co-organized by AAPAM and the Government of Morocco. The DPADM presentations highlighted the challenges and opportunities of e-government implementation and its contributions to advancing sustainable development. As a result, conference participants acknowledged that the United Nations E- Government Survey was a relevant development policy-making tool and acquired a greater awareness and understanding of its methodology and assessment process. Accordingly, e-government for sustainable development was added for the first time as one of the strategic topics for the 37th AAPAM Conference. 3. DPADM Mission to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Open E-Government Strategies and Trends From 19 to 27 February 2015, DPADM met with the Minister of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) in a mission to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Presentations were made to the ministry officials and to Chief Information Officers (CIOs) on the trends of the 2014 Survey which focused on e-government for sustainable development. In addition, DPADM briefed them on the recommendations that emerged during the consultative meeting in Bahrain, and met with key decision makers from the following ministries and institutions; Finance, Commerce and Industry, Health, Education, Higher Education, Labour, Social Affairs, Civil Service, General Organization for Social Insurance, Meteorology and Environment, Wildlife Authority, and the Yesser Executive team (an e- government unit under MCIT). The Minister mentioned that the new King of Saudi Arabia places great importance on e-government and would like to accelerate development in this area. The subsequent meeting with the Yesser Executive team focused on sharpening strategies and policies on Open Data and Social Media. The Plan of Action within the project document was also highlighted as an important tool to build capacity in these areas. 1

2 4. DPADM Advisory Mission on E-Government, E-Participation and National Modernization to the Islamic Republic of Iran Upon the invitation of the Government of Iran, a DPADM mission was held in Tehran from 4 to 6 March. DPADM conducted presentations on the UN E-Government Survey, basic concepts of e- government and e-participation, online training centre which is available on the United Nations Public Administration Network (UNPAN) website and other DPADM training tools for the First National Workshop on e-government Development. As follow-through to the Mission, the Information Telecommunications Office of the Ministry of Communications was designated to liaise with DPADM on the following requests: to provide comments on the e-government Road Map Implementation, a document recently completed and disseminated to all executive bodies of the Government; to revise relevant online training courses in UNPAN for applicability to Iran, including validation of courses and certificates in Persian; and to provide support in benchmarking the state of e- government and e-participation development in Iran, so that all Ministries could move forward with unity in improving service delivery at all levels. DPADM also met with over 60 government officials from the Ministries of Health, Education, Roads and Infrastructure, Water and Energy and discussed with them the challenges to improving service delivery. 5. DPADM Organizes Expert Group Meeting on E-Government for Sustainable Development From 16 to 17 March, DPADM organized an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on E-Government for Sustainable Development as part of the preparatory process for the United Nations E-Government Survey Mr. Lenni Montiel, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development of DESA, welcomed 17 experts from around the world and highlighted the critical role that effective and accountable government institutions play in advancing sustainable development. The purpose of the meeting was to provide a platform for experts to (a) exchange views on challenges, emerging issues and trends related to e-government for sustainable development, (b) identify possible thematic areas, emerging issues and e- services relevant to the United Nations E-Government Survey 2016 from a sustainable development perspective, (c) review the Survey s methodology and discuss possible assessment measures for the identified issues and e-services. The feedback and suggestions received from Member States during recent regional consultative meetings were presented and discussed during the EGM. The experts provided advice and recommendations on how to integrate these issues into the next edition of the United Nations E- Government Survey. They also highlighted the importance of focusing on digital government rather than e-government, and suggested that the themes and questionnaire of the 2016 Survey should more carefully reflect essential public services for social and economic development, as well as environmental sustainability. A number of recommendations were also made in relation to possible enhancements to the Survey's methodology, such as the inclusion of both Environment Index and Ease of Doing Business Index. 6. Internet Technical Community Organizations: Global Internet Policy of the Internet Society (ISOC) and Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' (ICANN) Visit DPADM On 16 March, a courtesy call was made by Mr. Veni Markovski, Vice-President for UN Engagement, NY- ICANN to the Director of DPADM. During the meeting, Mr. Markovski shared a quick historic overview of the growth and development of the Internet and the pathway to today's Internet Governance Structures. Mr. Markovski spoke about the efforts of ICANN to reach out to Member 2

3 States, UN agencies and other stakeholders and stressed its commitment to engage all stakeholders in the ongoing dialogue on Internet Governance (IG).On 25 March, the Director of DPADM received a visit from Ms. Constance Bommelaer, Senior Director of ISOC and member of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG). MAG advises the Secretary- General on the programme and schedule of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) meetings and ISOC is an international, non-profit organization advocating for equal access to the Internet. They exchanged views on the General Assembly World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+10) review process, and the upcoming 10th IGF in Brazil and its ongoing inter-sessional work. 7. DPADM Participates at the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Public Policy Programme From 22 to 25 March, DPADM participated in the Internet Society Public Policy Programme at the 92nd meeting of the IETF held in Dallas. The IETF Policy Programme aimed to provide close interaction between policy experts from developing countries and IETF participants in an environment that supports dialogue, information sharing, and problem solving. DPADM briefed the participants on the provisions of the GA's resolution on modalities for the forthcoming review by the General Assembly of the implementation of the outcomes of WSIS+10 review process and the upcoming 10th IGF, scheduled to take place in João Pessoa, Brazil, on November The developing countries that attended the Policy Programme included Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Mexico, Nigeria, Qatar, Paraguay, Suriname, and Uganda. There were also members of the diplomatic community and experts attending from Canada, Netherlands United Kingdom including British Virgin Islands, and United States. The Programme also aimed to address critical issues, gaps, and future developments in IG and digital politics, including the transition of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) oversight of Internet functions, Internet Protocol (IP) addressing and transition to IP Version 6 (IPv6), Internet Draft Proposal on Human Rights Protocol considerations, and Internet Exchange Points (IXPs). 8. Planning Mission for the 10th IGF in João Pessoa Brazil From 16 to 20 March, DPADM and the IGF Secretariat, accompanied by Ambassador Janis Karklins, MAG Chair, undertook a joint planning mission with the Government of Brazil to the city of João Pessoa. They were tasked to review the selected conference venue for the 10th IGF, scheduled for November 2015 and to meet with members of the Brazilian Organizing Committee, local authorities, and other related entities. The planning mission reconfirmed political support for hosting the event at the national and local levels and the allocation of necessary resources by the relevant state and city offices by the Governor. Upon inspection, the proposed event venue appeared satisfactory for the Forum on the basis of its technological infrastructure. 9. E-Government Delegation from Government of Turkey Visits the UN Project Office on Governance (UNPOG) On 25 March, a delegation from the Government of Turkey led by Mr. Ensar Kiliç, Head of the e- Government Department of the Ministry of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communication visited UNPOG. The delegation expressed strong interest in the UN E-Government Survey, particularly in the preparatory work for the next edition. The delegation also inquired about future cooperation opportunities with DPADM and will follow-up with an official letter to the Division. 3

4 10. DPADM Holds Ministerial Panel/Workshop on E-Government for Sustainable Development in Kigali, Rwanda On March 24 to25, DPADM held a Ministerial Panel/Workshop on "e-government for Sustainable Development: the Road Ahead for Africa" during the Commonwealth e- Governance Africa Forum 2015 on "Smart Governance through a Networked Government". The Forum was held in Kigali, Rwanda and was organized by the Commonwealth Telecommunication Organization (CTO), and hosted by the Government of Rwanda under the patronage of its Ministry of Youth and Information and Communications Technology (ICT). The Ministerial Panel/Workshop was an integral part of the Forum and explored the issues and the challenges of e-readiness globally and in Africa at the intersection of technology, public institutions frameworks and leadership and the post 2015 development agenda. The Panel was composed of ICT Ministers from Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and a representative from the ICT Ministry of Kenya, and chaired by the Secretary-General of CTO. The event was attended by over 200 participants from 15 African countries; representing high level public officials, business community, civil society and academia, as well as representatives of international and regional organizations. During the Forum, DPADM delivered opening and concluding remarks and a keynote presentation on UNDESA's work on e-government readiness and the post-2015 development agenda as well as a featured presentation on e-government in Africa. The members of the Panel agreed on the important role of e-government as an enabler for sustainable development. The recommendations of the Forum will be incorporated into the preparatory process for the UN E- Government Survey United Nations Public Service Awards (UNPSA) - Final Round of Evaluations Launches On 26 March, the UNPSA team forwarded UNPSA cases to the Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA) sub-group for final review and evaluation following the conclusion of the second round of evaluations. The initiatives would be assessed and concluded during the week of the CEPA meetings in April. Meanwhile, the UNPSA team will be undertaking validations of short-listed initiatives by conducting online research on each case and check with regional partners in the respective regions. Eight members from CEPA agreed to participate in the UNPSA panel this year and their contributions are greatly appreciated. 12. Regional Training Workshop on "Sustainable Development and Disaster Risk Management Using E-Government" held in Songdo, Republic of Korea From 25 to 27 March, a regional training workshop for Asia and the Pacific on "Sustainable Development and Disaster Risk Management Using E-Government" was held in Songdo, Republic of Korea. The workshop was a collaborative effort between DPADM s United Nations Project Office on Governance (UNPOG), the United Nations Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). It was attended by senior government officials and experts from the academia, civil society and international organizations. The objectives of the workshop were: (i) to discuss advancements and good practices in the field of e-government for disaster risk management; (ii) to enhance peer-to-peer learning; (iii) to build up a strong network among experts and set up the mechanism/platform for sharing experiences and knowledge transfer with focus on innovative e-practices for disaster risk management; and (iv) to explore effective and 4

5 innovative ways to enhance capacity building for developing countries in the field of disaster risk management. UNPOG organized sessions on Collaborative Governance for Disaster Risk Management and Country Experiences. Study tours were arranged for participants attending the workshop that included a visit to the Ministry of Public Safety and Security of the Republic of Korea and to the Seoul Emergency Operations Center. 5