Keynote address for the first CIFAL-Shanghai Training Workshop on e-administration

Transcription

1 Keynote address for the first CIFAL-Shanghai Training Workshop on e-administration Marcel A. Boisard UN Assistant Secretary General Executive Director of UNITAR 21 February 2005 Wan Ping Hotel, Shanghai, P.R. China Vice Mayor of Shanghai, Vice Chairman of Shanghai municipal Informatization Commission Secretary General for Foreign Affairs of the Basque Government, Members of the private sector, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, (the order to be confirmed) It is an honor to participate in this first session of the CIFAL-Shanghai, jointly organized by the Regional Cooperation Office for City Informatization (RCOCI) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) with the support of ALCATEL.

2 CIFAL means «International Training Center for Local Actors». Eleven CIFAL Centers exist in the world and Shanghaï is one of them. The workshop which begins today is very important for three reasons: It is the first to be organized by CIFAL-Shanghaï and it officially launches the activities of the Center; It will help formulate concrete action plan of Chinese cities on the crucial issue of e- administration; the conclusions of the workshop will be taken into consideration to prepare a major international event: the II World Summit of Cities and Local Governement in the Information Society organized under the leadership of the Basque Public Institutions which will take place in Bilbao 9-11 November UNITAR Let me present you briefly UNITAR. This autonomous organ of the UN was created in 1965 to enhance the effectiveness of the Organization in achieving its major objectives through appropriate training and research. UNITAR s programmes are established under two main clusters of activity, namely 1. Training in international affairs management, and 2. Training and capacity building in economic and social development and environment. Some 150 different programmes, seminars and workshops are designed and conducted each year throughout the world, benefiting close to 8,000 participants mainly from developing countries and countries with economies in transition. UNITAR has been conducting capacity building and training programme in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) since At present, UNITAR offers a wide range of training activities on ICT, from basic training through thematic workshops such as this workshop on e-administration, to more technical aspects such as monitoring the environment through geographical information systems and Internet. These activities are conducted in partnership with other UN agencies, governmental organizations, associations of local authorities, NGOs, academia and private partners. 2

3 Local authorities Local governments are continuously gaining political influence thanks to decentralization and democratization processes. It is now recognized by the UN and the international community that local authorities play a key role in development. Cities and regions represent the closest point of contact for their citizens and their activities can be adapted to their specific needs and achieve a greater level of effectiveness. The Cardoso Report on the relationship between the UN and non State actors - local authorities, private sector and civil society - stresses the growing importance of elected representatives and authorities at the local level as major players to achieve international development goals and build closer connections with citizens. Partnership between local authorities, UN, and the private sector is an emerging trend which is highly supported by the UN Secretary General as a very efficient way to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Decentralized Cooperation Programme To better serve local authorities UNITAR has establishment a specific programme called the Decentralized Cooperation Programme (DCP). It aims to provide local authorities and local actors with the necessary training and good practices to achieve their goals in terms of local development. To ensure appropriate training UNITAR has created the International Network of Training and Capacity Building Centres around the world, called CIFAL Network. The municipality of Shanghai, through the Regional Cooperation Office for City Informatization (RCOCI) is in charge of developing the activities of the Center not only for China's needs but also for the Asia-Pacific Region as a whole. As mentioned, CIFAL Shanghaï is part of the international network of 11 Centers distributed around the world. Other Centers are in Spain (Bilbao and Barcelona), France (Lyon and Divonne-les-Bains), Poland, Africa (South Africa and Burkina Faso), Latin America (Brasil) and United States (Atlanta). I am personally very happy to be here today to officially launch the activities of this 3

4 Center in presence of the vice Mayor of Shanghaï, the Basque Public institutions, Alcatel and our partners from the academic community, the e-atlas. CIFAL-Shanghaï will specifically focus on Information Society for Asia-Pacific Region. CIFAL-Shanghaï is a platform for capacity building, training and knowledge sharing between local authorities and their partners. Information is a strategic resource for decision making at the local level. This is why CIFAL-Shanghaï will play an important role in helping local authorities to proactively use ICT to bring about better governance, implement sustainable development, and improve the lives of their citizens. The survey conducted by RCOCI on Chinese cities priorities show that there is a great interest in using of ICT in many fields especially: local administration, public safety and emergency management, heath care, social services and sustainable development. The need to improve local economic development, develop job opportunities and modernize the traditional industry is the red thread of all this. The Road to the Bilbao Summit The first phase of the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was held in Geneva in December Local authorities have taken the initiative and mobilized their resources, together with the UN and other partners, to organize a World Summit of Cities and Local Authorities in the Information Society. The first Summit, held in Lyon, France in 2003, was a big success. The Bilbao Summit will go a step further in terms of political commitment of local authorities and concrete implementation strategies. The conclusions and recommendations of the Bilbao Summit will be presented to the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society due to take place in mid-november 2005 in Tunisia. This workshop, starting today, will actively contribute to prepare the Bilbao Summit. The outputs of this workshop will be the basis for Chinese cities action plan in the field of e- 4

5 administration. It will also be fully integrated in the recommendations to Bilbao. I thank you for your interest in collaborating with UNITAR and wish a great success to this one week workshop in Shanghaï. Note : As of February 2005, the CIFAL network also includes: CIFAL Atlanta (USA) for the Americas on Public-Private Partnerships and trade diplomacy, CIFAL Barcelona (Spain) on Urban Security and Cultural Diversity, CIFAL Bilbao (Spain) on the Information Society, CIFAL Curitiba (Brazil) for Latin America and the Caribbean on sustainable development and the Information Society, CIFAL Divonne-les-Bains (France) on Local Agenda 21 and training on the United Nations system, CIFAL Durban (South Africa) for English-speaking Africa on sustainable development and the Information Society, CIFAL Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) for Asia-Pacific on sustainable development, CIFAL Lyon (France) on Public Health, quality of life for sustainable development and CIFAL Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) for French-speaking Africa on sustainable development and CIFAL Plock (Poland) for Central Europe on Public-Private Partnership, sustainable development and Information Society. 5