Manama (UNA-OIC) – Bahrain, represented by the Information & E-Government Authority (iGA), has announced the hosting of the “Virtual Regional Workshop for eGovernment Experts” (ReGE21).
The event will provide valuable inputs to the United Nations eGovernment Development Report 2022 as well as present key Arab issues that should be incorporated in the report.
iGA’s pioneering and distinguished role at the regional level, related to the development of eGovernment, supporting the system of cooperation and exchange of experiences between Arab countries, makes it the perfect organization to host the event.
iGA will hold the virtual workshop on June 9 to be chaired by iGA Chief Executive Mohammed Ali Al Qaed and with the wide participation of the finest experts, specialists and senior officials in eGovernment in the Arab countries and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC).
One of the main speakers at the regional workshop is Vincenzo Acquaro, Head of the Digital Government Branch, Division for Public Enterprises and Digital Government at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) in the United States.
The high-level workshop will also host officials of the digital government and the information technology section in the GCC and a number of Arab countries, as well as a selection of speakers from senior information officials, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) experts, decision-makers, academics, United Nations representatives and government officials from all over the world.
The workshop comes from the premise of discussing ways to improve the measurement indicators in the United Nations eGovernment Report, keeping pace with the continuous changes that the world is witnessing today and the rapid steps in the field of ICT, and its various effective uses by government and citizens in their daily lives.
It aims to promote and develop a better understanding of what the United Nations eGovernment report targets, identify challenges related to E-Government development indicators, and exchange knowledge between the GCC countries and the Arab countries participating with brief interventions.
This will contribute to strengthening the methodology of the United Nations while evaluating the eGovernments, and their successful experiences will be shared with countries around the world.
The workshop also reflects the keenness of the participating countries to find effective ways to improve the public service and its provision in a manner that meets the needs of the beneficiaries.
It also involves them in the process of continuous improvement of countries in order to achieve sustainable development and to push for the inclusion of indicators for measuring the performance of eGovernments contained in the United Nations Report, in the national development strategies and its main performance indicators for various countries.
This will ensure the advancement of levels of service provision, in order to achieve comprehensive digital transformation at all levels.
The workshop will start with a series of presentations by United Nations and eGovernment and development experts. It will be followed by discussions on the indicators of the United Nations eGovernment Report, revolving around a set of important items.
They include the possibility of relying on the data entered to measure the indicators correctly and the adoption of measurement methods indicators by the United Nations, interpretation of the report’s findings, new international trends for digital government, and potential case studies from the GCC and other participating countries.
The workshop’s final session will be devoted to presenting the recommendations that will be submitted to the UNDESA before presenting them to the United Nations team of experts.