|
The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), in collaboration
with the Canadian ePolicy Resource Centre (CePRC) and under
the Global ePolicy Resource Network (ePol-NET), facilitated
the participation of over 54 e-Government and ICT Policy makers
from 25 African countries in the Canadian Government Technology
Exhibition and Conference Week (GTEC) 2006. GTEC Week, which
has just concluded, was held from 23 – 27 October 2006
in Ottawa, Canada.
The Canadian GTEC event, launched in 1993, is recognized as
Canada's most significant forum on the use of technology to
improve government services and operations. The event features
an annual Distinction Awards program and gala, a comprehensive
Professional Development Forum, and the GTEC Exhibition and
Showcase of IT products, services, and solutions. The conference
program and extensive trade show are attended annually by
an estimated 7,000 professionals including delegates (senior
business and government officials) from more than 40 countries.
In addition to the three-day conference, CePRC organized with
other Canadian Government Agencies a two day long session
for the African participants.
The Hon. Madam Neneh MacDouall-Gaye, Secretary of State for
Communication, Gambia, made a presentation highlighting the
advantages and disadvantages of e-Government in Africa. The
presentation outlined the challenges of implementation of
e-Government policies in Africa and examined the need for
greater partnerships, particularly in relation to good governance,
poverty reduction and the drive to achieve the United Nation's
Millennium Development Goals.
On the relevance and impact of the GTEC week, a delegate from
Mozambique, Mr Salamao Manhica, director of ICT policy implementation
stated, “The Canadian approach to e-government is
excellent, it is one of the few examples in the world of ever
increasing satisfaction of citizens with public services”.
Ms Christine Anyango Agimba, Kenya’s Deputy Solicitor-General
reiterated, “As a legal expert, I can appreciate
the practical policy considerations and issues to focus on
in developing a more effective policy/regulatory framework
and relevant laws to promote e-Government in delivering services
to citizens”.
In a collective statement, the francophone African countries
of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea, Mali, Morocco, Niger,
Senegal and Tunisia represented at GTEC this year, also called
on CePRC and ECA to ”consider Senegal’s proposal
to host a follow-up to GTEC for francophone countries to share
their e-Government experiences, promoting south-south cooperation”.
The Officer-in-Charge of the ISTD, Ms. Aida Opoku-Mensah who
represented ECA at GTEC and Ms Wendy Ace, Executive Director
of CePRC, announced the launch of GTEC Africa to be held in
the second quarter of 2007. The event aims to showcase African
successes in the use of IT to promote e-Government for service
delivery to citizens.
The
Economic Commission for Africa, with support from the Government
of Canada set up the African regional node of ePol-NET working
in partnership with Industry Canada and the Canadian ePolicy
Resource Centre (CePRC).
For
more on GTEC: www.gtecweek.com
|
