IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Collaborations between digital enterprises and the public sector to jointly develop e-governance between Estonia and Ukraine were launched on Tuesday with a series of events called a 'Digital Society Sandbox'.

The events were initiated by President Kersti Kaljulaid and the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, and kicked off in Tallinn during Zelensky's one-day visit to Estonia.

Estonian Economy and Infrastructure Minister Urve Palo signed on Friday an agreement between Estonia and Singapore, with the aim of cooperation in the information and communication technology (ICT) sphere, LETA/Postimees Online reports.

"This is great recognition for the whole of the Estonian ICT sector, and in particular because Singapore has entered into similar agreements with few countries," said Estonian Economy and Infrastructure Minister Urve Palo. "Similar to Estonia, Singapore is a highly developed IT-country and the cooperation agreement opens doors for Estonian entrepreneurs."

The agreement is believed to be the first international agreement to be concluded using electronic signatures.

The agreement involves Estonia's assistance to Finland in adopting the X-Road system, the "backbone" data exchange layer that connects the different databases used by the nation's various online services, said a statement by the Estonian Government Office on Wednesday.

Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology Urve Palo (SDE) and France's Secretary of State for Digital Affairs Mounir Mahjoubi are to sign a cooperation agreement between the two countries, the goal of which is to exchange best practices and solutions in the field of e-governance and digital governance.

In the agreement to be signed on Monday, both countries state the wish to keep the digital field as the horizontal priority of both countries' policies. The goal of this cooperation is to exchange experience, different e-solutions and information as well as principles in the fields of e-governance, digital economy and cyber security, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications said.

During their meeting, the foreign minister of the Republic of Korea was first and foremost interested in the utilisation of information technology in the Estonian public sector. Foreign Minister Urmas Paet stated that there is a great deal of untapped potential in economic and trade relations between Estonia and South Korea.

aris and Tallinn have signed an e-government agreement to combat cyberattacks and develop the digital economy. EURACTIV’s partnerLa Tribune reports.

There are three chapters to the agreement signed on March 19 by Mounir Mahjoubi, French Secretary of State in charge of Digital Affairs, and Urve Palo, Estonian Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology: digital governance, digital economy, and cybersecurity. It also mentions the possibility of “sharing existing technical solutions”, “organising [joint] events”, setting up “pilot projects” and increasing “expert visits”. Each country will have to appoint an advisor by the end of the month.

Hampshire and Oxfordshire Agree New ICT PartnershipAs reported by UKauthorITy.com in December, the agreement is the result of a decision to share an SAP will initially be centred on an SAP system that bothcouncils use for their human resources and finances. Under the new arrangements, Hampshire will replace a private contractor supporting Oxfordshire's SAP system, saving Oxfordshire £1m over the next three years, and generating shared capacity for Hampshire county council.

The two forces have created a combined information, communication and technology department, which is being managed by Thames Valley.

The forces said the deal aims to "realise cost reductions that would not be achievable individually".

Police staff working at both forces will work together in one department managed by Thames Valley police.

The forces said that the collaboration builds on other successful shared services projects in the south east region, and added that it will provide "real opportunities to enhance and improve the services delivered to the public".

The word partnership has been used and misused in local government for years. The term should be used to describe achieving objectives by co-operation. But, at times, it is used to describe any activity where one individual or organisation works with another – losing any effective meaning along the way.

Partnership has both benefits and risks. The track record for the public sector is mixed. Regular news items highlight the failure of partnership to realise planned benefits or to keep to set budgets or timescales. This is often attributed to a lack of formal structure and clear risk-sharing arrangements.

As Internet becomes increasingly social allowing instant access to shared information, governments across the Gulf region have put a premium on strengthening efforts to tap into web-enabled technologies to engage the public.

With regional e-Government service delivery on the rise, ICDL GCC Foundation, an organisation that promotes digital skills and cyber safety for-all across the GCC, believes there is a greater need now for developing skills within the governments to address the intricacies of online collaboration technology.

Indonesia and Singapore have agreed to establish cooperation in the field of electronic governance, which is the implementation of government activities using technology.

The agreement was marked by the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Indonesias Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Yuddy Chrisnandi and Singapores Communications and Information Minister Yacoob Ibrahim.

With Indonesia pushing ahead with an ambitious smart cities program, we look at the role Finland can play in guiding the Southeast Asian nation throughout the lifespan of its transformative initiative. The article also explores the opportunities emerging for Finnish businesses.

The Indonesian government has been wooing partners for its nationwide smart cities program – an ambitious digitization program bringing together multiple parts of the state apparatus and copious private sector partners. The President’s vision of turning Indonesia into a “smart nation” will be actualized by the country’s Smart City Master Plan, which despite being nearly a decade old, is still in its infancy. The smart city concept has been implemented in countries around the world and is touted as the solution for various urban problems, including connectivity, pollution, housing, traffic, water quality, etc.

Earlier this week Team Finland in Jakarta visited the city of Bogor to discuss the Smart City cooperation between Indonesian and Finnish Cities.

According to the Embassy of Finland in Indonesia, Finland is one of the leading European countries in developing Smart Cities, keen to share its experiences and knowledge of our Smart City concept and initiative.

Universitas Indonesia (UI) has collaborated with Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, to introduce the first post-graduate e-Government program in Asia Pacific.

The e-government program is developed specifically to enable professionals to learn, develop and manage e-government initiatives such as the transformation of digital services and the online form of public engagement.

Microsoft India will continue to partner Assam to enable better e-governance services in the state, the tech giant has said.

The company was the first global public cloud service provider to be accredited by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), it said in a release.

Microsoft technologies currently power several core e-governance and critical projects in Assam, the release said.

In the first step towards becoming ‘friends’, the governments of Delhi and Seoul approved the draft of a “friendship city agreement” on Wednesday, as per a statement from the Delhi government.

A delegation of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, led by Mayor Park Won-Soon, met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. As per the draft agreement, the two cities will cooperate and carry out exchanges in the fields of Smart City, e-governance, transportation, culture, tourism, climate change and environment.

A year after Nagaland Government signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with e-Governance Academy of Estonia during the e-Naga Summit 2018 to provide advisory and technical knowledge for setting up e-Governance Academy of Nagaland, the Estonian Ambassador to India, Katrin Kivi, Saturday assured to measure the implementation of MoU in the state.

Speaking at the during the 5th e-Naga Summit at RCEMPA Jotsoma here, the Ambassador said that Estonian experts have been taking part in the e-Naga Summit for the fourth year in a row and exuded confidence that the cooperation would be carried forward and new ideas would emerge from the regular visits and interactions between Estonia and Nagaland. The 5th e-Naga Summit is being organized by the department of IT&C Nagaland on the theme “Towards Making the State of Nagaland a leader in e-Democracy and Digital Society”.

India and Russia will collaborate in digital economy and explore areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and e-health, Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Friday.

He said the inherent strengths of India and Russia in software and hardware provide growth avenues for mutual benefits.