IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

The rise of business opportunities in Asia, coupled with a growing digital society, has wired up not simply markets and private companies, but governments across the region. Empowering citizens, investors and businesses through seamless connections and innovative services, Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Centre (ADSIC) is improving its capacity-building initiatives to offer a smart government that can efficiently serve its citizens and customer bases in Asia and worldwide.

"We're not just focusing on the technology, but we are putting in place people who are capable of handling and using the technology," says ADSIC director general Rashed Lahej Al Mansoori. "The pillars of human capital, infrastructure, awareness and governance allow us to move forward. All initiatives happening in Abu Dhabi apply a leadership thought to cope with changes globally."

Under the title: "The United Arab Emirates after e-Government", the bulletin said that the turning of ideas into production tools and reality took long centuries in the past, but those centuries shrunk to decades and then to just years and months. Now, we now live in a different age, in which ideas turn to reality thanks to the products of technology of applications and tools which have made it easier for humans to achieve their mission of daily life, and helped the exchange of experiences and knowledge between communities.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has ordered amending the name of Dubai e-Government to Dubai Smart-Government starting from Thursday, June 30, 2013.

The new name is in consistence with the initiative that was launched by Shaikh Mohammad in May to turn the e-Government into a smart-Government.

The New Times reports Rwandan Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi called for more commitment toward projects that will change the continent.

The expected global market size for smart cities is $1.565 trillion (cumulative) by 2020, out of which smart governance is expected to be about 12% – $180 billion. The market for electronic government services is especially strong in emerging countries which are racing to modernize their public sector and transform citizen service delivery. International institutions like the World Bank, IMF, ADB etc., are encouraging emerging countries to become efficient, transparent and accountable, and are providing significant amounts of funding for their e-government initiatives. Furthermore in the North American market, there is a call for governments to modernize their systems to deliver better services in an integrated fashion with better efficiencies, while reducing their overall costs. Imex Systems Inc.’s offerings are capable of achieving these goals, as it provides all the pre-built components required in building an effective e-government.

Smart government. Why not? We have “smart” everything else, and a large number of city, county, and state governments are getting the idea. The concept behind “smart” government is that citizens, businesses, tourists, and other governments can all benefit from information and services that can be delivered via the Internet, as opposed to telephone and face-to-face interaction. While the concept is not new (most city, country, regional and state governments already have websites), the applications are expanding. And well they should. It’s about time that governments become responsive to their constituents.

“This market could be developed by providing data to private entities to develop relevant online applications that can benefit the public,” said Ibrahim El Badawi of the public-sector advisory company Exantium. “Data is the fuel of a successful smart government.”

Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, says the present administration is leveraging on the benefits of the digital revolution, innovation and convergence of technology to kick-start a new digitally SMART Nigeria.

The Minister also said that the Federal Government is partnering with South Korea on e-Government on the Smart Nigeria initiative, adding that the collaboration would enhance Nigeria’s capability for efficiency, transparency and accountability in governance, with its attendant benefits trickling down to the citizens.

Smart Rwanda is about creating a citizen-centric and business-friendly service delivery ecosystem, realised through public and private investments, to transform the economy and benefit Rwandans.

A speech delivered by Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, director-general of TRA, opened proceedings where he welcomed the participating GCC delegations representing a whole host of regional e-Government initiatives and departments. In his speech, Al Ghanim emphasised the depth of relationship between GCC countries and the strength of the cultural ties that unify them.

The powers behind India’s first ‘smart city’ tell us that “land is not an issue”. But with the neoliberalisation of space comes a disturbing transformation of citizenship via data and real estate.

On a scorching day in May we made our way to the much publicised GIFT (Gujarat International Financial Tech-city). Anticipation was building as we turned the car off the main highway into a byroad dotted with signs announcing the arrival of GIFT. One of the professors from CEPT University, who had secured an invitation to a corporate presentation in GIFT city, remarked how the landscape looked similar to Dubai: clean pavements without rubbish, manicured lawns, mature trees that did not grow natively in the region, and a general absence of people on the roads.

The govt has set up its own centre to develop targeted software solutions that will meet the needs of different government departments instead of knocking on either the door of private tech firms or NIC.

The Karnataka state government is setting up its own Centre for Smart Governance (CSG) to develop targeted software solutions to meet the needs of different government departments instead of knocking on either the door of private tech firms or the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

The Transport Department is trying to make governance citizen-friendly and cost-effective by increasingly relying on online services to bring accountability and transparency into the system. The basic idea of Smart Cities is to smartly utilise the available resources to sustain every function of urban livelihood, says B Dayananda, Commissioner for Transport and Road Safety, Department of Transport, Government of Karnataka, in conversation with Ritika Srivastava of Elets News Network (ENN).

Ongoing economic uncertainty and a slowdown in government technology investment continue to delay or limit the adoption of digital innovation and radically redesigned service models. The structure of government has remained largely unchanged for more than half a century, even as the needs and expectations of citizens and businesses have outpaced the ability to adequately address them.

Technological capabilities and social forces have now converged to move government organizations beyond simple online efficiencies. Technology now enables them to optimize, transform or create entirely new services, while renovating back-end systems.

He highlighted the need to ensure that information is useful and eases transactions between government and citizens. He urged government agencies and ministries to regularly update their websites so that the latest information is displayed.

A propriety Distributed Ledger Technology can revolutionise societies and businesses.

The founders of Maltese start-up TechWeave believe time is way too precious to be wasted. For instance, why do new property owners need to spend significant time to inform local authorities and other third-parties about their change in address? Would it be more convenient if such changes could be inputted through an eID online portal and all necessary updates would be automatically performed by merely providing our consent? This simple online application can spare a typical person hours of queuing and parking.

SUSTAINABILITY means living in harmony with the nature in full recognition of the needs, healthy environment, economic prosperity and social justice are pursued simultaneously to ensure the well-being and quality of life of present and future generations. Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of TODAY without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs.

PM Lee makes pitch to investors, corporate bigwigs to use S’pore as base to ‘change the world’

While the Government will muster all resources, build the infrastructure and create schemes, the private sector and members of the public have to step up in order for Singapore to realise its Smart Nation vision, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.

“We need you, the companies and the people, to step forward, to contribute, to spark the bright ideas,” he said.

Singapore does not chase technology for technology's sake, but to improve the lives of its people, Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information Janil Puthucheary told Parliament on Monday (Sept 11).

Several MPs had voiced their concerns that the elderly may be left out in Singapore's pursuit to go cashless and digital, including for e-government services.

Smart government is an extension of e-government which applies information, communication, and operational technologies to all operational areas across multiple domains, process areas, and jurisdictions to generate sustainable public value. The smart government market is characterized by the presence of numerous well-established and highly competitive market entities/players. These players adopt various strategies like expansion, acquisition, partnership, collaboration, and technology to gain competitive advantage and defend their market share. The market is also characterized by growth in R&D activities in recent times. The global smart government market is expected to showcase impressive growth in the coming years.