The aim of the conference was to look at ways in which local, provincial and national governments can become more citizen-centred by using information and communication technologies. The conference intended to lay the foundation for a standardised egovernance model for all spheres of government in South Africa.
Electronic governance - egovernance - has been successfully adopted by governments across the world because of its ability to improve communication and interaction between citizens and their governments.
Egovernance includes both internet and non-online communication technologies such as email, online community facilities, newsgroups, online chat, instant messaging and smart cards, among others.
The theme for the conference was "From policy to practice", with experts speaking on technology solutions driving the online environment around the world.
A selection of local and international good practice case studies were discussed, with representatives from all spheres of government sharing their experiences and lessons learned in making egovernment an integral part of public service delivery.
Topics included egovernment policies, strategies and implementation; critical information and communication technology applications; new ideas for improving public service efficiency and effectiveness; how technology can improve the democratic process; interoperability and standards; and emerging technologies.
Matt Poelmans, the director of the e-Citizen Programme in the Netherlands, was the keynote speaker. Referring to government agencies in general, Poelmans said that although citizen-centred systems are in place, these are often not standardised. Instead, each sphere of government is doing things their own way.
"The challenge lies in convincing all institutions involved of the necessity of a standard, making them co-operate in developing it and getting the result generally adopted."
Poelmans talked about the Dutch e-Citizen Charter and how this can be adapted to South Africa. Contemporary citizens have "digital rights" that have to be accommodated in an information society, he argued. The Dutch e-Citizen Charter introduced a new partnership between citizens and governments in which more responsibility and choice was given to citizens. Poelmans feels this model is applicable in all democratic countries.
Another speaker, Carl-Markus Piswanger, an egovernment architect at the Austrian Federal Computing Centre, gave a European perspective of edemocracy and explored methods of finding egovernment best practices for the local public sector.
Egovernance experiences from Australia and Finland, were discussed, while breakaway networks are to discuss the challenges and delivery applications of egovernment.
Local speakers included Trudy Van Wyk, from the Ministry of Education; Henry Chasia, from eNepad e-Africa Commission; Ernst & Young's Kayode Adesemowo; Mike Brierly, from MTN Networks; Michael Silber, from Beacon IT Group; Conology's Kevin Meltzer; and Professor Barry Dwolatzky from the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Presentation for Seminar
