ILSAN, GYEONGGI- On October 23, the Global e-Government Forum (GeGF) 2013 successfully wrapped up its 2-day journey. The 2 annual forum attracted over 1,200 participants, including 25 ministerial-level government officials from 23 nations and nearly 300 high-ranking officials from 45 nations.
The GeGF 2013, held at KINTEX, Ilsan on October 22 -23, served as a great opportunity to globally promote Government 3.0, the Park Geun-hye government’s new governance paradigm designed for greater public happiness. Kazakhstan has been chosen to serve as host for the next GeGF in 2014.
According to the Ministry of Security and Public Administration (MOSPA) of the Republic of Korea, the agreement on the location of the next GeGF venue was reached during a High-level Roundtable session during the finale of the GeGF 2013.
Shim Deok-Seob, the Director General of the e-Government Bureau of MOSPA said, “Kazakhstan had strongly expressed its willingness to play host to the GeGF 2014, sending official correspondences to the South Korean government. Following working-level consultations with the co-host of the GeGF 2013, the UN,Kazakhstan has finally been chosen as the next GeGF venue.”
Yoo Jeong-bok, Minister of Security and Public Administration of South Korea, said, “I hope the GeGF 2013, which marks the second year for this forum, to serve as the cornerstone for closer government-to-government collaboration. Furthermore, I hope we will reunite next year to share our impressive progress in e-government at the GeGF 2014, scheduled to be held in Kazakhstan.”
Kazakhstan looks to sign an MoU with South Korea to pave the way for the GeGF 2014.
Having strenuously followed through with a mid-and long-term e-government development plan, Kazakhstan is currently running comprehensive, systemic e-government systems. In particular, Kazakhstan is fast emerging as an up-and-coming e-government player in the international community, finishing 38th in the UN Global E-Government Survey of 2012 and ranking right behind first-placed South Korea in the E-Participation Index. Kazakhstan’s major e-government systems include e-procurement, e-authorization, e-learning and national database systems.
“As the GeGF 2014 is slated to be held in Astana, we will strike a MoU with the South Korean government in order to leverage South Korea’s ample experience when making preparations for the 3rd GeGF,” said Saken Sarsenov, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Transport and Communications of Kazakhstan.
“As e-government puts a high premium on the removal of barriers between the government and the public and a more efficient provision of public services, the government of Kazakhstan will double its efforts to slash the volume of documents that citizens are required to submit through document electronization and to raise the scale of public convenience,” said Minister Sarsenov.
“Above all, South Korea excels in e-customs, e-learning, and intelligent transportation systems. Therefore, we plan to acquire South Korea’s advanced technologies in these areas by signing a MoU with the nation,” added Minister Sarsenov.
Minister Sarsenov also stressed, “There is a need to step up international collaboration in the provision of ‘mobile e-government services’ given that the current IT trend has so much to do with ‘connectivity with smart phones.’”
“For instance, Kazakhstan will closely join forces with the South Korean government in making improvements to “mobile” systems so as to allow its citizens to have unbridled access to e-government public services anywhere anytime using their smartphones,” said Minister Sarsenov.
Ahn Moon Suk, endowed chair professor and professor emeritus at Korea University, advocated “popular sovereignty over information” in his keynote speech.
Following a speech made by Mohamed Ali Al Qaed, CEO of e-Government Authority Bahrain, in the 3rd-floor Conference Room at KINTEX on October 23, Ahn Moon Suk, endowed chair professor and professor emeritus at Korea University, took the podium.
Delivering his speech titled “The Success Story of the Korean e-Government, and the Gov 3.0 Initiative: History and Perspectives,” Professor Ahn elaborated on the successful factors of South Korea’s e-government systems and South Korea’s vision for the future of e-government in front of dignitaries from 45 nations.
Professor Ahn said, “With the advent of social networking services (SNS), networks have rapidly evolved from “data to data connections” to “person to person connections,” thereby integrating the entire people into a living organization (or a living system). Therefore, in this era of SNS, the old-fashioned administrative mantra of “the greatest happiness of the greatest number” will definitely stand to lose out to the next-generation e-government vision of a “human-centered government of warm hearts.”
In other words, Professor Ahn explained in his speech that transparency in governance should be doubled to boost public participation and governments should transition to ones that furnish the public with customized public services tailored to individual demands.
Underlining repeatedly that the gist of such next-generation e-government systems is in the same vein as Government 3.0, Professor Ahn raised a question: Does data held by the government belong to the government or to the public
Professor Ahn mentioned, “Take, for example, three North European nations: Norway, Sweden and Finland. By fully disclosing government data to the public in the belief that data held by their governments belong to the public, theses three nations have effectively eradicated corruption, consequently taking their national competitiveness to the next level.”
“In the past, the South Korean government had kept a tight rein on the management of all the data. However, the Park Geun-hye government has declared full disclosure of government data, putting forward the Government 3.0 initiative,” said Professor Ahn. He predicted that the Park Geun-hye government’s open data strategy would result in the creation of new markets and numerous jobs, turning the South Korean economy into a “creative” one.
“In contrast to traditional e-government systems that have been led mainly by governments and large companies, the next generation of e-government is a customized system that factors in ideas and creativity coming from SMEs, the private sector, and each and every one of the people. Thus, once the government’s large-scale preemptive investment in e-government is followed by cooperation with companies and the private sector, South Korea’s global lead in e-government will be sustained for many years to come,” Professor Ahn forecast.
Viewing Kazakhstan’s hosting of the 3rd GeGF as a well-thought-out and timely decision, Professor Ahn analyzed that it is necessary for Kazakhstan, the 9th largest nation by area, to sink its teeth into building networks in an effort to put its vast territory under over-arching systems. “As the Kazakhstan government has been continuously keen on the development of e-government systems, the nation is expected to make giant strides in e-government in the future,” Professor Ahn said.
Early this year, Professor Ahn was named an honorary professor at International Information Technology University (IITU), located in Almaty, and received an honorary professorship certificate, issued by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
