The Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (UN-APCICT/ESCAP), a regional institute of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, began a training session on ICT project management for twenty-three government officials from Pacific Island States at its training facilities in Incheon, Republic of Korea, from 12 to 13 July 2010.
The two-day session delivered Module 7, ICT Project Management in Theory and Practice, of the "Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders" (Academy). Module 7 introduces basic project management concepts, methods, processes and project management disciplines commonly used by development and ICT service management practitioners.
The training also includes a roundtable session to discuss ways forward on Academy Module 3, e-Government Applications, which the PIF e-Government Workshop participants completed prior to the start of today's session and which covers e-government concepts, principles and types of applications, as well as the risk factors in e-government implementation.
The Academy, APCICT's flagship ICT human resource and institutional capacity building programme, is designed to equip government officials and development stakeholders with the knowledge and tools to fully leverage ICT solutions for socio-economic development.
The session is a part of the two-week long PIF Officials' e-Government Workshop based out of Sungkyungkwan University and co-organized by the Pacific Island Forum (PIF), the Global e-Policy and e-Government Institute of Sungkyungkwan University, the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT), and APCICT.
The PIF e-Government Workshop is the third time APCICT has sponsored the event in collaboration with PIF, Sungkyungkwan University, and MOFAT. The workshops have been an integral part of APCICT's work with Pacific Island countries. Over the last two years, APCICT has also worked with the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC), now the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), to roll-out the Academy in the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu. Last year, SPC secured European Union funds in support of its 'ICT Access for the Poor' project, which aims to enhance the ICT capacity of legislators and policymakers in 14 Pacific Island States using APCICT's Academy programme.
"The continuance and growth of the PIF e-Government Workshop is a testament to the enthusiasm with which officials from the Pacific Island countries have embraced the use of ICT for national and regional socio-economic development," said Dr. Hyeun-Suk Rhee, Director of APCICT. "The lessons learned here today and throughout the workshop will help strengthen economic and social connectivity in the Pacific, and in particular facilitate the development and implementation of ICT related projects and the delivery of quality e-government services to citizens in Pacific Island countries."
SOURCE: UNESCAP
