UNDESA/DPADM will be holding its annual Public Service Awards (PSA) gathering in Seoul this coming June and has approached our Singapore center to organize a panel on e-governance/smart governance. As the center has no real expertise in these areas, in spite of their open support for innovation, it has reached out to DGG for support.
As background, the center was established by UNDP almost two years ago but its design and setup started back in 2010, led by DGG and the old CDG. In spite of some of our efforts, ICTs were never part of teh equation -which is more paradoxical as Singapore is one of the global leaders on traditional e-government.
Being that as it may, I spoke to the Director of the Center and explained our approach to e-governance and its relevance for both innovation and service delivery. The approach was fully endorsed by the Center while acknowledging that they have no in-house expertise on ICTs and their relevance for human development. I also shared a couple of papers (on pro-poor service delivery and ICTs and the MAF) which were also well received.
We have agreed to work more closely together on the issues while at the same time supporting their role in PSA.
Cheers, Raúl
