Injazat Data Systems co-sponsors vital round table discussion on Gulf e-government initiatives

INSEAD Prof. Soumitra Dutta, Dean of External Relations; Dr. Bruno Lanvin, Executive Director of eLab@INSEAD; and Dr. Yousif Asfour, Director of The Injazat Institute, will moderate a round-table discussion on the current and short-term goals and challenges of the region's e-government initiatives.

"Technology initiatives are essential to the Federal Government's effort to streamline operations and modernize public services. As the region's premier providers of strategic ICT implementations, we work with INSEAD to make this event a starting point for the development of an informal community of thought leaders in the field. We want to encourage businesses and the academe to lend their full support for e-governance, which is a key factor in national efforts to attain sustainable development,"

said Dr. Yousif Asfour, Director of The Injazat Institute.

The seminar will provide an excellent platform for e-government specialists, policy-makers and advocates in the UAE and throughout the Gulf to interact and network.

It also promises to encourage open and productive discussions through its academic setting and the restricted presence of media.

The event will be moderated by experts who will guide participants in identifying crucial issues that the e-government community can jointly address in the second half of 2008.

The UAE was recently ranked 32nd in the 2008 e-Government Survey prepared by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, topping the Gulf in electronic government readiness.

The feat was achieved mainly through significant investment in broadband infrastructure and the expansion of e-government services for citizens.

The Injazat-INSEAD venture is expected to further boost the UAE's e-governance stature in the global arena.

Established in September 2007, INSEAD's Centre for Executive Education and Research in Abu Dhabi aims to bring INSEAD's expertise as a leading global business school to the Middle East and educate executives on business issues of particular relevance to the UAE and to the region.

The Centre has emerged as an important component in INSEAD's worldwide learning and knowledge dissemination network.