Dubai School of Government receives top Harvard and international thinkers during regional e-government conference

The conference entitled "From E-Government to I-Government: How Information Government will Revolutionize the Public Sector" to be held on 23 - 24 May 2005, is being organised by the Dubai School of Government (DSG) in partnership with Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

"This conference provides senior public sector decision-makers with the insight, strategies and information to overcome the challenges facing Arab governments looking to improve both bilateral information flow and services to its citizens through e-government implementation," said Mohammad Al Gergawi, Executive President at Dubai School of Government. "This whole region is going through tremendous political, social and economic transformation, forcing the public sector to adapt new policies and strategies as well as a new approach to communicate to and better service its citizens. 'e-Government in the 21st Century' conference will gather global visionaries, policy makers and intellectuals to share insight on how governments can develop, implement and manage effective e-government models for the future of our generations."

Moving beyond technology infrastructure discussions, the conference will highlight the challenges and opportunities faced by governments in developing an efficient system of
communication among citizens while improving the flow of information in both directions, creating stronger engagement with greater participation and involvement between governments and their constituencies.

"E-government research has traditionally focused on either efficiency or competitiveness gains. We feel this is not enough," said Professor Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger,,Harvard faculty and co-chair of the upcoming conference . "As we have learned from recent experience, successful interaction can be achieved by creating the channels that carry information between governments and its citizens, not by simply focusing on the technology infrastructure. It is the flow of information that will help to create more transparent and effective governments while increasing citizen involvement and participation in the creation of policies that affect their lives, hence 'i-government' or information-government, an approach that will improve the way governments and citizens will interact in the future."

"We can start using technologies to facilitate a broader and deeper re-conceptualization of the role and functioning of government" adds Harvard Professor David Lazer, who is associate director of the US-based National Center for Digital Government and chairs the conference with Mayer-Schönberger. "While 'electronic government' means efficiency-driven technology in the public sector, our challenge is to conceptualize 'information government', a public sector deeply connected to its citizenry," says Lazer.

The invitation-only conference, "E-Government in the 21st Century: Towards i-Government - From Networks to Strategy", brings together Arab ministers, government decision-makers and heads of industry from across the region. Dubai School of Government, a leading knowledge institution for governmental studies in the region, is organising this event following the successful recent completion of the Executive Education Program on e-government in March 2005.