Abu Dhabi: This morning, the 17th of May, 2010, at the InterContinental Hotel, the Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Center (ADSIC) has organized Abu Dhabi First Technological Development Forum, attended by Andrea de Maio, Government Information Technology Research Vice President in Gartner Research, and a large number of Strategic and Technical Information Managers in government institutions in the various Emirates. The forum aims at exploring state-of-the-art developments in IT & Telecommunications as well as discussing the ways of utilizing these developments in short and long-term plans in various government bodies.
Rashed Al Mansouri said, "The Abu Dhabi First Technological Development Forum, which will be held periodically, stems from comes from the sense of responsibility entrusted to us by our wise leadership, led by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler of Abu Dhabi - may God protect him - and the mandate of the High Executive Council chaired by Lieutenant His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces - protected by God - to adopt all means towards achieving long-term strategy to improve the quality of government services to the best international standards".
Al Mansouri added in his speech, which was delivered on his behalf by Samir Abdul Latif, Strategy & Planning Director at ADSIC: "Since its establishment in 2005, and dtill, Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Centerits implements an agenda of information technology, in order to render a leading and innovative Abu Dhabi, regionally and globally, in improving e-government services, in addition to contributing to the outreach of strategic advantages to using information and communication technology, and societal transformation into knowledge economy.
Hence, the Forum shall host in each session a prominent figure from the leading information technology and communications figures, and the houses of international experience, to orient us with the latest international developments in this vital area, and to share us in his experiences and ideas, so that we would spot our achievements, and the tasks we should adopt, so that our efforts and strategies would be in line with the UAE government strategy and the vision and future foresight of its wise leadership".
Release of "Guide on e-Services Update"
Afterwards, ADSIC has introduced a presentation on the "Guide on e-Services Update", released recently. The Guide includes the best global practices and cutting-edge tools that can be used as a reference to IT managers to develop and provide digital solutions, which contributes to achieve consistency and integration among departments and link their services together. The Guide is released in two parts: the first is updating the service as a prelude to the provision of the best practices that include all stages service update; characterization, design, development, application, and up to the stage of operation, while the second is to link the service with the central portal of Abu Dhabi Government, followed by the other consequent services; kiosks, mobile and customer service.
E-Government 2.0, from transparency to cost-effectiveness
On the other hand, Andrea de Maio, forum guest and main speaker, said "(e-government 2.0) and the use of information technology and applications of 2.0 have become very popular in many countries, in order to make the governmental services, procedures and data a kind of social networks, in addition to the role these initiatives play to increase government transparency and citizen participation, due to this technology's ability to transform into a powerful tool to enhance the government with further effectiveness and efficiency.
In his lecture, "E-government 2.0 from transparency to cost-effectiveness", Andrea de Maio, Government Information Technology Research Vice President in Gartner reviewed e-government main features, and how social networks shall help the internal and external government to establish a value at the public, in addition to its tangible benefits and risks, giving examples to assess undertaking (Government 2.0), with a particular reference to the use of social media by judicial authorities all over the world.
It's worth mentioning that Andrea de Mayo enjoys more than 20 years of experience in information technology, focusing his research on the public sector, with a particular reference to e-government strategies "Web 2.0", business value of information technology, open source software, and the green environment of information technology and its impact on the future of government. Prior to joining Gartner, he worked for the European Commission, where he was responsible for part of the research and development program and the governmental framework, as well as all activities on the impact of problem in the year 2000, and the effect of information technology on the European single currency. Before working for the European Commission, de Mayo undertook the management and technical positions in systems and software industry.