On December 12 at Lotte Hotel in Seoul, the Global e-Government Forum took place where participants came from government, international organizations, academia, research institutions to outline and discuss ways that Korea could cooperate in the area of e-government with developing countries.



As to some background, social, political, and economic elements influence the implementation of E-Government greatly. These include information infrastructure of a country, human resources, leadership and vision, maintenance of a legal system, and a revolutionary public administration system (UNDPEPA & ASPA, 2002, 6). The 2010 United Nations e-Government Survey reported that the majority of positions in the top 20 e-government rankings belong to high-income countries, which have the financial resources to develop and rollout advanced e-government initiatives, as well as to create a

favorable environment for citizen engagement and empowerment. Developed countries have a distinct advantage in their telecommunication infrastructure and human capital components, which both require long-term investment. For developing countries, the challenge is to invest telecommunication

infrastructure and human resources as well as reengineering their public administration system to narrow the current digital gap.



Therefore, Korea || chr(39) || || chr(39) || s Ministry of Public Administration and Security (MOPAS) and the International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS) proposed to establish the "Global e-Government Forum" to work on the subject matter of "Global e-Government and Digital Gap Reduction" focusing on developing countries.



During the one day meeting, congratulatory remarks were made by Korea University Professor Emeritus, Moon Suk Ahn who stated in his address that South Korea was once one of the poorest countries in the world after the Korean War but through hard work and dedication has risen to join

the ranks of theG20. Based on this experience, Korea will try and help to reduce the digital gap that exists not only in Korea but also between developed and developing countries. With the launch the e-Government Global Forum, effective solutions, discussions and various opinions can be shared.



Two representatives from the United Nations Development Programme were in attendance with Raul Zambrano, Senior ICT & Governance Policy Advisor giving the Keynote Speech at the Forum. He stated in his keynote address that while a Digital Divide between developed and poor countries has to

be overcome and one way to resolve it is with ICT-based solutions. ICT international inequality can be resolved with social transformation possible by upgrading ICTs in developing countries through education and capacity building. Through a forum like this, the sharing of Korea || chr(39) || || chr(39) || s development experience and know-how can be of vital importance.



Anne-Isabelle Degryse-Blateau, Director of the UNDP Seoul Policy Centre also shared the podium where she talked about both e-government and ICT business development becoming important in developing countries and how Korea || chr(39) || || chr(39) || sattained its lofty position at the top of the e-Government ladder

through the process of building the information society. The trial and error experience it went through is an important one that for developing countries as their own e-government development process requires a systematic analysis like the one that Korea has adapted over the course of the last 20-30 years.



The Global e-Government Forum wrapped up with a dinner for all 25 participants with plans for technical meetings to take place in early January of 2012 in order to come up with concrete plans for dissemination of real-world tools that Korea can share and use with developing countries.