Jane Fountain, professor of political science and public policy, and director of the National Center for Digital Government and the Science, Technology and Society Initiative, gave the keynote address at the United Nations Conference on e-Government in Asia and the Pacific held in Seoul, Republic of Korea on May 11-13, 2011.
The keynote address, “National Development in the Digital Age,” set the tone for the overall Conference deliberations from the national perspective by depicting the overall picture of national developments in e-Government globally as well as key issues and challenges to be considered by policymakers.
The Conference was organized by the United Nations Project Office on Governance in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs in collaboration with the Korean Ministry of Public Administration and Security and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
Conference speakers included the Chief Information Officers and other government experts, including parliamentarians, from several countries in the region including Korea, Australia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Japan.
The purpose of the Conference was to provide a forum to discussion regional e-Government issues and exchange country experiences while also exploring potential for cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region thereby building policymaking capacity.
While in Seoul, Fountain was interviewed about e-Government and the role of youth as global citizens, by Focus News Network, one of Korea’s largest newspapers. She delivered a lecture, “Digitally Mediated Institutions: the Case of the European Commission Office of Harmonization of the Internal Market,” at Yonsei University, the oldest private university in Korea.
Fountain is currently the Chair of the World Economic Forum, Global Advisory Council on the Future of Government, a high-level international group of senior government, business and academic leaders from around the world. The Council’s report on the Future of Government will be released at the World Economic Forum on Europe and Central Asia to be held in Vienna on June 8-9, 2011.
The National Center for Digital Government is a research center that has hosted several doctoral and faculty fellows from Asia and the Pacific, as well as from a host of other countries. The Science, Technology and Society Initiative, a multi-disciplinary research, education and outreach program of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences is based in the Center for Public Policy and Administration.
National Center for Digital Government: www.ncdg.org
Science, Technology and Society Initiative: www.umass.edu/sts