E-Government for Development: Ministers Frattini and Brunetta Present the Results
19/12/2008
The “e-government for development” plan is an initiative which Silvio Berlusconi's Italian Government launched in the course of the G8 Summit in Genoa in 2001 (the Genoa Action Plan for Digital Divide). The initiative is being given a fresh boost today, ahead of Italy's new G8 Duty Presidency on the island of La Maddalena in July.
Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and Civil Service Minister Renato Brunetta presented the initiative and discussed the results achieved to date, in the course of a news conference at Palazzo Chigi, the Italian Government's official seat, on 19 December.
Goal
The stated goal is to narrow the digital gap, or divide, existing between industrially advanced economies and developing countries. The means for achieving that goal are computerisation and, at the same time, innovation in the civil service at both the central and local levels. The plan involves transferring to developing countries the IT tools and equipment required to put their bureaucracies on line, a service in which such countries are totally, or almost totally, lacking today. One of the virtuous consequences of this move will be to consolidate the democratic process, a necessary precondition for progress in those countries currently afflicted by difficulties.
Results Achieved and Funds To Be Allocated
Ministers Brunetta and Frattini explained the results achieved since the initiative was first launched back in 2001. "Working in conjunction with international organisations and public administrations, 26 projects have been implemented in 18 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Maghreb, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean - a great success so far", Minister Frattini remarked. The funds raised for these initiatives come to a total of 28 million euro, but in the near future, at the Summit on the island of La Maddalena, the institutions involved plan to increase the investment to 50 million euro through the (spontaneous, or government-prompted) involvement of private sponsors in order to be able to reach an overall total of 50 countries.
Thus programmes will be set up involving institutions, public agencies, local authorities, private-sector players, NGO's and international bodies.
ICT in the Service of Democracy
Information technology is thus going to become an important tool for reforming and modernising the institutions and for fostering democratic processes, for instance by allowing countries to put their laws and regulations on line, by allowing voting to take place electronically, and by allowing citizens to register in the electoral role on line."This initiative is not just a form of aid for economic development," Minister Brunetta concluded, "but a form of concrete support for the development of democracy. Also, in light of the looming economic crisis, the 50 million euro we hope to raise are concrete, a tangible sign".
