Press release: Working together to create borderless eGovernment Services for Europeans
19 SEPTEMBER 2011
PRESS RELEASE, WARSAW, 19th SEPTEMBER 2011
The Polish Presidency of the European Union and the European Commission are organizing the sixth Ministerial eGovernment Conference, entitled "Borderless eGovernment Services for Europeans", on 17 - 18 November 2011 in the City of Poznań. Ministers responsible for eGovernment issues will meet on the first day of the conference to discuss how to ensure more and better eGovernment services in Europe. An exhibition accompanying the conference will showcase the most recent European developments in the field of eGovernment services and applications.
European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes said: "eGovernment can help to eliminate borders. Borderless access to online public services depends on the different systems speaking the same language and the users being able to identify themselves digitally. When your children travel or study abroad, or you retire to a different country, it should be convenient and easy to deal with public authorities online. With the economic challenges Europe is still facing, we simply cannot afford to miss the opportunity to eliminate borders, cut costs and save time for public administrations, citizens and businesses. But to reap the full benefits we most work together to create common European cross-border services. The Poznan conference is an important stepping stone in our efforts to do this."
The conference will attract 900 stakeholders from around the world officials from national, regional and local administrations, industry representatives, civil society and experts. 35 Ministers from EU Member States, candidate and EFTA countries are invited to participate. Mr. Jerzy Miller - Polish Minister of the Interior and Administration will attend the event together with Mrs. Neelie Kroes - European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Agenda and Mr. Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ - European Commission Vice-President for the Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration. On the first day of the Conference, 17 November 2011, there will be an Informal Ministerial Meeting starting in the afternoon. At this meeting Ministers are invited to exchange views on key issues related to the development and up-take of eGovernment services in Europe.
Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of the Interior and Administration of the Republic of Poland, Mr. Piotr Kołodziejczyk said: "We hope the Meeting will contribute to the development of Pan-European eGovernment. We have designed it as a dynamic and interactive event which will gather EU Ministers responsible for eGovernment and allow them to exchange views on the long-term sustainability of the Large Scale Pilots and other issues crucial for the future of eGovernment".
Among the 60 conference speakers are experts in the field of eGovernment from EU Member States, governments and administrations, international and local organizations, industry and academia. The topics discussed during the conference will be divided into three thematic tracks: Policy Issues related to the development of eGovernment services, including social and economical ones,Interoperability Strategies to achieve wide availability of eGovernment services in the Member States for all EU citizens and enterprises and People's Concerns for issues like the impact of eGovernment services, inclusiveness, public value, user empowerment and quality assurance.
Chair of the Programme Committee of the Conference, Prof. Wojciech Cellary said: "A Single European Market for Services has to include eGovernment services as well. It is already time to move from national eGovernment services to Pan-European ones. The aim of this conference is to contribute to this ambitious task by bringing stakeholders together and providing them with a forum to discuss opportunities and challenges".
In addition to the conference, an exhibition will be organised which will showcase the most recent European developments in the field of eGovernment services and applications. Each Member State will demonstrate up to three cases according to its own priorities and approaches to eGovernment. The exhibition stand of the European Commission will host the successful so-called Large Scale Pilot Projects which have already demonstrated concrete benefits for citizens, businesses and governments and play a very important role in the implementation of cross-border services in Europe.
The Polish Presidency has launched the Conference website www.egov2011.pl as well as Facebook (www.facebook.com/egov2011pl) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/egov2011pl) profiles.
