The Center for Electronic Government said that they will meet with high-level officials from key ministries and agencies in order to discuss emerging e-government trends, innovative practices, as well as challenges and opportunities of e-government development. The experts will also conduct a workshop training to raise capacity of government officials to implement, monitor and evaluate policies pertaining to e- government and e- participation development.

During the meeting at the Ministry for Development of Information Technologies and Communications on 27 April 2015, experts will discuss new edition of United Nations E-Government Survey 2016, a flagship publication that measures e-government progress across the world. As the topic of the publication changes every year, and this year’s edition is named “E-Government for Sustainable Development”, experts will discuss how transition towards more accountable and transparent government can contribute to sustainable development.

At a workshop held on 29 April 2015, at the Poytaht business-center, participants will familiarize with the tool for measuring E-government readiness, also called METER (the Measurement and Evaluation Tool for E-Government Readiness). This tool comprises questions covering a range of issues in order to estimate and monitor what is the current state of factors affecting e-government development. METER serves as an advisory tool and helps to identify the key areas of work, and how to prioritize them. By uncovering the level of e-government awareness, both at the central government and agency levels, as well as within the civil society, it leads to a full understanding of the changes that e-government development entails.

On 30 April 2015 another workshop will be held on how to measure and evaluate electronic participation in the country. The tool, called METEP (Measuring and Evaluating e-Participation) promotes and strengthens government capacities to engage citizens in public policy and decision-making processes. It is argued that the use of ICTs not only can provide high quality information and explicit knowledge to citizens but empower them for more effective participation in public life and policies. Through the workshop, participants will improve their understanding of factors determining country’s preparedness for successful e-participation activities. They will also learn for to adequately identify, measure, and share these factors.

This visit is jointly organized by UNDP’s “E-Government promotion for improved public service delivery” project and the Ministry for Development of Information Technologies and Communications and the Center for E-government Development.