Several years after the acceptance of Electronic Government by governments worldwide as part of their reform initiatives, there is a growing recognition that over-reliance on technology, insufficient collaboration in government, lack of emphasis on building human capacity and inadequate public consultation all limit possible benefits of such initiatives
As a result, the focus has been shifting from technology-enabled improvements in government operations (Electronic Government) to improvements in interactions between government, non-government and civil society stakeholders (Electronic Governance).
Under the new focus, it is no longer acceptable to let technical or organizational issues drive Electronic Governance initiatives alone. Instead, a multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder and community-oriented approach is required.
Based on this rationale and in line with the mission of the United Nations University, the UNU-IIST Center for Electronic Governance initiated a series of International Conferences on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV).
Since its first edition in Macao, ICEGOV has been evolving into a global forum that brings together practitioners, developers and researchers from government, academia, industry and non-governmental organizations to share the latest findings in the theory and practice of Electronic Governance. In a diverse international setting for networking and community-building, it fosters a multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder approach to Electronic Governance.
The 2nd International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV2008) took place in Cairo, Egypt during 1 - 4 December 2008, co-organized by United Nations University IIST Center for Electronic Governance, and German University in Cairo. The conference continue pursuing the goal of building a global community of practice for Electronic Governance.
The conference provided a unique opportunity for close interactions among three categories of participants:
- From Government - Government participants described concrete initiatives, lessons learned and existing challenges. In return, they learned about the latest research results, and how such results are implemented by industry, non-governmental organizations and other governments to address present and future challenges.
- From Academia - Academic participants presented models, theories and frameworks which extend the understanding of Electronic Governance and upon which concrete solutions for governments can be built. In return, they learned about problems faced by governments, gained access to concrete cases, and identified opportunities to implement and deploy research prototypes.
- From Industry and Non-Governmental Organizations - Industry and non-governmental participants demonstrated technology and socio-organizational solutions for governments. In return, they learned about the challenges faced by governments, and the latest research findings available for developing solutions.
