BRATISLAVA was set to host the fifth annual international congress on Information Technologies and Public Administration (ITAPA) on November 14 and 15. Almost 80 lecturers and panellists from 13 European countries were due to take part in this, Slovakia's largest IT conference.
Representatives of central state and local administration bodies, the commercial sector, universities and various IT experts were to share their experiences of e-government projects, solutions, and trends.
The Slovak government's Appointee for Introducing IT into Society, Miroslav Kukučka, was scheduled to evaluate the successes of Slovak e-government projects, while Pavol Frič, the vice-president for strategy of Ditec, was to respond for the IT sector concerning what has and has not been accomplished in this field.
Foreign guests were to share their experiences with introducing IT into public administration. Seppo Kurkinen from Finland was due to give a lecture on state IT management. Finland currently chairs the European Union and is a leader in the field of high-tech innovation.
Hungary, Estonia and Malta have made the most progress in e-government projects this year, and György Csepeli from the Hungarian Economy and Transportation Ministry was invited to the conference to present the story of this success.
Until recently, Latvia was lagging behind in introducing IT into public administration, but the speed of recently initiated projects have allowed the country to catch up with the rest of the Baltic states. Ina Gudele agreed to speak about the measures that were taken in Latvia.
ITAPA 2006 also promised to present one of the largest IT projects in the Russian Federation. Maruja Gutierrez-Díaz from the EU Commission was invited to speak about digital literacy in public administration, while Dana Bérová from the Czech Republic was to examine the impact that new legislation on IT in public administration will have in her country.
The congress was expected to discuss several topics relating to IT society. Three new topics were presented for the first time this year: Elections and Information and Communications Technologies, Websites and Marketing, and Introducing IT into Local Governments.
The best IT projects in the field of public administration were to be awarded the Cena ITAPA 2006 (2006 ITAPA Prize).
The congress is held under the auspices of Prime Minister Robert Fico, Deputy Prime Minister for a Knowledge-Based Society Dušan Čaplovič, and Transport, Post and Telecoms Minister Ľubomír Vážny.
- compiled from press reports
