 
CONTACT:
Filip Stojanovic
USAID Regional Competitiveness Initiative
Implemented by Segura/IP3
Mob: +359 888 702 629
Fax: +359 2 981 30 77
fstoyanovich@segura-co.net
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to Host SEE’s First Regional eGovernance Workshop
Skopje – September 25, 2007 – Southeastern Europe has made significant progress since the difficult years of the 1990s. But the region still faces important challenges as it seeks to become more competitive within Europe and in the global marketplace. Political and economic reforms have hastened the process of European and Euro-Atlantic integration. The broad task of administrative modernization remains, and represents a recognized constraint on political, economic and social development. ICT is clearly part of the solution.
Given this potential for ICT advances to improve the region’s development prospects, the Stability Pact and the USAID Regional Competitiveness Initiative (RCI) are jointly organizing the first eSEE Initiative Workshop on eGovernance at the Aleksandar Palace Hotel in Skopje, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, on September 25-26. The event will bring together over 30 key governmental decision-makers from the region to discuss best practices in the fields of eLeadership, eCustoms, eProcurement, eCommerce, eBiz, and eEducation in order to develop a roadmap for eGovernance implementation in the region.
The workshop is a continuation of the activities of the Stability Pact eSEE Working Group and related broadband task force, which seek to integrate the region into the global knowledge-based economy through joint ICT and eGovernance strategies. Key approaches include regional benchmarking, focus on best practices and spurring the transfer of knowledge. The eGovernance workshop will also set the stage for the launch of the eGovernance Center in Slovenia, due to open in the fall of 2007. Supported by donor governments, private sector and NGOs, the center will serve as the eGovernance focal point for the region. As such, it will help the development of the information society in the region through a range of support activities, including further workshops, project preparation, and coordination in the development and implementation of eGovernance solutions.
Mr. Michael Mozur, Deputy Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, notes: “The speakers and discussion leaders at the eGovernance Workshop will include leading US and EU eGovernance experts. Thus, this workshop is a unique and exciting opportunity for high-level governmental decision-makers from all over the region to meet and to pursue eGovernance solutions with international leaders in this field.”
The workshop is part of USAID RCI’s program to improve the region’s ICT capabilities and to increase the region's competitiveness as a whole. To complement this public-sector workshop, RCI, together with USAID Macedonia and MASIT, is organizing the 5th SEEITA Conference of IT Businesses and Associations, a regional IT event focused on the private sector, which will be held September 27 at the Aleksandar Palace Hotel in Skopje.
For more information about this workshop or to schedule an interview with eGovernment representatives, please call Filip Stojanovic at +359 888 702 629 or send an email to fstoyanovich@segura-co.net.
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PA2007/016
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