Mr James Kang, Assistant Chief Executive, Government Chief Infomation Office, IDA, addressing delegates at the UN workshop.

With more governments allowing their data sets to be accessed online by the general public, there is a pressing need to pay greater attention to public information management as well as cyber security.

To examine this issue from a policy as well as a technical perspective, the United Nations Project Office on Governance (UNPOG) recently organised a “Capacity Development Workshop on Public Information Management” in Singapore from 28-30 November 2011.

The workshop, held under the aegis of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), and the United Nations Development Programme Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, provided a platform for countries in the Asia Pacific to share new thinking, developments and trends and to engage in a dialogue on best practices in information management. Singapore, which is further along in the IT adoption curve, would, in a spirit of cooperation, be able to share its experiences and provide insights of the challenges and pitfalls in adoption.

About 30 participants from 14 countries attended the workshop. Among them was Mr Muhammad Nasir, Director for Databases of the Electronic Government Directorate in Pakistan’s Ministry of Information Technology. “The discussion on policy was inspiring and it helped concretise plans for future goals in my country,” said Mr Muhammad. “The technology sessions provided knowledge and techniques. Together, they provided participants with the know-how on capacity development in terms of skills, knowledge and people development.”

Mr Muhammad was impressed with the openness of the participants while sharing issues. “We realise all of us have similar sectoral structures and problems. Some, though, have gone ahead in their implementations, while others are further behind in their adoption. The sharing by the Singapore delegates was particularly informative as they were candid in sharing their experience with us. Singapore has also gone out of its way to make us feel welcome, right from receiving us at the airport.”

Mr Didi Sukyadi, Head of the e-Government Interoperability Section of Indonesia, was pleased to discover that his country was up to speed with the rest of the Asia Pacific in its implementation of public information management. “After hearing from the participants, we find that despite our large population and geographical spread, we are keeping pace with the development in other countries,” he said. 

Delegates from 14 countries attended the workshop, which provided a platform for sharing new developments and best practices in information management.

His fellow countryman, Mr Yuwaldi Away, Head of the Department of Transportation, Communication, Information and Telematics of the Aceh Provincial Government, said what struck him most was the sharing of best practices from other countries , which provided insights into ways of overcoming the main obstacles faced in implementing public information systems. This was invaluable in clearing up issues in Aceh’s post-conflict, post-Tsunami situation, which was further complicated by the province’s heterogeneous make-up.

“There is a new regulation about public information readiness from the Indonesian government which we have to comply to,” he continued. “These sessions have given me some ideas on how to push ahead.”

Ms Malee Wongsaroje, Director of the Information and Communication Technology Center, National Statistical Office, Thailand, found the broad scope of the programme enriching. “I found the policy level framework most useful as this is usually not discussed in most textbooks. Meeting delegates from other countries give me a chance to network and establish contacts with my counterparts in other parts of the Asia-Pacific region.”

With inputs from various discussion topics identified by participants, the UNPOG hopes to develop a toolkit that will be responsive to its members’ needs. The toolkit is expected to help countries identify issues, challenges and even similarities in experiences in the field of public information management.