Government Summit enhances its position as an ideal international platform for exchanging knowledge by partnering with the UN and other international organisations

The Second Government Summit, which will be held from 10 to 12 February, 2014, under the theme Leading Government Services, will kickstart with two pre-summit meetings on 9 February. The meetings will be organized by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the Committee for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), jointly with the UAE government.

“The Government Summit is pleased to host two key pre-summit meetings which will discuss issues integral to the overall theme of the Summit. As critical stepping stones towards the Summit, the pre-summit meetings will contribute towards sharing of best practices, show-casing new innovations in service delivery and seeking new ways to connect with people and simplify their busy lives,” said His Excellency Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the Government Summit.  

The 9th annual meeting of the Working Group on Open and Innovative Government will offer an opportunity to assess the progress achieved and share good practices in open and innovative governments in both MENA and OECD countries. Delegates will discuss policy design and implementation in the areas of open government and public sector innovation, with a focus on how e-government, open data and mobile government can improve service delivery. 

The regular meeting, held under the leadership of South Korea and Italy, will primarily look at the means to achieve ease of access to data and how it can affect innovation and smart government. It will see participation from ministers, directors and managers of e-government.

The ESCWA meeting will be a closed door meeting for e-government managers in Arab governments. It will witness the launch of a major e-government initiative and seek to build on previous and ongoing efforts made by ESCWA to contribute to knowledge sharing and development of effective and efficient e-Government Services.

OECD is an international economic organization of 34 countries founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. It is a forum of countries committed to democracy and market economy, providing a platform to compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practices and co-ordinate domestic and international policies of its members.