CeBIT forum tackles e-government

The forum will be closely watched by local and international government bodies along with a range of associated industries both local and overseas. Australia was named recently in a UN report as number two in the world after the US in eGovernment implementation.

Jackie Taranto, managing director for CeBIT Australia, expects key representatives from the UK and the US to contribute to the debate.

"n true Australian style, we expect the eGovernment forum one-day event to be very open and cutting edge,"she said. "We are known globally as early adopters, so the findings from the forum will have special significance not only in Australia but for many other developed economies".

"Through this forum, we want to encourage others to implement e-government in their countries since that is where things are going in the future. Countries like Taiwan, Thailand, Korea, Pakistan, Malaysia and China are coming as well to look at case studies of e-governments in different parts of the world. That way they will know what to do and what not to do," Taranto added.

Australia will be presenting case studies of the Australian Taxation Office, the Health Insurance Commission and Centrelink. Taranto believes that even with the numerous criticisms from the media on eGovernment, Australia's successful experience will help other countries who are thinking of adopting the technology.

The eGovernment Forum will take place on 4 May at the Harbourside auditorium, staged concurrently with the CeBIT exhibition which runs from 4-6 May at Darling Harbour in Sydney, Australia.

Topics to be discussed include security and privacy issues, and open source initiatives within government.