Global Electronic Governance Conference Coming to Albany, N.Y.

The University at Albany’s Center for Technology in Government(CTG) announced this week that Albany, N.Y., will host an international conference on government innovation this October. The sixth annual International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV) will be put on in conjunction with the United Nations University International Institution for Software Technology (IIST), the founder of the ICEGOV conference series.

According to its website, ICEGOV “calls attention to the role of openness in fostering transparency, participation, accountability and smarter government.” The conferences also encourage participants “to pay particular attention to the ways research and practice can effectively align electronic governance initiatives with major policy programs to ultimately provide value to citizens.”

The event will be held at Hotel Albany on Oct.  22 – 25, 2012. Based on previous years, more than 350 attendees from at least 60 countries are expected to attend. CTG Director Theresa Pardo revealed in an interview with Government Technology that the event promises to reflect the same international participation that typifies the conference. Organizers received 164 proposals for participation, originating from 67 countries.

“We are hoping and expecting to see New York and the U.S. presenting their ideas, their innovations right alongside the rest of the world,” Pardo said.

ICEGOV conferences combine academic peer review presentations with thematic and plenary sessions that are shaped by an international steering committee. A panel of advisers to the event includes U.S. Deputy CTO Chris Vein. Topics identified for the 2012 gathering include open data, open government, smart cities, information stewardship and women in technology.
In a press release, Vein indicated that he is looking forward to participating in the conference. “This is an important event that will bring together thought leaders from around the world to share new ideas in the area of electronic governance,” he said.

New to ICEGOV this year will be a government innovation exhibit, to allow government entities to showcase innovative programs to fellow attendees. The best peer-reviewed academic papers from the conference will also be published in Government Information Quarterly, a leading academic journal.

The October event will be ICEGOV’s first time in the United States. Previous conferences were held in Estonia, China, Colombia, Egypt and Macao. Pardo is hopeful that people in the U.S. will take advantage of this opportunity to exchange ideas with their international counterparts at ICEGOV.

“It's important to note that this conference is not just coming to Albany, it's coming to North America for the first time. It meets the commitment of the conference organizers to bring this conversation about electronic governance theory and practice around the world,” she explained. “It's even more significant to me personally to have it come to New York and in particular to Albany because things are happening across the state of New York that I think are really important to put some eyes on.”