«Foreword
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, digital technologies have enabled governments to connect with people and to continue to deliverservices online. In many countries digital government has stepped up its central role as a necessary element of communication, leadership and collaboration between policy makers and society. At the same time, heightened concerns over privacy, misinformation and disinformation have emerged. Policy makers have found themselves in the middle of a rapid digital transformation during these times.
In a quick call for inputs by UN DESA, government officials around the world shared nearly 500 COVID-19 related applications in less than two weeks. As the pandemic progressed, policy makers responded by mobilizing public-private partnerships to engage in designing new services and apps as part of the crisis response. Some of these new services and apps went beyond information-sharing and included delivering essential services to those most in need, thus optimizing the entire supply chain via digital government services. As demonstrated in this Compendium, governments have further sought to ensure e-participation, facilitate E-health, E-business, support working and learning from home, and initiate contact tracing.
Peoples’ expectations of governments have already increased during the pandemic and they will expect the same level of e-services in the post-pandemic era. As policy makers respond to these rising expectations, continuing to innovate and use digital technologies will help to achieve their development objectives. Facilitating solutions must be a priority for policy makers in countries where connectivity is still an issue, to enable the delivery of online services and eliminate further divides. As seen in many examples in this Compendium, digital technologies are crucial in delivering accessible, reliable and inclusive services, especially for vulnerable groups.
It is now our collective responsibility to use digital technologies and solutions as an implementation tool for the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and a means to improving public service delivery; increasing people’s engagement; enhancing transparency, accountability and inclusion; and making life better for all. It is my hope that cases in this Compendium will serve as an inspiration to policy makers».
LIU Zhenmin /Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs United Nations
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário