The 54 countries of the Commonwealth of Nations represents more than 2 billion people across every region of the world and a vast diversity in development and capacity.

Professor Tim Unwin, well-known as UNESCO Chair in ICT4D, now heads up the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO). In this wide-ranging and provocative discussion, he explores the impact of ICT across diverse economies, the value of technology for governance and also provides an overview of the CTO’s work.

Prof. Unwin claims that, while it can change the relationship between citizens and the state, technology by itself doesn’t change very much.  It is how people use the technology that matters.  He also argues that social media’s role in participatory democracy may be over-hyped, and that while technology can accelerate change, it only does so for those who have not only access but also the literacy to use it, and that an over-focus on technology can in fact create a greater development divide.

If ICTs are to be used effectively by governments, all their people need to access them – otherwise, they’re going to lead to greater inequalities.

About Prof. Tim Unwin

Tim Unwin has been Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation since September 2011. He is also Chair of the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, UNESCO Chair in ICT4D, and Emeritus Professor of Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London. From 2001-2004 he led the UK Prime Minister’s Imfundo: Partnership for IT in Education initiative based within the Department for International Development (DFID), and from 2007 he was Director and then Senior Advisor (until 2011) to the World Economic Forum’s Partnerships for Education initiative with UNESCO. His recent work has concentrated  on the use of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D), and in 2004 he created the ICT4D Collective at Royal Holloway, University of London, which is now one of the world’s leading centres for ICT4D research and teaching.

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Episode links and resources

• Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation
• CTO Strategic Plan (PDF)
• Tim Unwin’s blog
• The ICT4D Collective

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• People and organisations:
  @CTO_ICT
  @TimUnwin
• Tags: #ict4d #digitaldivide #telcoms

John Wells chats to David about his reflections inspired by the meeting, and his perspectives on the value of these intergovernmental gatherings to people working in the trenches. This opens up a wider discussion about the ways that governments create and leverage roles such as CIO and CTO, and what this communicates about a Government’s attitude towards technology.

I think we’re at a really interesting place around the role of ICT in government…I always like to look to see where the CIO sits in the org chart – it’s a very ‘old school’ thing to do, but it tells you a lot about how that government understands technology.

About David Eaves

David is a public policy entrepreneur, open government activist and negotiation expert and frequent speaker on these topics. He is retained by several governments to advise on open government and open data, works with two spin-offs of the Harvard Negotiation Project, and advises businesses on open source strategies and community management. Three years ago David advised the Mayor of Vancouver on Open Government and Open Data and helped draft the Open Motion. He has also launched a number of open data projects including Recollect.net and emitter.ca.

David blogs regularly at eaves.ca where you can read more about his projects and upcoming speaking engagements.

CC feature image courtesy http://owni.fr/

About the OECD Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate (GOV)

The Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate (GOV) assists countries in adapting their public sector governance arrangements to the changing needs of society.

Through the sharing of country experiences, the OECD work on Public Sector Innovation seeks to develop a better understanding of innovative approaches and tools, and their impact on government performance and public service delivery.

OECD work on e-Government explores how governments can best exploit information and communication technologies (ICTs) to embed good governance principles and achieve public policy goals.

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Episode links and resources

• OECD Public Sector Innovation and e-Government
• OECD E-Leaders: Strengthening the strategic agility of the public sector
• OECD National e-Leaders meeting: E-Government: New ICT Solutions for Public Sector Agility
• OECD and the Internet Economy
• David Eaves’s blog

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• People and organisations:
  @daeaves
  @OECD
  @OECD_ICT
• Tags: #opendata #egov #opengov #OECD

In the first of Gov20 Radio’s Country Profile interviews, we look at connected government in the United Arab Emirates.

Host Allison Hornery is joined by Salem Al Shair Al Suwaidi, the Director General of Emirates eGovernment to talk about the journey of the Emirates to reach their current ranking by UNPAN’s recent eGovernment survey as #1 in the Arab region.

Mr Salem shares his candid insights into the challenges and benefits of eGovernment for federal agencies, city governments, local entrepreneurs and citizens.

When we started we had a very small team, however it was a team of highly motivated professionals and we had ‘removed the rooftop’ for creativity and innovation, and I think that’s what has put us at the forefront. We could not have achieved what we have if it wasn’t for opening the roof and having everybody chip in.

About Salem Al Shair Al Suwaidi

H. E. Salem Khamis Al Shair Al Suwaidi is the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA)’s Deputy Director General for Information and eGovernment.

In August, 2008, H. H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan,  President of the United Arab Emirates appointed Al Suwaidi  as Director General of the General Information Authority (which was later merged with the TRA) and tasked him with the activation of the eGovernment programme at the federal level in the UAE.

Prior to that, Al Suwaidi held the position of eServices Director at Dubai eGovernment between 2000 and 2008, where he led the e-Governance transformation in Dubai government and contributed in raising the community’s e-literacy level to facilitate a new knowledge-based society in Dubai.

Al Suwaidi’s achievements and successes were recognised by various awards and honours. In April 2009, he received The Feigenbaum Leadership Excellence Award which is dedicated to honour men and women in the Arab World for their exemplary leadership in driving their organisations to fulfil their roles in business and society.

In September 2011, Al Suwaidi was granted the Arab eGovernment Pioneer Award by the Pan Arab Internet Academy and the Arab Administrative Development Organisation.

How you can use this episode

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Episode links and resources

• Revamped UAE national portal: government.ae
• UNPAN eGovernment Survey 2012 (PDF format)
• Emirates Telecommunications Regulatory Authority website
• Emirates eGov on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/emiratesegovernment
• Emirates eGov on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Emirates.eGov
• Emirates eGov on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/egovuae

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• People and organisations:
  @Salemalshair
  @EmiratesEGov
• Tags: #UAE #egov #ae #gov20 #gov2ae #g2rUAE

We interview Chicago’s new CTO, IBM veteran John Tolva about bringing innovation and emerging technologies to his new role.  John talks about how his IBM background is shaping his thinking and approach to ‘smart city’ innovation at a city level, and shares with us some of the upcoming initiatives in Chicago.