Chief Information Officers (CIOs) of OECD member states will gather in Korea to discuss future directions of global e-Government.

The Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Korea (Minister Hong Yun-sik) announced that Korea will host OECD E-Leaders Meeting 2018 as it received an acknowledgement of OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria regarding Korea’s proposal to host the meeting as of March 24.

The OECD E-Leaders Meeting is a high-level, annual forum on e-Government, aimed at discussing digital strategies and policies and presenting a blueprint for e-Government worldwide.

E-Government leaders from OECD member states will gather together to share latest trends and best practices in digital government and discuss challenges and key issues regarding the sustainable development.

At the last year’s meeting held in Tallinn, Estonia, delegates shared their views and thoughts under the theme of “data-driven government,” such as the role of e-Leaders, new governance system, the establishment and expansion of infrastructure, personal information protection, law and institutions as well as organization culture.

Korea has been recognized by the international community as it has built the world-class e-Government in a short span of time. The Korean government has remained among the highest in UN e-Government Survey over the past decade, ranking 1st in 2010, 2012 and 2014 and 3rd in 2016.

In addition, an increasing number of developing countries have requested the Korean government to share its know-how in digital government strategies. As a result, a total of 4,820 public officials from abroad have received capacity-building training on e-Government for the past 10 years.

There have also been growing demands for cooperation with e-Government leaders with cutting-edge technologies to share recent trends on digital government and to map out future strategies through various occasions such as Digital-5, Korea-France Joint Seminar on e-Government and the meeting with the EU Commission.

Unlike previous meetings, E-Leaders Meeting 2018 will serve as a global platform to discuss e-Government by inviting not only OECD members but also partner countries from the Middle East, North Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America and holding special sessions on e-Government by region.

Moreover, Korea will join OECD research on fostering “data-driven public sector” and the result of research will be released at the next year’s meeting.

Minister Hong Yun-sik stated, “I hope the OECD E-Leaders Meeting 2018 will be an opportunity for participating countries to take a leap forward in advancing global digital government and seeking future strategies.” “E-Government leaders from OECD members as well as partner countries will muster their wisdom to unlock innovations in e-Government,” he added.