1. 2003 eEurope Awards for General Information Christine Leitner
Head of eEurope Awards Project Management Secretariat
European Institute of Public Administration

2. Background
Announced in 2001 by the European Commissioner for Information Society and Enterprise within the framework of the eEurope Initiative.
Four Awards for the period 2003 to 2005.
The first: eHealth (call closed 20 February 2003) for 2003.
The second: eGovernment (call closes 4 April 2003) for 2003.
The European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) is entrusted with running the eEurope Awards Programme on behalf of the European Commission until 2005.

3. Purpose
To Promote the exchange of best practices among the EU Member States, Candidate Countries, the European Economic Area and Switzerland in the field of eGovernment;
To demonstrate existing ICT applications used in public life and/or public service provision;
To contribute to the European integration process by supporting public administrations;
To contribute research and disseminate results related to the eEurope Awards;

4. To select successful applicants to demonstrate and exhibit at a high-level conference to an audience of Ministers and other senior decision-makers from European ministries and public services;
Exhibition on the successful use of ICT in public service provision at each of the respective conferences;
The best applicants will receive an award, to be presented by Commissioner Liikanen at the respective conferences.

5. Second award competition in "Good Practices in Improving Public eServices and Transforming Government" - High-Level European eGovernment Conference on 7-8 July 2003, in Como, Italy;
To enable and facilitate the exchange of views, experiences and good practices among European countries in the field of eGovernment;

6. Themes The role of eGovernment for European competitiveness;
A better life for European citizens;
European, Central and Local Government eCooperation and Public eServices.

7. Selection Criteria Use of ICT Innovativeness
Managing eGovernment implementation
Real practical results and impact
Functionality
Visibility
Valuable learning points and transferability

8. Definitions
The Call for applications is the request for applications to be submitted electronically via the web-site. The call for eGovernment closes on 4 April 2003 at 24:00 hrs.
The Award(s) refers to the physical award(s), or prize(s), to be presented for the best submissions as judged by the Evaluation Committee on the basis of the information provided by the applicants.

9. The Awards Ceremony will take place on the last day of the 2003 high-level conference and will be hosted by the European Commission and the Council Presidency. The Award(s) will be presented to the selected winners by Commissioner Erkki Liikanen (see on-line Guidance Notes).
The Conference is a two-day event hosted by the European Commission and the Council Presidency. Participation is by invitation only, and all arrangements will be handled by the Directorate-General for Information Society and the Council Presidency.

10. The Exhibition will take place alongside the conference and include exhibitions and demonstrations by invited participants as selected by the Evaluation Committee on the basis of the received applications. Stands will be provided and an Exhibition Catalogue will be published with details of all the submitted eSolutions and relevant contact details.
The Exhibition will be hosted by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Information Society, and the Council Presidency, which will also deal with invitations and other practicalities.

11. How to apply for the eGovernment Awards?