1. E-Governance Academy (eGA) in Tallinn – How it Serves the Region Yuri Misnikov Regional ICT for Development Coordinator Democratic Governance Programme UNDP Regional Support Centre (Europe & CIS) Bratislava, Slovakia UNDP East-East Cooperation Regional Workshop Bratislava, 16-17 July 2003

2. What is eGA n Venue: –Tallinn, Estonia n Partners: –Government of Estonia (MFA and Ministry of Economy and Communications), UNDP Bratislava, and Open Society Institute (OSI) in Budapest n Clients: –Policy makers and ICT specialists in the CIS and SEE (over 15 countries)

3. Mission of eGA n WHY: Promote e-governance as e-democracy tool to support good governance practices and open information society in the former Soviet Union and South Eastern Europe n WHAT: Training services, research and networking in e-governance drawing on Estonian best experience and in future on best practices of other countries n HOW: Transfer of knowledge through training, research, annual conference, as well as through a Russian language listserv.

4. Facts & Arguments n Estonia – a success story in building information society with its own distinctive expertise and knowledge n Estonia is not a rich country but ICTs help become richer faster n Estonia shares common post-communist past and understands transition problems n Estonian ICT specialists speak widely both English and Russian n Estonia is willing to share its knowledge n No-one delivers e-governance training in Russian (very few in English)

5. eGA Training Programme n A regular five-day e-governance policy and practice training course, with visits to organizations n Five courses delivered, six countries participated, over 40 officials trained n Over 20 topics on offer n Over 30 identified Estonian lectures n Participants’ folder with training material n Guidelines for Participants n Website n Started consultancy service

6. Future n 2003 – the year of establishment with regularized standard training module n 2004 – the year of growth with more regular courses and two-three specialized training (e.g. ICT and Gender), commenced research and annual conference n 2005 – monthly training course, intensive research, pre- and post-course activities, transit to increased financial sustainability as EU-wide knowledge-based institution

7. END Suggested materials: Training Guidelines, Programme and Schedule are available at www.ega.ee and www.undp.sk www.ega.ee www.undp.skwww.ega.ee www.undp.skContacts: Yuri Misnikov yuri.misnikov@undp.org and yuri.misnikov@undp.org Ivar Tallo itallo@solo.ee itallo@solo.ee THANK YOU FOR ATTENTION!