Kazakhstan to host 2014 Global Forum on Electronic Government

The 2014 Global Forum on Electronic Government will be held Kazakhstan's Astana, Tengrinews reports citing the press-service of the Kazakhstan Ministry of Transport and Communication. The E-Government Global Forum was initiated by the United Nations after smart government has become widespread enough in the world and held for the first time in 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. The Global Forum 2013 is also held in South Korea and is timed to the 7th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance spearheaded by the UN. More than thousand representatives of governmental authorities, business and international organizations from 40 countries are participating in the forum. Since South Korea transferred the right to hold the next year's forum to Kazakhstan, the Central Asian nation is not posited to become the first new host for the forum. The Ministry of Transport and Communication of Kazakhstan and Ministry of Security and State Administration of South Korea agreed to consolidate their cooperation in the e-government development during the Global Forum on Electronic Government. They signed a letter of intent that said that the cooperation between the two countries would involve exchange of experience and knowledge in the e-government sector, organization of round tables and seminars, studying of new opportunities for joint work and close interaction in holding of the E-Government Global Forum. The decision of the United Nations to vest with the honor of hosting the forum on Kazakhstan became possible thanks to the dynamic development of the electronic government in Kazakhstan and its advanced positions in international IT rankings. The forum with participation of international information and communication technologies experts and e-government development professional will take place in Kazakhstan's capital in October, 2014.