The COE prepares to set standards for democratic e-governance
Democracies in the world share a vision of the day when electronic governance will become reality. E-governance is about the use of information technology to raise the quality of the services governments deliver to citizens and businesses. It is hoped that it will also reinforce the connection between public officials and communities thereby leading to a stronger, more accountable and inclusive democracy.
In June 2002, the Council of Europe, under the leadership of the Integrated project "Making democratic institutions work", held a multi-disciplinary workshop to examine the opportunities and challenges e-governance represents for member states. Further to this initial workshop, an Intersectoral Expert Group was established to define a framework for technical and policy standards that will assist public authorities to design comprehensive and cost-effective e-governance strategies. It is expected that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe will adopt a Recommendation on e-governance in mid 2004.
