Ukraine and Estonia will together develop electronic governance

December 8, 2010, representatives of authorities and NGOs of Ukraine and Estonia signed Memorandums on cooperation in the area of electronic governance at the Embassy of Estonia in Kyiv.

Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of information society, electronic democracy, e-governance and communication technologies between State Committee of Science, Innovation and Information of Ukraine, International Renaissance Foundation, eGovernance Academy of Estonia and Open Estonia Foundation was signed by Volodymyr Semynozhenko, Head of the State Committee on Science, Innovation and Information and Yevhen Bystrytsky, Executive Director of the International Renaissance Foundation, with the participation of Jaan Hein, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Estonia in Ukraine.

During the visit of the official delegation headed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Estonia to Ukraine, December 6-8, negotiations were held and the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the area of developing information society, e-governance and communication technologies was signed between the eGovernance Laboratory of Estonia, “Adamant” Company and International Renaissance Foundation. The document was signed by Argo Leetmaa, Member of the Board and Regional Director for Eastern Europe of the eGovernance Laboratory of Estonia, Ivan Petukhov, President of the “Adamant” Company and Yevhen Bystrytsky, Executive Director of the International Renaissance Foundation.

The Memoranda provide for:

• development and adaptation of draft normative legal documents and their harmonization with normative legal framework of the European Union;
• joint researches;
• exchange of best practices in the field of administrative reform;
• development and implementation of important projects in the sphere of improving use of the ICT in the educational institutions, particularly in the E-School Project;
• promotion of mutual investments in information and communications technologies;
• attracting the cooperation of relevant non-governmental organizations;
• the joint search, development and implementation of international projects and other.

“The document we are signing today is just a claim for implementation of an important task which Ukrainian society has been facing for twenty years, that is, creating a tool for open dialogue between citizens and authorities, tool that would help authorities to be more transparent and open, and citizens – to be more active in their demands to authorities. We welcome representatives of the government who took on this task and support them hoping that this endeavour will get off the ground this time rather than remain just beautiful slogans about electronic democracy,” Yevhen Bystrytsky, Executive Director of the International Renaissance Foundation, said.

“The signing of memoranda between Ukraine and Estonia for further development of e-governance is a significant event for Ukraine. This is a new level of international cooperation and dialogue between governmental agencies, business and civil society. Estonian experience in developing open e-communication between governmental officials and citizens at all levels of dialogue between society, business and authorities is the most famous in Europe. Combining of our efforts is an important step towards new policy, aimed at development of open and democratic information society, knowledge society, and establishing electronic democracy,” stressed Olesia Arkhypska, manager of the direction “Electronic governance. Electronic democracy” of the International Renaissance Foundation.

International Renaissance Foundation together with the E-Governance Academy of Estonia contributed to the drafting of the project “Concept of E- Governance Development in Ukraine”, which is expected to be adopted by the Government of Ukraine soon, as well as to the creation and further activity of the National Center of E-Governance in April 2010.

Contact person: Olesya Arkhypska, Director for Information and Communication Activities of the IRF, manager of the direction “Electronic governance. Electronic democracy”, tel.: +(38) 044 461 97 09, arkhypska@irf.kiev.ua