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Special Reports
According to recommendations
by the UN Economic and Social
Council and the International
Telecommunication Union, the
introduction of e-government
into the world of aid would help
the governments of developing
countries in improving government
efficiency, boosting the transparency
of governance, strengthening social
ties with citizens and increasing
public satisfaction with the service
quality of government agencies.
Taiwan has been proficient in
developing associated e-government
technologies. Through online cash
flow, e-signature technologies
and applications, and other online
government services, the public
can easily file taxes, process vehicle
registrations and driver’s licenses,
and much more. Moreover, hospital
visits require nothing more than the
presentation of a single National
Health Insurance card for health care
personnel to access medical history,
records of pharmaceutical use and
other such medical data. Similarly,
when traveling abroad, citizens can
save time queuing for passport
inspection by using an automated
clearance system known as an
e-gate.
Focusing on Ownership and
Capacity Building to Develop
E-government
With the rapid advancement of
ICT, the rapid dissemination of new
skills and knowledge has become
commonplace thanks to the Internet,
and the governments of many partner
countries now wish to introduce
many of the pragmatic e-government
measures developed by Taiwan
so as to satisfy the need for more
efficiency and convenience in the
lives of their citizens. Responding to
the expectations of such partners
and given ample experience
in implementing e-government
programs, the TaiwanICDF has been
prudent enough to appraise local
conditions and take the concepts
of ownership and capacity building
into consideration, implementing the
following specific measures:
1. Add r e s s an y p r ob l ems i n
terms of basic inadequacies
in a gover nment’s network
infrastructure during project
inception.
2. Involve executive agencies in the
joint commitment of resources
and participation in system
development and installation.
3. Ha v e e x ec u t i v e age n c i e s
jointly responsible for project
implementation, monitoring and
coordination with the TaiwanICDF.
4. Assist partner countries in building
capacity in information security
management via the national ICT
centers already established by
Taiwan.
5. Work with partner countries in
building the required capacity
among local personnel, boosting
the abilities of local technicians
through project implementation.
Since 2013, the TaiwanICDF
has been assisting Belize in
establishing an online system that
provides auditing services for the
import and export of goods on the
same basis as these principles,
introducing Taiwan’s experience
of trade automation and enabling
Belizean importers and exporters
to obtain government-issued trade
certificates through this online
platform of services. This is greatly
reducing procedural costs and time,
supporting the speedy response
to international market demands
and reducing non-tariff barriers, in
turn improving Belize’s investment
environment.
Improving Partners’ Use of
Applications and Cross-
Cutting Utilization of Data
Besides improving the abilities
of partner countries, we are also
working hard on ensuring that
information literacy becomes
more deeply rooted. For example,
through the power of schools and
community, an ICT-based education
program which commenced in
Honduras in 2007 has enabled
students and instructors to use
centralized computer equipment and
stable, Internet-connected facilities
to communicate with the world,
bridging the digital divide.
With the support that ICT can
bring to education, the empowerment
o f wome n a n d g o v e r nme n t
accountability and transparency, the
TaiwanICDF will continue to apply
its experience in implementing
e-government programs by assisting
the government of Swaziland in
building its capacity to manage
electronic documents and files,
while also implementing cross-
cutting utilizations of data in public
health projects, such as the Capacity
Building Project for the Prevention
and Control of Chronic Renal
Failure in Belize, and the Health
Information Management Efficiency
Enhancement Project in Paraguay,
thereby enabling citizens in partner
countries to enjoy the results of
Taiwan’s ICT-related resources in the
field of health care.
Information and Communications Technology