7th Eastern Europe eGovernment Days Continue to Exceed Expectations

Once again Irina Zalisova and her team and European Projects and Management (EPMA) in Prague have run what has to be one of the absolute highlights of the eGovernment Conference circuit.  Hosted in the lovely Brevnov Monastery, this year’s event attracted over 100 of the top eGovernment practitioners from throughout Europe, and featured two packed days of engaging speakers and highly charged and interactive workshops.

It is hard to single out any one session – as the caliber of speakers and topics was consistently high throughout the conference.  Still, Jeremy Millard’s session on eGovernment & the Future of ICT comes to mind for not only stimulating a great deal of thought about the ‘Internet of Clouds’ but also for skillfully blending a wide array of perspectives from both the public and private sector.  Skeptical (from my Accenture days) of private sector presentations in general, I have to say that this time around the conference really was all the stronger for the voice of industry.  Wilfried Grommen from Microsoft set minds thinking with a provocative discussion of what he sees as a fundamental paradigm shift away from old ‘PCs & software’ so familiar to us all, while Sylviane Torporkoff, Partner at Items International and President of the Global Forum, kept us all alert and engaged with a rousing tour de force of varying global approaches to eGovernment.

As I write, I am conscious that this entry reads like a bought and paid for advertorial.  As one who is generally weary of the ‘same old, same old’ conference scene, I can assure you it is not.  In my view, the 7^th Eastern Europe eGovernment continues to stand out – not just because it is located in the wonderful City of Prague (which this year was blessed with some wonderful weather) but also because it remains true to a genuinely winning formula:  engaging speakers, relevant and timely topics, and a committed and engaged audience.