Bled E-Conference Highlights Need for Collaboration

Bled, 16 June

For electronic services to become fully-incorporated into the society, scientific institutions, services providers, governments and economists need to collaborate, while innovation must be initiated by the users, participants of the 21st Bled E-Conference that started on Monday agreed.

The traditional Bled E-Conference, entitled "E-Collaboration: Overcoming Boundaries Through Multi-Channel Interaction", has attracted some 250 participants from 34 countries.
The conference, which has been put on by the European Commission, European Parliament and the Slovenian government, aims to create a true e-society, where electronic technology would be available to everyone, said Dean of the Faculty of Organisational Sciences Milan Pagon.
J. Felix Hampe, a professor at the University in Koblenz-Landau, in Germany, said that the collaboration among institutions resulted in a more personal and user-friendly services. He highlighted Slovenia's e-government web portal as an example of best practice.
Slovenia was among the most successful EU member states in implementing the service, sharing second spot with Malta and only trailing Austria on a list compiled by the European Commission.
According to Slovenian Public Administration Minister Gregor Virant, the portal uses the IT service to make the public administration more accessible, user-friendly, transparent, effective and cost-efficient.
European Parliament Vice-President Diana Wallis presented her personal experience with IT services. She highlighted web sites and e-mail as particularly useful sources of information when deciding on European legislation. Wallis also pointed to the problem of directing the effects of the IT.
"There are still some limitations with electronic communication," Hampe agreed and highlighted security as the most critical area.
Drawbacks and limitations of IT services are among highlights of the Bled E-Conference, which has been billed as a platform for discussion and collaboration among the expert community, the industry and government, Hampe said.
"In line with the European Year of Innovation 2009, the Bled E-Conference will initiate and encourage innovative projects," Chair of the E-Centre at the Maribor Faculty of Organisational Sciences Joze Gricar pointed out.

Bled E-Conference Highlights Need for Collaboration

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