BERLIN, January 23 /PRNewswire/ --

- Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Slovenian government hail the 
agreement as a milestone for regional cooperation and development.

Today at The Government Leaders Forum-Europe, Slovenian Minister for
Growth Dr Ziga Turk and Microsoft Corp Chairman Bill Gates announced a major
public-private partnership between Southeastern European governments,
nongovernmental organisations and leading technology companies to create a
centre for eGovernance in the region. Sited in Slovenia and supported by a
broad network of stakeholders throughout the region, the Southeastern Europe
Centre for eGovernance Development (CeGD) will be a jointly funded
institution promoting sound strategies and technology policies for effective
governance, public administration and the provision of public services.

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Minister Turk hailed the agreement: "This centre will be a valuable
resource in our work to achieve a prosperous, secure and fully modern future
for the people of Southeast Europe. The decision to locate the facility in
Ljubljana -- combined with Slovenia's assumption of the EU presidency this
month -- is symbolic of the entire region's rising profile as an equal
partner in the growth and future direction of Europe."

Participants in the eGovernance Centre project include the Electronic
South East Europe (eSEE) Initiative of the Stability Pact for South Eastern
Europe (http://www.stabilitypact.org), which represents all of the eSEE
participants including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Former
Yugoslav Republic (FYR) of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia,
and United Nations Interim Administration Mission (UNMIK) in Kosovo. In
addition, the centre's public- and private-sector stakeholders and partners
include the United Nations Development Programme and the European Foundation
for Information Society and eGovernment (Madrid, Spain), as well as the INA
Academy, Siemens AG Austria and SRC.SI in Slovenia.

The CeGD effort enjoys wide and growing support and interest. The US is
offering financial support. Interested potential partners include the World
Bank, the Central European Initiative and CSI-Piemonte. The European
Commission's Directorate-General for Information Society and Media welcomes
the CeGD undertaking, given that the centre will help regional governments
implement the eSEE Agenda Plus and promote eGovernance in the region.

EGovernance is a concept recognised at the World Summit on the
Information Society as a key objective for development in emerging markets,
and is a central tenet of the EU's Lisbon Agenda. In Southeastern Europe, a
region where conflict and political instability have stunted economic growth
in recent history, governments are eager to modernise, strengthen confidence
in democracy and governmental processes, and promote entrepreneurship and
economic dynamism. All countries of Southeastern Europe look towards eventual
EU accession, including official EU candidates Croatia and FYR Macedonia, and
have a strong need to draw on EU-wide experience and approaches to
governance. In October 2007 in Sarajevo, the region's ministers of
communications and information society adopted the regional eSEE Agenda Plus
strategy to help the region meet the information and communication technology
(ICT) and eGovernance challenges ahead. The eGovernance Centre will support
this regional vision by creating a framework for better administration,
research, best-practice sharing and business innovation that supports
regional growth and development.

Under the agreement, Microsoft will contribute direct funds, software,
training curriculum, technical tools and guidance for developing and managing
public-sector information technology systems.

"One of the most important functions of government is to provide a
framework for economic opportunity that encourages entrepreneurship and
enables innovation to thrive," Gates said. "Through this eGovernance Centre,
Microsoft is looking forward to working with a wide range of governments,
organisations and companies to develop and promote technology strategies that
will serve as a catalyst for economic growth across the region."

Initially, the mission of the centre will focus on four core functions:
    -- Education and training. The centre will help regional governments
       build capacity and knowledge of eGovernance, and identify concrete 
       areas requiring training and support. The centre will also work with 
       the eSEE Initiative and bSEE Initiative to support regional research 
       and development. And it will facilitate, when possible, eSEE 
       Initiative participants' preparation of projects for possible funding 
       under European Union Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance and the
       Framework Programme and other donor programmes.
    -- Knowledge base (including web portal development). The centre will
       develop a thorough survey of existing eGovernance programmes and best
       practices both within the region and from other partners, as well as
       the network of programme managers and programme providers working in
       the eGovernance area. A dedicated web page will be developed to
       facilitate replication of best practice solutions and to serve as a
       platform for virtual networking among eGovernance educators, ICT
       professionals and other e-leaders.
    -- Workshops and seminars. The centre will conduct or coordinate
       workshops and seminars on specific eGovernance topics and policy 
       issues; create training opportunities for central government and 
       municipal officials in the acquisition of the latest eGovernance 
       knowledge at schools of public administration and management; and 
       address the specific competency needs of end users, ICT professionals, 
       media, civil society organisations and small businesses at the local 
       level. When possible, activities will be supplemented by the 
       development of opportunities for self-learning and remote learning in 
       digital form. 
    -- Projects. The centre will support regional eGovernance programmes by
       delivering specific services and programmes, and support project
       delivery (opportunity-based facilitation, advisory and consultancy
       services, including engaging local expertise to this end).



"We have been working on many fronts to re-establish the SEE region as a
secure, democratic and economically vibrant part of Europe, and information
and communication technology can play an important role in many of our
initiatives," said Erhard Busek, special co-ordinator of the Stability Pact
for South Eastern Europe. "The Centre for eGovernance Development will be a
hub for developing region-focused solutions and sharing best practices,
enabling governments to make the best use of technology for public
administration as well as cross-border cooperation. The potential is great,
with eGovernment, eEducation, eCustoms, eProcurement, eBusiness and eHealth
heading the list."

Microsoft's Government Leaders Forum is a regional conference that brings
together heads of state, policymakers, nongovernmental organisations and
technology companies from around Europe to consider matters related to the
information society.

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