[governance] UNDP, IBM and Oracle to Help Asia-Pacific Countries Create Strategies and Policies for Adopting Open Computing Standards

[christine at apdip.net]

   UNDP, IBM AND ORACLE TO HELP ASIA-PACIFIC COUNTRIES CREATE  
STRATEGIES AND POLICIES FOR ADOPTING OPEN COMPUTING STANDARDS

BANGKOK, 19 DECEMBER 2006 - United Nations Development Programme  
(UNDP), IBM and Oracle today announced a joint research initiative to  
help Asia-Pacific countries share and create strategies, blueprints  
and policies for adopting the right blend of open standards and  
technology services. The goal will be for more countries to develop  
universally compatible applications and networks to make internal and  
external government services and transactions more automatic,  
affordable and efficient.

The UNDP Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme (UNDP-APDIP)  
will facilitate the development of Government Interoperability  
Frameworks (GIFs). Many countries around the world have developed GIFs  
to guide the development of government-wide systems and policies that  
permit electronic transactions and data and information exchange to  
take place seamlessly across agencies and jurisdictions.

Today, many e-Government initiatives show that new systems are very  
often developed from scratch at both central and local levels. New  
systems are developed with specifications and solutions that match  
goals and tasks relevant to a particular administration, but without  
adequate attention to surrounding government institutions and  
information and communications technology (ICT) systems. The result is  
a patchwork of ICT solutions that are not always compatible with each  
other, reduced efficiency and duplication of effort.

   UNDP-APDIP, IBM and Oracle, together with the International Open  
Source Network (IOSN), have teamed up to conduct a thorough review of  
how governments in the region and beyond are promoting efficient,  
government-wide sharing of information and data by focusing on  
automatic technology services provided by computing networks, rather  
than individual technologies. For instance, this project will examine  
how existing GIFs are focused on a service-oriented architecture.

   The objective is to identify promising practices around  
interoperability, then document case studies of those practices in  
action, and ultimately develop and recommend guidelines. Over the next  
year, UNDP-APDIP will hold workshops to share experiences and findings  
of the project with interested groups, and publicly release studies  
and reports at various stages of the project.

   "UNDP believes that interoperability based on open standards  
reduces vendor lock-in and consequently reduces costs, ensures data  
and application longevity, and most importantly, simplifies technology  
for citizens and governments," said Shahid Akhtar, Programme  
Coordinator of UNDP-APDIP.

   "The governments involved in this exciting project have a unique  
opportunity to find out how they can make a real difference for their  
citizens," said Bob Sutor, IBM's Vice President of Open Source and  
Standards. "IBM is pleased to participate in this initiative, share  
what we know, and share what we have learned from others that have  
adopted a neutral and truly open approach to their computing  
infrastructure."

   "Oracle is pleased to join with UNDP-APDIP and IBM on this  
important initiative that will help ensure governments obtain maximal  
benefit from their investments in ICT systems,? said Dr. Donald  
Deutsch, Oracle?s Vice President of Standards Strategy and  
Architecture, ?Open Standards provide the key foundation for  
interoperability of ICT systems and enable efficiency and innovation  
in enterprises of any size."

   Further information will be announced on  
http://www.apdip.net/projects/gif[1] as and when it becomes available.



Links:
------
[1] http://www.apdip.net/projects/gif


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