OREANDA-NEWS. August 24, 2009. A delegation of Haitian government, business, and civil society representatives arrived in Estonia this week to participate in a seminar on electronic governance conducted by the Estonian e-Governance Academy (eGA).

This exchange project, the first of its kind between the two countries, will enable Haitians and Estonians to share information and communications technology (ICT) experiences and encourage the development of e-governance in Haiti. E-governance is the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to increase efficiency and improve democratic processes with the aim of building open societies.

Haiti has shown a growing readiness to use the internet as a tool for promoting democracy: the number of internet users has grown from 1.9 percent of the population in 2002 to more than 10 percent today. As a sign of the government's progress, Haiti has recently established a presidential committee on e-governance.

“Although Haiti currently faces many development challenges, it would be wrong to assume that it is too early to start developing e-governance,” commented Ivar Tallo, a member of eGA’s board. “E-development is an inseparable part of every state's development process. Making use of this technology from an early stage will increase the efficiency and transparency of a state's public administration.”

The Haitian delegation is especially interested in Estonia's experiences developing a national identity card, using geographical information systems, creating a supportive legal framework for information sharing, and using ICT in education. The seminar will offer Haitians a customized toolkit to help meet local needs. Haitian participants will share the knowledge gained on this trip with colleagues at the e-governance expert think-tank, using it to help guide the development of ICT policies in Haiti.

”This series of workshops will help refine not only the long-term Haitian strategic plan for e-governance but also help identify short term solutions to concrete Haitian problems, “adds Mr Patrick Attie, coordinator of the Presidential Commission on ICT in Haiti.

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The initiative takes place with the support of the East East: Partnership Beyond Borders Program of the Open Estonia Foundation and FOKAL – Open Society Institute Haiti.It is being coordinated by the Haitian Prime Minister’s office and the Haitian Presidential ICT task force.