- From the Chair
- News from the Board
- ICA 38th Conference - Programme
- ICA Future Conferences
- Study Group Activity
- ICA Membership
- ICA Strategic Plan
- Preparation of the ICA NR's and Council Meetings
- Assignment of ICA Deputy NR's
From the Chair
Dear Members of ICA
Twice In 2004, I had the opportunity to send you the "Communiqué from the Chair", as an informative bulletin on what is happening in ICA.
A Joint ICA Board and Programme Committee meeting took place in London on the 20&21 January 2005. It was decided that I, as Chair of ICA, would continue to issue a newsletter to members, to keep you updated on the activities of ICA all year around.
I hope the information below will be useful to you. For any additional information please do not hesitate to contact me, or any ICA Board Member.
Best Regards
Dr. Nachman Oron
ICA Chair
oron-n@013.net
News from the Board
The main purposes of the ICA Board and Programme Committee meeting in London in January were to plan the 39th Conference and to agree on the 2005 ICA Work-plan. The meeting was very interesting and productive; here are some of the results discussed: -
ICA 39th CONFERENCE - Arrangements
The venue for the ICA 38th Conference is now known to be - the Sheraton Hotel in Salzburg, Austria and will take place on 12-15 September 2005.
Salzburg was built on mining, of both gold and salt, although salt (the so-called 'white gold') has always been more important. Salz is German for salt and Salzburg literally means 'Fortress of Salt'.
On the 27 April 1945, Austria again became a separate country and declared its permanent neutrality on 15 May 1955. Austria joined the United Nations in the same year.
During World War II over 40 percent of Salzburg's buildings were destroyed or badly damaged. Since then Salzburg has become a tourist Mecca, thanks mostly to the fact that in 1756 it was the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Although the city didn't pay too much heed to him back then, his image is now used to sell everything from cookies to snow-domes. We may soon be seeing Mozart skis: Salzburg has made a bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympics.
The city of Salzburg is an architectural gem. Its most noteworthy buildings are a late 7th-century Benedictine abbey, which was for many years the centre of missionary activities; the Franciscan church, consecrated in 1223; the early 17th-century cathedral, modelled after St. Peter's in Rome; the Residenz (16th-18th cent.), formerly the archiepiscopal palace; Mirabell castle - Schloss Mirabelle (early 18th cent.), situated in a beautiful garden; and the Festspielhaus (1960), the city's chief concert hall.
The provisional 39th Conference Agenda includes a meeting of National Representatives (NR) & Deputy NRs on Monday morning (11 September), followed by the ICA Council annual meeting on Monday afternoon. That evening a welcome reception will be held at the "Schloss Mirabell".
On Tuesday morning, the opening session will greet our host, Ms Elisabeth Geher, Minister of Education, Science & Culture followed by an interesting keynote speaker. Two full sessions & one hour of the Round Table session are planned for the rest of the day. Tuesday is a free evening; a list of many interesting cultural events to be offered by our Host.
Wednesday will start with another Keynote speaker, followed by the Study Group Report-back, after which we split into three Affinity Groups. On Wednesday afternoon we plan a special Technology Vignettes session including short presentations & short video demos. A social event is planned for Wednesday evening.
Thursday morning will start with another plenary session; we then hear the reports of Affinity Groups followed by a Round Table session. In the afternoon there will be a debate on a controversial topic and the Closing session, with an interesting Keynote Speaker.
As usual we conclude our Conference with a Gala Dinner, including an Awards Ceremony and an invitation to next year's Conference in Guadalajara, Mexico.
ICA 39th CONFERENCE - Programme
My thanks to you all, delegates of the 38th Conference in Limassol, for your feedback and evaluation reports. This helped the Program Committee to develop an interesting agenda for the Limassol Conference.
This year Conference Theme: "Anticipating the Citizen's Needs in the 21st Century"
Hence all session titles will be related:
| Session 1 | Ubiquitous Government |
| Session 2 | National Strategies for Managing Identities |
| Session 3 | Technology Vignettes |
| Session 4 | Impact of Technology on the Business of Government |
| Affinity Group 1 | Identity Management (beyond the session) |
| Affinity Group 2 | Citizen's Needs of Tomorrow |
| Affinity Group 3 | Efficiency and Effectiveness through Consolidation |
| Debate | Government Should always be at the Leading Edge of Emerging Technology ! |
A draft Agenda and "Call for Papers" will be distributed shortly by our Program Chair - Martha Dorris.
ICA Future Conferences
2006: The 40th ICA Conference is now confirmed. It is to take place in Guadalajara, Mexico, during the week commencing 12 October 2006.
2007: The 41st ICA Conference is to take place in Dublin, Ireland, in October 2007.
2008: The 42nd ICA Conference: discussions are still to take place with Korea and Sweden and any new ICA members on the possibility of future conferences.
Study Group Activity
Enterprise Architecture: This Study led by Denmark held its initial meeting in the USA in November 2003. Further meetings took place during 2004; Stockholm in April, Copenhagen in June and Limassol in October.
The Study Group presented preliminary findings to the Cyprus Conference.
The Final report is to be submitted by September 2005 to the Salzburg Conference.
For more details please contact John Gøtze at JGZ@itst.dk
Knowledge Management: The Study Group leader, Hugo Agius-Muscat, presented his Final Report to the Plenary at the Limassol Conference .
For more details please contact Dr. Hugo Agius-Muscat at hugo.agius-muscat@gov.mt.
ICT Portfolio Management (ITPM): Study Group conducted by Singapore, who will deliver the final report to the Salzburg Conference. For clarification on the survey, you are most encouraged to contact Tay So Leng at her email: tay_so_leng@ida.gov.sg.
New Study Groups: Three new items are now under consideration:
- Shared GIS
- Video Government
- Mobile Government.
ICA Membership
In Limassol, the ICA Council accepted New Zealand as member of ICA, and Taiwan was accepted as an Associate Member.
China, Italy India, Latvia, Brazil, Chile and Greece were identified as potential targets for future membership. France and Slovakia were to be considered to be lapsed members. Belgium and Luxemburg to be invited to join our next Conference in Salzburg.
ICA Strategic Plan
The current ICA Strategic Plan was adopted by Council in October of 1999 and is now in need of revision and an update. Simon Gauthier, Canada and Jacob Navot, Israel, have agreed to consider a revised plan for adoption at the 2005 Council Meeting. A draft paper will be presented to Board in March 2005, and distributed to National Representatives before the next Council meeting.
The current plan still provides a basis for work but is in need of revision. For example there is too much emphasis on IT and it needs the addition of management and performance measures. There is also a need to define and strengthen common goals, and define and focus on lessons learned. There is no need to strengthen links with industry beyond current activity but there may be advantages in stronger ties with universities in the Study Group environment or in developing the Application Group findings. ICA also needs some form of Strategic Statement on the value of its organisation to its membership.
Also under review are the merits or pitfalls of opening up ICA membership beyond countries and a few key executives (National Representatives) to individual public sector IT/IM executives; in effect to create an International CIO Council so as to facilitate/learn from the interaction of professionals within a given sphere (i.e. public security, taxation, education, etc) is. Results from the work done by John Riddle on "Membership Models" will be incorporated in the revised Strategic Plan.
Preparation of the ICA NR's and Council Meetings
Learning from the experience of last year, and accepting comments and suggestions from delegates, the Board decided to introduce some improvements to the National Representatives Meeting by earlier dispatch of papers, including Agenda and notice of issues to be discussed.
Assignment of ICA Deputy NR's
Two years ago the ICA Board decided that in order to have a wider membership base, each Country was asked to assign a Deputy National Representative (DNR), who will join the Council meeting with no voting power.
At this time nine Countries have assigned DNR's. Their names and details are published on the officer's page. Other Countries are requested to send their nominations as soon as possible.