REPORT OF THE ASIA-PACIFIC PANELON“NGOS IN E-GOVERNANCE”

Program and Introduction

Prof. Yuko KANEKO
Local Autonomy College
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
JAPAN

Program coordinator of the Asia-Pacific Panel

I. Introductory note and future perspective
Asia-Pacific countries are once again experiencing drastic political, economic and socialchanges. Asia-Pacific Governance is accordingly coping with many challenges. For
example, social actors, particularly NGOs are now faced with the needs to transformthemselves. In one country, changes in political environment prompted to reshape thelaw system concerning NGOs and they have come to act more freely in many more
fields. In another country, NGOs are developing the networking systems among various
other social actors in public service delivery; and such development may reshape theinstitutional arrangements of NGOs. Some governments are deliberating reform
programs on how to transfer some public service functions to NGOs and how to
institute the appropriate legal systems for NGOs in order to make for the public service
delivery more efficient, along with the economic restructuring reform programs.
The roles and activities of NGOs and their missions expected by the society arecontingent upon the many political, economic, and social changes. Rapidly developing
information and communication technologies (ICTs) that have brought about“Information Revolution” in our society, is one of them. NGOs can take advantages ofthe opportunities given by rapidly developing ICTs that may in return bring about
fundamental changes in every aspect of their work.
For instance, in organizing an NGO, especially a small grass-root organization, afounding individual must seek other individuals who have the same interests andobjectives in certain fields to form a peer group of the NGO, so that these individuals
would become core members of the NGO group. In this work, personal computers(PCs) and the Internet can play crucial roles of easily connecting people who have thesame interests, and of promptly and effectively soliciting the new members for theNGO.
Likewise, when NGOs carry out activities and/or ask for donations, they have to contact
various interested people, groups, organizations in their work, and in some cases, thegovernment. PCs and the Internet can make these works much easier with speed andefficiency.
Management of the human resources within the NGOs often imposes a lot of workload,
as NGO workers are in many cases volunteers, who may not be the staff of the NGOs.

ICTs can make contact them much easier, and hence the ICTs can enable the humanresources management to perform much more efficiently.
Cooperation and collaboration among NGOs and between NGOs and the government
are required not only for the public missions to function, but also for the NGO missions
to realize effectively and efficiently. For more productive cooperation and collaboration
activities among NGOs and between NGOs and the government, ICTs can play theimportant roles. ICTs can also coordinate activities of the relevant entities more
effectively and efficiently.
When NGOs perform certain public roles and activities with relatively large financial
resources, they must be accountable to the general public as well as to the donors.
Transparency of their activities and accounts should also be ensured. By establishing
their own websites, for instance, NGOs can show their financial and activity reports tothe public speedily and easily with lesser costs. They can also solicit the comments fromthe general public with ease and speed. As consequences, NGOs can attract additional
members, volunteers and donors and can make their activities more active. They canalso expand their activity range in the society which they serve.
In these ways, ICTs have come to benefit more efficient and effective networking,cooperation and coordination among the governments, citizens, NGOs and other entities.
They may thus transform the relationships among these actors.
In the Asia Pacific Panel, the keynote speaker set the “Asian” tone by sketching thecommon portrait of the traditional Asian society still observable now in China, Korea
and Japan that was influenced by Confucius and Buddhist teachings on the state andfamily orientation. The experts from Korea, Hong Kong, China and Japan presented thecases of the recent changes experienced in the roles and activities of NGOs in theircountries, and outlined the impact of the “Information Revolution” to the networking,cooperation and coordination among the governments, NGOs and citizens. The
comparison and evaluation of their experiences was followed by three experts from theUnited Nations, South Africa and the World Bank.
After the presentation and discussion by the speakers and discussants,
common understanding of devolution of e-governance in the civil society
organizations was made at the panel. Key emerging issues of NGOs wereidentified when they work in e-governance. In conclusion, the panel felt that
there is a need to improve the knowledge and information on the experiencesof NGOs in e-governance by learning more cases. To facilitate such learning,organizing a global network of information on the roles of NGOs in
e-governance was suggested by the program coordinator. The panel
supported this suggestion unanimously. It is expected that the knowledge
and expertise that the meetings of the Asia-Pacific Panel held in 2000, 2001
and 2002 delivered should be utilized fully in constructing this globalnetwork.

II. General outline of the Asia-Pacific Panel on Public Administration
1. Time and Date
2. Venue
3. Conference site
4. Theme

2: 00 pm – 4: 00 pm
17 July 2004
Seoul, KOREA
Room 104, Convention & Exhibition Center (COEX)
NGOs in e-governance

5. Panelists
Mr. Jai Chang Park
Professor, Public Administration Department
Sookmyung Women’s University, KoreaDr. Jin-Wook Choi
Assistant Professor, Department of Politics and Public Administration andCenter Fellow, Center of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Mr. Takahiro Nanri
Program Officer, The Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Japan
Dr. Demetrios Argyriades
Professor, Consultant, Department of Economic and Social Affairs
United Nations
Dr. Fanie Cloete
Professor of Public Policy Analysis and Management, School of Public
Management and Planning, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

Dr. Ladipo O. Adamolekun
Lead Public Sector Management Specialist
World Bank
6. Chairperson and Vice-chairperson
Chairperson and keynote speaker
Dr. Hiromitsu Kataoka
Professor, Waseda University, Japan
Vice-chairperson
Dr. Itoko Suzuki
Professor, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Japan
7. Organization of the Panel
14:00-14:15
Keynote speech by Prof. Kataoka
14:15-15:15
Presentation by three speakers
15:15-15:45
Comments by three experts
15:45-16:00
Discussion
16:00
Conclusion by the Chairperson
8. Organizers
Japan Steering Committee for the Study of NPM,
Kataoka Research Institute, Waseda University
1-6-1, Nishiwaseda, Shinjukuku, TOKYO, 169-0051, JAPANInternational Institute of Administrative Sciences
Rue Defacqz 1, Box 11, B-1000
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
9. Program coordinatorProf. Yuko Kaneko
Local Autonomy College
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Government of Japan
10. Funding Agency
The Sasakawa Peace Foundation, JAPAN