Experts from Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod (UNN) took part in the 8th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV2014) which was held in Guimar?es, Portugal from October 27 to 30.

ICEGOV provides a platform for discussing the main trends that are likely to impact the use of information technology for the purpose of transforming the working of government and making it more publicly accountable and accessible. The conference has been taking place annually since 2007. It was held in China, Egypt, Colombia, Estonia, the U.S., South Korea, and now it returned to its home – Guimar?es, Portugal, where the United Nations University Operating Unit on Policy-Driven Electronic Governance (UNU-EGOV) is based. The University of Minho hosted some sessions of ICEGOV2014 on its campus in Guimar?es.

Other organizing parties of the conference were the administration of Portuguese president and Portuguese government's Agency for Modernization of Public Administration. Sponsors and partners of the conference included: UNESCO, the European Commission, the World Bank and over 16 international non-governmental organizations working with agencies and public bodies to improve e-governance.

The selection committee composed of experts from 30 countries chose about 300 candidates from 51 countries from 500 applicants to the conference. The participants of ICEGOV2014 were from all continents of the globe. Experts from Lomonosov Moscow State University, Saint Petersburg State University and Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod gave the Russian viewpoint on e-government issues. 

Dr. Aleksei Martynov, UNN Vice-Rector for Open Education, and Mr. Mikhail Bundin, Deputy Director of UNN Institute of Open Education, gave a presentation entitled ‘Public Bodies and Officers Using Social Networking Services: Russian Law and Practice’ that resulted from their research project. The study of this topic sparked other participants’ interest, especially those coming from the U.S., Portugal, Georgia, Malaysia, India, France and Vanuatu. 

Our experts were surprised too: presentations about the creation of e-government in Vanuatu, Uganda and Mekong River Basin Countries [Cambodia, Laos PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam] were given by the delegations which included the highest government officials and heads of the ministries of these nations. 

The conference featured lectures, thematic sessions and workshops on innovative approaches to e-governance, open government data, ethics and trust in information technology. Moreover, ICEGOV2014 involved meetings between professionals and peers who enjoyed the opportunity to share their ideas or build up a network of contacts.

The delegates from Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod held talks about cooperation with the University of Minho and the University at Albany (New York, the U.S.).