E-Government and Sustainable Development

Workshop 2
"E-Government as a Driving Force for Institutional Integration
Towards Sustainable Development"
Opening Session
Mrs. Maria Isabel Mejia is a Systems and Computer Engineer from
Andes University in Colombia. She specialized on Information
Technologies Strategic Management in the same university. She has
over 30 years of experience in the field of Information and
Communications Technologies. She has worked in public entities,
private companies and academia.
She coordinated Colombia’s Year 2000 (Y2K) project; she was
responsible of leading the actions required by the country to meet
the millennium change. She coordinated the design and implementation of the risk mitigation plan required by
both: the public and the private sectors.
Between 2000 and 2006 she became the Executive Director of “Computers for Schools Program”, where she
designed and implemented promotional strategies to gather used computers from private and public
companies. She also led the refurbishing processes and the teachers’ educational support strategy.
“Computers for Schools Program” benefited millions of poor children around the country.
In 2006, she was responsible for the design of the National e-Government Strategy and was the Director of the
Program until 2010. At the time, according to the United Nations E-Government Survey, she reached the
achievement of ranking Colombia first in the Latin American and the Caribbean Region and led the country
ninth worldwide on e-Participation.
From 2010 to 2012, she worked as “Marinas de Colombia” General Manager; a Colombian company with
foreign capital responsible for the construction and execution of “Marina Puerto Velero”, which is the most
complete and modern marina built on the Colombian Caribbean Coast. Currently, she is the Deputy Minister
of Technology and Information Systems and Colombia’s Government CIO at the Ministry of Information and
Communications Technologies; from where she leads the IT industry strengthening as well the improvement of
public management through IT.
Session 1 – E-Government and Sustainable Development
Chair:
Ms. Rowena Bethel is a Regulatory Consultant in public governance, financial and
communications sector. She is a national of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
She holds an LL.B from Leicester University, UK, and an LL.M in Information
Technology and Telecommunications from Strathclyde University, UK. She is a
member of both the English Bar and the Bahamas Bar. She has served in senior
executive roles within The Bahamas public service for approximately 28 years as,
in-house corporate counsel to the National Insurance Board, Legal Advisor to the
Ministry of Finance, and the Executive Commissioner for the Compliance
Commission (the anti-money laundering supervisor for professional financial
intermediaries. Most recently she has served as a regulatory consultant to the Office of the Prime Minister of
The Bahamas and for regional and international bodies. Her professional experience have included reform of
financial services and communications sectors regulation; cross-border tax cooperation; tax treaty
negotiations; strategic planning for implementation of the national investment agenda, and developing the
policy and legislative framework for the national information society agenda. She is currently a member of the
United Nations Committee of Experts in Public Administration (CEPA). She is a former member of the United
Nations Committee of Experts on International Tax Cooperation, and the OECD Global Forum on Taxation.
Mrs. Bethel serves as a director on several national and international boards.
Speakers:
Mr. Vincenzo Aquaro is currently the Chief of the E-Government Branch (EGB) of
the Division for Public Administration & Development Management of the United
Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. EGB publishes the UN EGovernment Survey, conducts capacity-building and provides online training tools
for efficient, effective public service delivery based on transparency,
accountability and civic participation.
Previously, Vincenzo was President and CEO of Formit Servizi SpA, an Italian
advisory company on e-governance and of CARMA Scientific Research Consortium, a company engaged in eservices in Agriculture and Agro-industry.
He holds a Master’s Degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Bari, Italy.
Mr. Alfredo Moreira holds a bachelor in Telecommunications
Engineering and a Master degree in Investment Projects.
Professor in the career of Electronic Engineering of the National
University of Asuncion.
2013-2015 General Directors of ICT Policy and Development of the
National Secretariat of ICTs
2010-2012 Advisor at the Technology Commission of Science and
Technology of the Chamber of Deputies,
2005 - 2015 Expert in Telecommunications Services Costs Studies
Session 2 - e-Vision and e-Strategies
Speakers:
Mr. Jonas Rabinovitch is a senior adviser on public administration, Egovernance and knowledge management at the Division for Public
Administration and Development Management of the United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs in New York.
He has occupied various senior positions within the United Nations in the past 22
years, including UNDP Senior Urban Development Advisor, Global Manager for
Capacity 2015, Senior Policy Adviser for Governance and Rural-Urban Relations,
based at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
He has coordinated the preparation of UNDP corporate policy instruments,
provided substantive inputs into United Nations governance and public administration programmes, United
Nations E-Government Survey and policy advisory support to E-Government capacity development projects in
various UN member states. He was City Planner in Curitiba, Brazil, and advised the Mayor of the City, which
has received various sustainability awards. He graduated as planner and architect at Federal University of Rio
de Janeiro in his native Brazil, Master's in the Economics of Development (University College London) and
published in “Scientific American”, “Environment and Urbanization”, “VEJA Magazine”, contributed to the
“World Public Sector Report”, “United Nations E-Government Survey”, “United Nations World Economic and
Social Survey on Sustainability”, among other prestigious publications.
Mr. Getachew Negash Tekla
Mrs. Maria Isabel Mejia is a Systems and Computer Engineer from
Andes University in Colombia. She specialized on Information
Technologies Strategic Management in the same university. She has
over 30 years of experience in the field of Information and
Communications Technologies. She has worked in public entities,
private companies and academia.
She coordinated Colombia’s Year 2000 (Y2K) project; she was
responsible of leading the actions required by the country to meet
the millennium change. She coordinated the design and implementation of the risk mitigation plan required by
both: the public and the private sectors.
Between 2000 and 2006 she became the Executive Director of “Computers for Schools Program”, where she
designed and implemented promotional strategies to gather used computers from private and public
companies. She also led the refurbishing processes and the teachers’ educational support strategy.
“Computers for Schools Program” benefited millions of poor children around the country.
In 2006, she was responsible for the design of the National e-Government Strategy and was the Director of the
Program until 2010. At the time, according to the United Nations E-Government Survey, she reached the
achievement of ranking Colombia first in the Latin American and the Caribbean Region and led the country
ninth worldwide on e-Participation.
From 2010 to 2012, she worked as “Marinas de Colombia” General Manager; a Colombian company with
foreign capital responsible for the construction and execution of “Marina Puerto Velero”, which is the most
complete and modern marina built on the Colombian Caribbean Coast.
Currently, she is the Deputy Minister of Technology and Information Systems and Colombia’s Government CIO
at the Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies; from where she leads the IT industry
strengthening as well the improvement of public management through IT.
Mr. Leonardo Reyes is currently the National Undersecretary of Public Management
at National Secretariat of Public Administration. Relevant Trainings include Seminar
on Cloud Computing issued by ECLAC, Special Meeting of the Board of CLAD, xiv
Ibero-American Conference of Ministers of Civil Service and State Reform issued by
CLAD, Sharing Experience in IT Service 2011 issued by Ministry of Knowledge
Economy, and Transforming The State For Development In Latin America issued by
CLAD.
Mr. Reyes served as Undersecretary of Strategic Management and Innovation at
Presidency of the Republic of Ecuador for three years, and Information Technology National Manager at
Ecuaquimica.
Session 3: e-Government Institutional Frameworks
Chair
Mr. Cristian Castillo is Senior Advisor of the President of Ecuador for the
Institutional Design of the State and the improvement of the Public
Administration. Before, he was the Minister of Public Administration,
which is both Chief of the Cabinet and Policy maker in public
management. He was also, Junior Advisor of the President for the
Institutional Design of the State.
Previously, he worked at the Coordinating Ministry of Production,
Employment and Competitiveness as Senior Advisor of the Minister for
the improvement of the public management. Also, was Senior Advisor of Judiciary Council for Public
Administration agenda. His first experience in the public sector was as Chief of Human Talent in Ecuadorian
Customs.
In private Sector, Cristian was owner and CEO of advance CONSULTORA. consulting company in Cuenca in the
business of Organizational Development and Market Research. The company trained more than 7000 people
in the first five years and made more than 80 different research projects. In 2009, the company got The Bizz
price for the best consulting company in Ecuador.
As Consultant in public sector, he has worked with Azuay Local Government, Major of Azogues, University of
Cuenca, University of Azuay, Netherlands Cooperation Services and Chilean Forensic Services.
As an academic, He was professor and director of the Human Resources and Organizational Development
Master in Universidad del Azuay. He also has been professor of postgraduate programs such as: Master in
Communication and Marketing, Master in Sociology, and Master in Business Administration. Finally, He was
professor of undergraduate asignatures of Marketing, Organizational development, culture, communication
and theory.
Speakers
Ms. Elida Reci joined the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
(UNDESA), New York in 2005 as the Governance and Public Administration Officer. Since
then she has been working on the e Government development issues, serving as regional
e-government coordinator for Africa and Middle East. She is currently leading the work on
the United Nations Compendium on Innovative E-Government Practices, a recurrent
publication of the Division and serving as a team member for several publications of
DPADM/UNDESA.
Ms. Reci a seasoned institutional economist joined UNDESA after 18 years of extensive
experience in transition economies. A senior economic advisor to the Prime Minister of Albania, a former
director at the Albanian Ministry of Finance and a Founder of Albanian Public-Private Finance Institute she has
been advising and working closely with parliaments, governments, civil society and business community in a
wide range of issues, including transparency, accountability and participation in public administration. Ms. Reci
had been part of Stability Pact Initiative for Western Balkans (1999-2005) with Economic Table II as regional
expert, where she worked with several international organizations such as World Bank, International
Monetary Fund, United Nations Development Program, Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development, European Union, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, etc.
A graduate of Brandeis and Harvard University, USA and a fellow of US-Ron Brown Fellowship she has also
taught international trade and development economics at Tirana University. She has been presenting papers
and studies at several international, regional and national conferences on development issues.
Mr. Chiheb Bouchnak is currently Deputy Director of E-government Unit, Tunisia.
Chiheb led and contributed to a series of administrative reform initiatives within
the Tunisian public sector. He has been working on e-government strategies
formulation and implementation for over ten years. His responsibilities include
providing on demand advice for public agencies and top executives in the
government at the national and local level. He is also a consultant for number of
international organizations in the Mediterranean region.
Following to the democratic transition in Tunisia, he is more focusing on citizen
engagement and open government issues. He contributed to the adhesion of Tunisia to the Open Government
Partnership in 2014, and he is now in charge of the national OGP action plan implementation for the 20152016 period.
Chiheb is also the president of “The Tunisian e-governance society”; a non-governmental, non-profit
organization engaged in promoting the implementation of evidence based policies to transform the public
sector through digital technology usage.
Besides, Chiheb majored in Public management and graduated from The National School of Administration
(ENA) before doing an MPA at King’s College London.
Mr. Hector Oyarce has experience over 20 years in the public sector, Public
Policy and Management . Mr. Oyarce has served as General Secretariat of the
Presidency Chile, Advisory Unit Digital Government Modernization and
Innovation in the Public Sector, Strategic Alignment and Coordination in the
Public Sector. International consultant for IDB, WB, GTZ , ECLAC . Public Officer
for the Ministry of Social Affairs in France -Paris and Secretary General of the
Presidency, in Chile in the Modernization Committee .
Mr. Oyarce has experience in Graduate and Undergraduate teaching in Public
Policy in several Chilean Universities, including Alberto Hurtado University and
Universidad de Chile and FLACSO - Chile.
Session 4: e-Government Legal and Regulatory Frameworks
Chair
Mr. Mike Mora is a Specialist at the Organization of American States, in Washington
DC, with the Department for Effective Public Management, of the Secretariat for
Political Affairs.
He currently serves as lead specialist on electronic government. He is responsible for
coordinating programs and projects of the OAS portfolio of the Network of Electronic
Government Authorities of Latin America and the Caribbean (RedGealc), including
open data, and the Inter-American Network of Government Procurement (RICG) previously. He was Technical
Secretary of the netwrok until March 2014.
Mike also has a vast experience on cadastre, municipal management modernization, and on capacity building
programs for public officials; all lines of work for what he has been responsible for at the OAS throughout his
years at the Organization.
Mike has been with the OAS for 8 years now, and holds a Master’s Degree in International Peace and Conflict
Resolution from American University in Washington DC. He graduated from Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano in
Colombia where he received his degree in International Relations.
Speakers
Mr. Salum Mussa, born in 1975, is a professionally Certified Public Accountant CPA(T).
Academically I am a holder of Master Degree in Business Administration (MBA)
Finance from the University Of Dar Es Salaam business School. I have been working
with e-Government Agency (eGA) Tanzania from September 2013 as A Chief
Accountant. Before joining eGA I have been working with the University Of Dar Es
Salaam as a Principal Internal Auditor.
Ms. Yolanda Martinez is with an extensive experience in the design and
development of projects on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT),
currently, she is the Head of the Digital Government Unit of the Ministry of
Public Administration. In this position, she has among its main responsibilities
the definition and follow-up of the Digital Government Strategy, the
development of regulatory frameworks for ICT and the promotion of the
digitization of government services from the Federal Public Administration. She
previously worked in the project "Zapopan, Ciudad Digital", as well as in the
international firm Deloitte as Strategy and Operations Manager. Yolanda
Martinez holds a Bachelor Degree in Information Systems and a Master Degree
in Administration and Public Policy by the University of Carnegie Mellon in
Pittsburgh.
Mr. Stéphane Vincent currently serves as the Coordinator of the e-Governance
Unit in Haiti and an Advisor to the Prime Minister of Haiti in Technology. Vincent
develops digital strategy that ensures a smooth and productive administrative
workflow while strengthening open government. Vincent studied at New York
University and aims to revolutionize the use of Information Technology in Haiti
by promoting transparency and making data readily available and accessible.
Previously, a member of the Presidential Advisory Office on Youth and Sports,
Vincent coordinated a youth-driven project using sports as a tool for sustainable
community development in Haiti. Vincent then served in the diplomacy as a
Technology Director at the UN Permanent Mission of Haiti and the General Consulate of Haiti in New York.
Vincent is an active member of the former British Council youth network, Global Changemakers. Vincent
considers himself a Haitian at heart and a Global Citizen who enjoys exploring and learning about new places
and cultures.
Session 5 –Interoperability for institutional integration
Chair
Mr. Vincenzo Aquaro is currently the Chief of the E-Government Branch (EGB) of
the Division for Public Administration & Development Management of the United
Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. EGB publishes the United
Nations E-Government Survey, conducts capacity-building and provides online
training tools for efficient, effective public service delivery based on transparency,
accountability and civic participation.
Previously, Vincenzo was President and CEO of Formit Servizi SpA, an Italian
advisory company on e-governance and of CARMA Scientific Research Consortium, a company engaged in eservices in Agriculture and Agro-industry.
He holds a Master’s Degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Bari, Italy.
Speakers
Assoc. Prof. Zhai Yun, Ph.D., Associate Professor of the E-government Research
Center, Chinese Academy of Governance (CAG). He is one of the directors of China
Soft Science Seminar, and member of the E-government Cloud Computing
Application Technology, which is the national key laboratory of engineering. He was
the deputy editor of International Journal of Computer Applications, and the session
chairman of ISKE 2010. He also was the reviewer of many International Conferences
and journals, such as FSKD 2010, Journal of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
Research, Scientific Journal of Computer Science, Computer engineering, Computer
engineering and design, and etc. He was member of the program committee of
multiple International conferences (such as DMIN2011, DMIN 2012, DMIN2013,
DMIN2014 (invited, USA); ECET 2012 (invited, Spain); AICIT Conferences Series
(Korea); etc.).
His research interests include smart government, new technology and mining government data. He has hosted
and participated in multiple national and provincial scientific research subjects. He also published more than
30 papers, among which more than 30 times indexed by SCI/EI, in the important academic journals at home
and abroad. He also applies for a China national invention patents. He has completed multiple international
cooperation research projects, led by United Nations, the European Union, South Korea and other countries or
international organizations.
Ms. Ayesha Al Rayesi is the Executive Director of Central Operations Sector in
Emirates Identity Authority.
Emirates Identity Authority (EIDA) is a federal government organisation
established in 2004 tasked to develop a national identity management
infrastructure for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and to manage and maintain
the national population register and the digital identity program.
In her capacity as an Executive Director of Central Operations Sector Ms. Ayesha
heads two key functions in EIDA, ICT and the Population Registration
departments. Those key departments play key role in providing a range of online
Identity Services enabling many entities in the private and public sectors to
improve efficiency and enhance their service delivery in line with the UAE Smart Government transformation.
Prior to her taking charge of Central Operations, she was the Head of Strategy and Planning in EIDA, providing
the Director General vital insight of the corporate strategy execution, cross-departmental initiatives as well as
organizational and operational performance.
Ms. Ayesha has also been involved in different strategic government initiatives such as Sheikh Khalifa Fund for
Enterprise Development; a prestigious organisation aims to create a new generation of Emirati entrepreneurs
by instilling and enriching the culture of investment amongst young people, as well as supporting and
developing small to medium investments in the United Arab Emirates.
Ms. Ayesha holds a degree in Business Administration.
Ms. Alicia Avendaño is Director of the Technical Secretariat for Digital
Government, design and implementation of an Agenda for Digital
Government of Costa Rica since 2006. Definition of the project portfolio of
the Plan of Action for Digital Government. Among some of the projects:
telework project, public electronic procurement: Implementation of Mer-
Link, Online Public Procurement Marketplace System in 13 institutions (March 2010). She was Digital
Government Coordinator for the development and implementation of projects, such as driving permits and
passports in 30 branches of Banco Costa Rica, as part of the Digital Government Strategy. Before, Ms.
Avendaño served as “TIC@” Customs Modernization Project Manager. Information Technology for Customs
Control, Ministry of Finance, in charge of the design and implementation of new customs operation model
emphasizing the intensive use of technology in Customs Offices such as Caldera, Central and Santamaria.
Ms. Avendaño has earned awards for Best Public Officer, awarded by the Chamber of Exporters in 2000,
Ancora National Award in Information Technology from 2005-2006, Award of Merit from the College of
Computer Science Professionals in Costa Rica, November 2008, and CIO of the Year 2008 awarded by IT NOW
Magazine for Central America and Caribbean Region.
Mr. Jose Luis Liranzo Paulino is an expert in ICT, information, e-Government,
Strategic Policies, Research, Development, Trade Information and training. He has
experience in implementing best practices: COBIT, ITIL, ISO 27000, ISO 20000, etc.
He has over 30 years of experience in the field of information and trade. He has
worked on many projects evaluations, audit and market research. Furthermore,
he has extensive experience using cutting-edge technologies in the area of
computing, information and telecommunications. He has professional competence in English and Spanish.
Session 6 – Multistakeholders’ Partnership and Cooperation
Chair
Mr. Stéphane Vincent currently serves as the Coordinator of the e-Governance
Unit in Haiti and an Advisor to the Prime Minister of Haiti in Technology. Vincent
develops digital strategy that ensures a smooth and productive administrative
workflow while strengthening open government. Vincent studied at New York
University and aims to revolutionize the use of Information Technology in Haiti by
promoting transparency and making data readily available and accessible.
Previously, a member of the Presidential Advisory Office on Youth and Sports,
Vincent coordinated a youth-driven project using sports as a tool for sustainable
community development in Haiti. Vincent then served in the diplomacy as a Technology Director at the United
Nations Permanent Mission of Haiti and the General Consulate of Haiti in New York. Vincent is an active
member of the former British Council youth network, Global Changemakers. Vincent considers himself a
Haitian at heart and a Global Citizen who enjoys exploring and learning about new places and cultures.
Speakers
Assoc. Prof. Roberto Bellotti is professor of experimental physics, director of
the School of Medical Physics and Coordinator of the Master in "Development
and management of data centers for high performance scientific computing”
at University of Bari (Italy).
Scientific Coordinator of the PRISMA Project and Member of the Board of the
ReCaS Project, co-funded by the National Operating Program of the Italian
Ministry of Education, University and Research aims at creating an eInfrastructure, based on Cloud Open Source paradigm, in the south of Italy’s Regions of Convergence (Calabria,
Campania, Apulia and Sicily). Member of the Board of Tecnopolis - Center of Research and Technology
Co-author of over 250 papers published on Nature and Science and on the most important reviews of Physics,
Astrophysics and Medical Physics.
Mr. Armand Clotaire Lichambany has over 20 years in Telecommunication
industry, ICT and Consulting.
His specific areas of interest and expertise include Research & Development,
Strategy, Network Planning, Quality Management & Revenue Assurance, Cloud
Computing, Mobile services, IPTV, VoIP, ICT convergence technologies,
Technology Parks Development, Business Intelligence, Next Generation Networks
and Regulation.
Since 1994, Armand has served at many leading positions in several firms and state companies in Gabon such
as TIG and OPT as Network Planning Engineer, Artel ( National Telecommunication Regulatory Agency) as
Secretary General, and Gabon Telecom as Deputy Secretary General and Network Planning Manager.
In 2011, Armand has been appointed Managing Director of the ICT Department at the Ministry of Digital
Economy of Gabon and, since February 2015, Deputy Secretary General.
Armand is currently managing several flagship projects for the Government of Gabon including the Cybercity
Mandji Island (future largest Technology Park of Central Africa), Cloud Gabon ( including e-Government ) and
Gabon Digital Village which aims to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to reduce the
social gap and the digital divide between the rural and urban zones.
At the sub-regional level, Armand is the ITU Expert –Consultant for the Regional Roaming and HIPSSA projects
for Central Africa region.
Armand holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Engineering and Management of Telecommunication Networks from
Telecom SudParis, Evry, France (1994), a Postgraduate Diploma ( DEA ) in Microwave Electronics ( 1992 ) and a
MSc in Electrical Engineering & Communications Systems ( 1991 ) from the University of Sciences &
Technologies of Lille I, France.
Mr. Jorge Pineda is currently part of the Presidential Commission for
Transparency and E-Government. Born in 1970, he holds a bachelor degree
of Electrical Engineering at the University of San Carlos of Guatemala and
Technical Business Administration at the University Mariano Galvez of
Guatemala. He has graduate studies in Public Administration and
Information in the Galileo University of Guatemala. He has additional studies
on Electronic Government, Open Government and Public Administration in
the OAS and UN.
Since 2003, he has been working for the Government of Guatemala and during the last 5 years he has been
involved on e-government initiatives. Mr. Pineda has extensive research experience on the uses of ICT in
Guatemala. His research is focused on how the state can open administration and improve services. The
outcome of his research is the e-Government Strategies (plan 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0) which have been implemented
in Guatemala. His speech in Guatemala focuses on “e-Government as a mechanism to combat corruption and
encouraging transparency”.
Session 7 - Regional and International Cooperation on E-Government for
Sustainable Development
Chair
Mr. Jonas Rabinovitch is senior adviser on public administration, E-governance
and knowledge management at the Division for Public Administration and
Development Management of the United Nations Department of Economic and
Social Affairs in New York.
He has occupied various senior positions within the United Nations in the past 22
years, including UNDP Senior Urban Development Advisor, Global Manager for
Capacity 2015, Senior Policy Adviser for Governance and Rural-Urban Relations,
based at the UN Headquarters in New York.
He has coordinated the preparation of UNDP corporate policy instruments,
provided substantive inputs into United Nations governance and public
administration programmes, United Nations E-Government Survey and policy advisory support to EGovernment capacity development projects in various United Nations member states. He was City Planner in
Curitiba, Brazil, and advised the Mayor of the City, which has received various sustainability awards. He
graduated as planner and architect at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in his native Brazil, Master's in the
Economics of Development (University College London) and published in “Scientific American”, “Environment
and Urbanization”, “VEJA Magazine”, contributed to the “World Public Sector Report”, “United Nations EGovernment Survey”, “UN World Economic and Social Survey on Sustainability”, among other prestigious
publications.
Speakers
Ms. Alejandra Naser is a permanent staff at the United Nations.
Ms. Naser is a Computer Engineer from Chile. She holds a Master degree in
Information Technology and has attended to several courses specializing in
technology and informatics, and in the formulation and evaluation of public
projects and programs.
She is an ECLAC expert on e-government, open government, management
evaluation of public programs and leading technical cooperation projects
between countries of the region.
For over 10 years she has trained professionals from the region in national
and international courses developed by the ILPES on the disciplines of digital government, open government,
evaluation and use of indicators, among others.
Mr. Mike Mora is a Specialist at the Organization of American States, in Washington
DC, with the Department for Effective Public Management, of the Secretariat for
Political Affairs.
He currently serves as lead specialist on electronic government. He is responsible for
coordinating programs and projects of the OAS portfolio of the Network of Electronic
Government Authorities of Latin America and the Caribbean (RedGealc), including
open data, and the Inter-American Network of Government Procurement (RICG) previously. He was Technical
Secretary of the netwrok until March 2014.
Mike also has a vast experience on cadastre, municipal management modernization, and on capacity building
programs for public officials; all lines of work for what he has been responsible for at the OAS throughout his
years at the Organization.
Mike has been with the OAS for 8 years now, and holds a Master’s Degree in International Peace and Conflict
Resolution from American University in Washington DC. He graduated from Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano in
Colombia where he received his degree in International Relations.
Mrs. Maria Isabel Mejia is a Systems and Computer Engineer from
Andes University in Colombia. She specialized on Information
Technologies Strategic Management in the same university. She has
over 30 years of experience in the field of Information and
Communications Technologies. She has worked in public entities,
private companies and academia.
She coordinated Colombia’s Year 2000 (Y2K) project; she was
responsible of leading the actions required by the country to meet
the millennium change. She coordinated the design and implementation of the risk mitigation plan required by
both: the public and the private sectors.
Between 2000 and 2006 she became the Executive Director of “Computers for Schools Program”, where she
designed and implemented promotional strategies to gather used computers from private and public
companies. She also led the refurbishing processes and the teachers’ educational support strategy.
“Computers for Schools Program” benefited millions of poor children around the country.
In 2006, she was responsible for the design of the National e-Government Strategy and was the Director of the
Program until 2010. At the time, according to the United Nations E-Government Survey, she reached the
achievement of ranking Colombia first in the Latin American and the Caribbean Region and led the country
ninth worldwide on e-Participation.
From 2010 to 2012, she worked as “Marinas de Colombia” General Manager; a Colombian company with
foreign capital responsible for the construction and execution of “Marina Puerto Velero”, which is the most
complete and modern marina built on the Colombian Caribbean Coast.
Currently, she is the Deputy Minister of Technology and Information Systems and Colombia’s Government CIO
at the Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies; from where she leads the IT industry
strengthening as well the improvement of public management through IT.