UNPOG participated in 3rd General Assembly of WeGo in Chengdu, China from 3 to 4 November. During the Meeting, Head of UPOG, Mr. Jae-hong Lim delivered two presentations, one for Executive Committee Meeting (hereinafter EXCOM Meeting) and the other for Workshop I “Open Government and Collaborative Governance”. Making use of both presentations, Mr. Lim not only proposed three concrete cooperation areas with WeGO in the future and but also provided substantive input through introducing Open Government Data based on 2014 UN E-Government Survey.

 

1. EXCOM Meeting, 3 November
 
Mr. Lim delivered a presentation during the EXCOM Meeting, briefly introducing UPOG and highlighting UNPOG's past and future cooperation with WeGO. During the presentation, he made an emphasis that UNPOG's e-government initiatives in national and international level would make great synergies when they are combined with WeGO's e-government development effort in local level. In this respect, he proposed three possible cooperation ideas with WeGO on the way forward.
 
- To institutionalise cooperation between UNPOG and WeGo from 2015, particularly through joint organisation of e-government workshop on the occasion of Jeju Forum; 
- To become endorsing partner to each other through linking each organisation's websites, showing logos, sharing the activities and so on; 
- To provide substantive input through actively exchanging chairs and speakers in each other's event.
 
WeGO EXCOM Members greatly welcomed and appreciated UNPOG's suggestions, sharing the thought that based on the past collaborative achievements between UNPOG and WeGO, now is the time to move one step forward. In particular, WeGO EXCOM Members expressed their strong interest of making use of 2015 Jeju forum as a starting point of institutionalised cooperation and agreed to actively support this idea. After the Meeting, Secretary General of WeGO, Mr. Gun-seo Kim confirmed official endorsement of the Member Cities for pushing ahead with the idea. UNPOG and WeGo will further develop this project after both sides return to Seoul.

 

2. Workshop Session I "Open Government and Collaborative Governance", 4 November
 
Mr. Lim provided a presentation on Open Government Data as a keynote speaker, based on findings and lessons in 2014 UN E-Government Survey with inclusion of best practices collected from around the world. During the presentation, he not only highlighted global trends, issues and lessons of OGD covered in the Survey but also introduced national and local best practices which drew much attention from participants. Participants provided very positive feedbacks on the presentation, saying that the presentation is very informative and insightful to enhance their understanding on OGD and DESA's works including UN E-Government Survey.