Red de Gobierno Electrónico de América Latina y el Caribe (Red Gealc) - The Network of e-Government Leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean (RED GEALC)
The Network of e-Government Leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean (RED GEALC) was created in 2003 with the general objective of supporting policies of e-governance in Latin America and the Caribbean, and to promote the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as a tool to strengthen citizen participation in public life, a cornerstone of democratic governance. The GEALC Network is a joint initiative between the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development of the OAS and Institute for the Connectivity in Americas (IDRC/ICA) with the purpose of promoting horizontal cooperation between the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, and to facilitate the exchange of solutions and experts between the two regions. In 2005, the Inter-American Development Bank joined the aforementioned institutions and began providing support to RED GEALC through its Regional Public Goods initiative, and in 2006 the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA-ACDI) also joined the effort. The Network is made up of the people in charge of their government’s digital governance strategy and representatives of institutions that work and design policies to use e-government as a way to transform and modernize public administration in Latin American countries. Since its inception, the network has acquired many virtual and physical tools that have provided continued support for evaluating e-governance in the region.
Communication Strategies
- RED GEALC website is the principal regional reference point for e-government, both as a repository for up-to-date information (the page is updated daily), strategic documents, as well as a platform that supports requests and exchanges of horizontal cooperation, thematic workshops, training courses, the e-Gobex system for sharing solutions, and the e-Gob Monitor monitoring mechanism.
- e-Gobex is a virtual hub designed with the support of IDRC to find and share e-government applications with the objective of helping countries in the region share their solutions in a simple format, thereby avoiding the repeated "discovery" of similar solutions.
- e-Gob Monitor is a mechanism for monitoring the evolution of e-government that will be useful to the people in charge of e-government strategies as well as political leaders and international organisations, because it will help facilitate policy design and the planning of initiatives.
- Fondo de Cooperación Horizontal (FO COH) (Horizontal Cooperation Fund) - This fund is set up for the exchange of information among different country experts. This fund has promoted physical workshops in which specific tops defined by regional governments as priorities have been discussed. The agendas are decidedly participatory and geared toward practical application of concepts that are presented and analysed.
- Annual Meetings of the GEALC network - These are two-day long work sessions held with the participation of all network members. The agenda is structured around three objectives: learning about e-government in each country, analysing the experience of the host country, and planning upcoming network activities with the support of all the member countries.
- Premios excelGOB (GOB Excellence Awards) - awards for excellence in e-government. These awards were created to call attention to countries in the region about the progress being made in e-government and its impact on people’s lives.
- Cursos de formación en gobierno electrónico (E-government training courses) - The network offers online courses in the following areas: Introduction to Designing e-government Strategies (available in Spanish, English, and Portuguese), Interoperability, Inter-institutional Public Processes, and Regulatory Aspects of e-government.
- Canal de videos (Video Channel) - Beginning at the May 2007 Annual Meeting held in Santo Domingo, the Network created a Youtube video station featuring its most important activities with the objective of making them accessible to a larger audience and facilitating access to technical presentations.
- Proyecto “El Ciudadano y el Gobierno Electrónico en las Américas” ("The Citizen and E-government in the Americas" Project) - This project is the principal work of the GEALC Network in 2011-2012. The initiative is intended to strengthen democratic government processes in the region by constituting a community that builds knowledge of e-government based on professional investigations, and connected to the needs of those in charge of designing and establishing policies in this direction. In June 2010, an invitation to work on applied studies on the priority themes was issued by regional governments. One hundred and two proposals from 16 countries were submitted, with 21 proposals coming in from Peru, 17 from Colombia, 14 from Brazil, 13 from Argentina, and 8 from Mexico. The selection team evaluated the proposals and chose four to be investigated.
Development Issues
Democracy and Governance
Key Points
According to the organisers, the GEALD network has become the strategic partner in all the countries in the region. The network supports and provides incentives for collaboration among all, as well as a forum for disseminating knowledge, development and implementation of e-governments. As a result, a dynamic of collaboration among members has been created, which has increased State efficiency and transparency and has improved service delivery to citizens. This is seen as an indicator of a new focus in the field of application of e-government in the region.
Sources
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