[Index]
The UNECE strengthens its work on Internet
enterprise development
Geneva, 25 May 2004 -- On 14 May
2004 the United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe (UNECE) launched in Geneva a new
phase of the work of the Team of Specialists
on Internet Enterprise Development (TSIED),
with the aim of assisting member States in
adopting policies and practices that foster
enterprise development through the use of
new information and communication technologies.
The Team will pursue its objectives through
the exchange of best practices, the preparation
of e-readiness assessments, educational seminars,
studies and the formulation of policy recommendations
to governments.
The Extended Bureau (management
coordination group) of the TSIED decided to
focus the activities of the Team of Specialists
over the coming 12 months on three main areas.
The first is a project related to the development
of an e-business repository, aimed at providing
a framework to assist governments in building
the necessary infrastructure of core business
data of legally registered enterprises to
enable the greater use of the Internet for
business transactions and the further development
of Internet enterprises. The second concerns
the preparation of e-readiness assessment
reports of countries in south-east Europe,
eastern Europe and central Asia, so as to
provide governments with evaluation, benchmarking
and policy recommendations. The third is the
organization of a Seminar during the second
half of 2004 on the promotion of Internet
enterprise development.
Mr. Patrick Gannon, President
and CEO of OASIS (Organization for the Advancement
of Structured Information Standards), will
serve as Chairman of the TSIED. The Vice-Chairmen
are: Mr. István Erényi (Hungary),
Mr. George Gomelauri (Georgia), Mr. Georgi
Stoev (Bulgaria) and Mr. Nurbek Toichubaev
(Kyrgyzstan).
Mr. Patrick Gannon hailed
the work of the Team as an example of cooperation
between private sector and public sector institutions.
“The greater use of open standards for
electronic business will strengthen business
development and foster the creation of small
and medium-sized enterprises, employment and
economic activity”, he added.
In stressing the importance
of the TSIED, Mr. George Kowalski, Director
of the Industrial Restructuring, Energy and
Enterprise Development Division of UNECE,
said that “the work of the Team of Specialists
on Internet Enterprise Development will assist
in strengthening the contribution of information
and communication technologies to economic
growth in the UNECE region, particularly in
countries with lower incomes”.
The TSIED was originally
established in 2000 and is composed of professionals
from governments, private sector, academia
and NGOs.
For further information on the work of the
TSIED, please visit http://www.unece.org/ie/wp8/tsied.htm
or contact Mr. Rolf Traeger, Secretary of
the TSIED, at [email protected].
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Ref. ECE/IREEDD/04/N02