The government of Mozambique will build a "Government Electronic Network (GovNet)" under an agreement signed last week by Lidia Brito, minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology of Mozambique; Lucio Stanca, minister for Innovation and Technologies of Italy; and Alan Rossi, CEO of the Development Gateway Foundation. José Antonio Ocampo, under-secretary general of the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN/DESA), was also present at the signing ceremony, representing the organization that formulated the project and signifying UN/DESA's continuing cooperation with the government of Italy in the area of e-government for development.

GovNet will allow the government of Mozambique to implement new e-government systems that improve its internal operations and better connect with its citizens. The first stage of GovNet will include a secure intranet for internal communications and a set of Web portals to improve quality and coverage of public services delivery and increase participation in government decision-making processes. The first stage will involve 21 government departments in Maputo, including some 800 workstations, new process management guidelines, training, and the identification of steps for expanding GovNet to new ministries and out to the municipalities.

The assessment and formulation of GovNet was conducted by the UN/DESA, in close collaboration with the governments of Mozambique and Italy. Today, the three partners in the execution of the first stage of GovNet -- the government of Mozambique, the government of Italy, and the Development Gateway Foundation -- are launching the project during the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), in the spirit of the Summit's commitment to advancing information and communication technologies (ICT) to achieve such societal benefits as government transparency and efficiency and in support of the Millennium Development Goals set by the international community.

"The government of Italy has developed an initiative on e-Government for Development aimed at providing an effective and original contribution toward the implementation of e-government in those countries that have not yet exploited the potential of this tool for bridging social and economic divides," Lucio Stanca said. "It's through long-term, ongoing relationships (twinning) between governmental institutions of donor and beneficiary countries that e-government solutions can best produce permanent results and improve the transparency and efficiency of the public administration."

"The signing of the project document for the first phase of Mozambique's GovNet is a clear step forward in our efforts to make ICT a decisive tool to streamline government operations to make service delivery more efficient and cost-effective, thus bringing government closer to its clients: the citizens and businesses," said Lidia Brito. "This is in line with the letter and spirit of Mozambique's ICT Policy and Strategy as well as with that of the Public Sector Reform Program. My government sees e-government as a new window of development opportunity and will work with its partners -- the government of Italy and the Development Gateway -- to make this project a resounding success," she said.

"With the right tools at their disposal, Mozambique's leaders and administrators can better meet the needs of their people for public services" Alan Rossi said. "Through this partnership, and others around the world, the Development Gateway is helping to realize ICTs potential as a powerful enabler of development."

"In the UN Millennium Declaration, member states set out an ambitious agenda for human development. Referring to its implementation, they expressed faith in certain universal values, in better governance at the local and global level and in science and technology, especially in the transformative power of ICT. Our organization is committed to supporting developing countries and countries in transition in the quest to harvest the potential of e-government to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in partnership with the government of Italy, which has spearheaded a broad initiative on e-government for development," said José Antonio Ocampo.

The government of Italy has made a commitment to its