Welcome Ms. Haiyan Qian! - UNDPADM Acting Director visited the Secretariat

Ms. Haiyan Qian, a high-ranking UN official, paid a courtesy call on the Secretariat as well as the e-Seoul Government on the 5th of November 2008 as part of her official trip to the United Nations Governance Centre (UNGC) in Korea.

As Acting Director of the Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) within the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), Ms. Qian has a broad spectrum of interests in public administration. Above all, she appeared to be enthusiastic about a new means of public service delivery: electronic/mobile governance.

During a meeting with the Seoul CIO and the Secretariat staff members, the director commented that the World e-Government Mayors Forum did make a great contribution to increasing public awareness on digital governance. She said, “The participating mayors and representatives suggested a new direction to which local governments should move, and it’s significant that local governments built a foundation to battle problems triggered by the digital divide.” The UN official added that (prospective) member cities of the World e-Governments Organisation would make good partners of the UN.