As part of the programme of events being held under the auspices of the Italian Presidency of the EU, a European Conference on e-government was held at Cernobbio (Como) on 7-8 July. In pursuit of the objective formulated by the Lisbon Strategy of assuring Europe of lasting socio-economic development able to turn the Union into “the greatest knowledge-based economy in the world” by 2010, the Conference tackled questions relating to the use of the new technologies aimed, in particular, at the improvement of the relation between the public administration and citizens. Three points were on the agenda: the improvement of the quality of life of European citizens, the role of e-government in support of European competitiveness and cooperation between the various levels of government. The European Commissioner for the information society, Erkki Liikanen, reaffirmed the intention of the EU Executive to accelerate the application of the e-Europe plan 2005 to promote a reform of the public administration that would permit citizens to obtain services on-line.
