INTERNATIONAL EXPOSURE FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Information Technology Minister Andrew Thomson has been invited to highlight Saskatchewan's information technology achievements at the Asia-Pacific 2005 Public Services Summit in Beijing, China. Thomson will be the only North American guest speaker at the summit, which is being sponsored by the United Nations Development Program. It is being held from June 8th – 10th.

"This is a unique opportunity to showcase the strides Saskatchewan has made in information technology, such as the development of our CommunityNet high-speed network and our online service delivery programs in education and health," Thomson said. "It is also an opportunity to build relationships, share information and make contacts in jurisdictions around the globe that could lead to future benefits for our province."

The invitation-only event will be attended by 150 senior government officials from China, Asia and around the world. The theme for the summit is "Cross-Agency Collaboration".

"Saskatchewan has much to share in the areas of collaboration and co-operation, it's how our province was built," Thomson said. "We've also adopted a collaborative approach in nearly all areas of IT development, from CommunityNet to our citizen service delivery strategy."

Thomson has been asked to provide a provincial perspective on the conference theme and to outline the process used to build CommunityNet, which will be the largest contiguous broadband network in the world when completed next year. His presentation will also touch on the government's citizen service delivery initiatives, and ongoing efforts to improve internal government IT business and system operations.

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For More Information, Contact:

Art Newton ITO Regina Phone: (306) 787-2215