Governments should use information technology to improve their efficiency and transparency and clean up corruption, delegates to the two-day Forum on City Informatization in the Asia-Pacific Region said in Shanghai.

The 800 delegates from 92 cities also voiced their concerns about the uneven development of technology in the world that they say may become a new means of colonialism.

The forum, held at Shanghai International Convention Center, was sponsored by the Shanghai government, the United Nations, several Chinese ministries and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"The establishment of an 'E-government' is not simply buying software and computers off the shelf and installing them in the office. It is a process of re-inventing government," said Al Gore, former vice president of the United States.

"Citizens' lives have changed due to technology, if the government still runs under bureaucracy they will fall hopelessly behind," said Gore.

Unless the government is rebuilt around technology, it cannot fully unleash the power of IT, said Gore, noting that local culture and corruption cause some resistance to the idea of E-government.

The idea of E-government, according to Gore and other delegates, involves more than the creation of a few government Websites. It would allow citizens to pay their taxes, apply for business licenses or renew a driver's license over the Internet, while also providing an easy-to-use database of laws and regulations.

This forum's theme is "Narrowing the Digital Divide -- E-Government and the Information Technology Development of Cities." UN officials hope this forum can provide a platform for cities to exchange their experiences in building an E-government, even while many people in developing nations aren't connected to the Internet.

Carl Bildt, the former Swedish prime minister, said "even if only 5 percent of people can access a transparent E-government through the Internet, the media can report what they have seen to people."

However, the existing digital gulf between developed and developing countries is still a source of concern.

"The World Trade Organization's rules protect copyrights perfectly, but they don't pay enough attention to the reasonable transfer of technology to developing countries," said Long Yongtu, vice minister of China's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation.

Many people in China are upset at the high prices foreign software companies such as Microsoft charge for their products.

While resources are scarce, officials from China's Ministry of Information Industry said the central government will invest heavily to develop several public databases, containing census data and information about organizations in China and the country's geography.

(Eastday.com June 15, 2002)