At today's workshop on online development trends organized for the department heads of the Executive Yuan and various ministries and agencies, Premier Mao Chi-kuo called for the government to capitalize on the Internet to improve administrative efficacy and services.
"The times and the environment are changing, and the administration must keep pace," the premier remarked. "What is needed is a bridge between the online and offline worlds."
Most high-ranking administrative officials belong to a generation that is relatively unfamiliar with the online world, and they must quickly get acquainted with it, Mao pointed out. Hence, the Executive Yuan Council will release a white paper as soon as possible to serve as a reference for the administrative departments. Prior to its completion, today's workshop will provide a few pointers by Internet experts, Mao said.
The premier highlighted three major points to share with the participants. Firstly, the online world concerns open data, which may seem to be technological but even more so is a kind of attitude and "way of doing things." Open data will allow all administrative measures to be publicly scrutinized. It is regulation by others but also a type of self-discipline, because the administration must be meticulous in thinking and comprehensive in data organization, display and clarity. In so doing, its overall work quality will be enhanced.
Secondly, the administration must be humble in dealing with online opinions, the premier pointed out. In the past, government departments gathered public opinions from printed media and responded through press releases. The effects of such efforts are becoming increasingly limited, however. In the future, the administration must incorporate both the online and the offline worlds, collecting the views of netizens so that responses to the public will become more comprehensive.
Thirdly, the premier proposed capitalizing on the strengths of netizens to raise the quality of government services. He cited the one-stop service website "That Day After, We're Braver," where a patient named Lo Pei-chi compiled scattered government information into organized and useful references for patients and their family members. Such ardent netizens are plentiful on the Internet, and if the administration would collaborate with them and make use of their strengths, they could prompt the government to deliver more friendly and systematic services, Mao remarked.
In recent years both domestic and foreign environments have undergone drastic changes, the premier pointed out. To be a pivotal force for social stability and progress, the administration must stand firm when facing all kinds of challenges, hold to the central principle of serving people, uncover and resolve problems, and overcome difficulties.
The premier believes these were also the original and fundamental ideals of every high-ranking official when he or she decided to take up civil service. Mao said that he cited these principles today in the spirit of mutual encouragement and hopes all attending department heads will reap bountiful results from the workshop, digest what they learn and utilize it in the job.
Today's event is the second such workshop organized by the National Development Council. The first, for all ministry and agency heads, was held a week ago.