The auspices of the V4DIS conference

The auspices of the V4DIS conference have been assumed by Premysl Sobotka, President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic.

Introductory word by Premysl Sobotka, President of the Senate of Parliament of the Czech Republic

Dear ladies, dear gentlemen

When a politician accepts a personal patronage over some public event, many a time they are induced by a mere civility or sense of their social obligations to represent honourably their position. However, when I decided to take patronage over this year the IX^th year of an international conference "Internet in public administration and self-government" that also this year is extended by Visegrad conference Visegrad Four for Developing Information Society, I did so out of sincere interest in this issue.

It is not by far the matter that this event is at present rightly considered the most important event of its kind in the new member countries of European Union. I am more concerned with the fact that it deals with themes closely connected with what we got used to calling eGovernment or eState. I am interested in all new possibilities of communication of the state as well as the local governments with citizens by means of electronic services. This conference has thus its own significance in the fact that exchange of experience in this area takes place here at the level of countries, which have common historical experience, similar economic potential and also the same length of period of membership in EU and thus in principle related problems in some spheres of their activity. Therefore I believe that also here at this conference there will take place successful discovering of common procedures and exchange of experience in designing new applications of information and communication technologies in public administration.

Already last year in November when a national conference "Effective state--a partner of self-government" took place in the Czech Senate, I said that theme of state and its effective administration went beyond common political range of one electoral term and therefore it was in this direction necessary to look for a professional consensus across the political parties regardless of differences of their political and social concepts. In modern democratic culture of the 21^st century, a demand on "less bureaucracy and more transparency” in administration of the state should be a real matter of course, on which to agree should not be, at least I hope, any problem. Ever faster development of information technologies together with a great deal of positive international experience should thus relatively easily call into action these principles for example among the countries of Visegrad Four.

I am convinced that this meeting will also have its share in contribution to this vision.

Premysl Sobotka
President of the Senate of Parliament of the Czech Republic