PAHO eHealth

Electronic government (or e-Government) and its importance to e-Health will be discussed by Miguel Porrúa, senior e-Government specialist at the Organization of American States (OAS), during an virtual eHealth seminar to be held on 16 January 2012. The second in a series organized by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), the virtual seminar is open to the public free of charge.

According to the OAS, e-Government is the application of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to operations in the public sector to increase efficiency, transparency, and citizen participation. Both e-Government and e-Health facilitate access to services by using ICTs to accelerate national development.

“Many of the factors needed for progress in e-Health are linked to the digital agenda or the e-Government strategies of countries,” said Porrúa in an interview with PAHO/WHO. “Digital literacy is important for advancing e-Health and also to government efforts in other areas such as education and entrepreneurial development,” added Porrúa.

The PAHO/WHO online e-Health seminar series helps to develop and strengthen the competencies of health workers, both individually and collectively, as well as their institutions and to improve the health of people in general. Part of the PAHO/WHO Digital Literacy Program, the seminar series is being offered with the e-Health Strategy for the Americas. 

Miguel Porrúa: Biografy

Miguel Porrúa is a senior e-Government specialist in the Department for Effective Public Management of the Secretariat for Political Affairs at the Organization of American States.

Before that, he was Director of Government Relations for Latin America at the e-Government company govWorks in New York, overseeing various e-Government projects in the region. Before coming to the United States, he lived in Montevideo, Uruguay, managing projects related to entrepreneurial development and the modernization of the public sector for the Government of Spain through the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development and the United Nations.

Since 1996, Porrúa has lived in the U.S., holding a variety of management positions until joining the OAS in 2002. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business and economics from the University of Oviedo (Spain) and an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona.

Links:

Webpage: eGovernment OEA
OEA Newsletter: eGovernment Forum "e-Gobierno y eSalud"
PAHO/WHO eHealth Newsletter
eHealth Strategy and Plan of Action (2012-2017)
Twitter OEA: @OEA_oficial
Twitter OPS/OMS: @opsoms
Twitter OPS/OMS about eHealth: @eHealthPAHO