On August 15, 2012, the Institute of the Information Society (IIS) signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). In accordance with MOU IIS becomes a partner of the United Nations Public Administration Network (UNPAN) coordinated by the Division for Public Administration and Development (DPADM)of UN DESA. This electronic virtual network is designed for exchanging expertise and sharing experiences and lessons learned in the areas of public administration and governance, with a view to facilitate capacity-building through utilization of modern technology worldwide.

Within the MOU IIS will be responsible for:

• information and knowledge management within the Europe;
• identification and maintenance of contacts with the relevant public administration institutions in the European region;
• collection and preparation of analysis of the information related to the subject areas referred to above which are relevant to the Europe and submission them to UN DESA;
• identification of training needs, development of techniques for the application of information technology to distance learning, on-line publications, and information exchange;
• provision of assistance to UN DESA in the design, installation and operationalization of programmes and systems for UNPAN as well as in the monitoring of the online facilities;
• organization of regional online training programmes, workshops and other activities in the areas of public administration which are relevant to the region.

IIS has long-term relationship with the UN DESA on the development of e-government, open government data and online training on the use of ICT in public administration to increase its transparency and citizen engagement.

In 2010 IIS translated in Russian language free online training course "E-Government Interoperability 2.0". This online training course highlights the value of e-government interoperability and the steps required to achieve effective interoperability.  It also answers some of the fundamental questions such as: who should be involved in e-Government Interoperability projects; why a Government Interoperability Framework (GIF) should be developed; how GIFs are produced and revised; and what are the key factors are for the successful development and operationalization of a GIF. The online course is available on the website of the UNPAN Online Training Center.

For several years IIS provides UN DESA with expert and organizational support in arrangement of the events. In May 2012 IIS contributed to the preparation and organization of the Thematic Workshop on "Future Government: A Global Perspective in Connection to Open Government Data and Citizen Engagement". The Workshop was organized by UN DESA in cooperation with International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in the course of WISIS Forum in Geneva. More information about the event is available at: http://www.iis.ru/content/view/617/91/.