The launch of Legal Clinics in the field of e-Governance is part of Electronic Government Center's (EGC) strategy in promoting active dialogue and professionals' involvement in order to improve the legal framework for an effective implementation of e-governance.

At the first meeting of the Clinic, the participants – representatives of ministries and government institutions – have discussed legal issues related to information security in Government and its institutions. They stressed the need for national information security standards and proposed to create an inter-ministerial working group to develop the national information security policy and a framework for updating fields' policies.

The participants discussed issues related to the complexity of information security issues in Government. They focused, in particular, on the need to rank the responsibility for information security within an institution, the protection of personal data, etc., taking in consideration the changes imposed by technological modernization of governance. In this context, it was recommended the initiation of a study on the current situation in the field of information security.

The participants also discussed the benefits and risks of social networking use by public institutions and stressed the need for their proper management. According to them, it is necessary that the Moldovan official realizes that he may be the primary source and the weakest link in information security, if he doesn't develop and educate a culture of information responsibility and liability.

Veaceslav Puscasu, Information Security coordinator at EGC mentioned that information security is not just about IT area: "Any public official of a ministry or institution has the responsibility to protect information and not knowing the protective measures leads to information and personal data disclosure. The legal framework is a tool that could facilitate the creation of a high-security information system."

During the discussion, the participants noted the importance of training civil servants in the field of information security. Olga Demian, the EGC's legal adviser, specified that "information security is everyone's responsibility and we could achieve performances by hierarchically establishing clear responsibilities."

According to Margareta Petrusevschi, Knowledge and Training coordinator at the e-Government Center (EGC), "The Legal Clinic will persist in involving lawyers and officials of various levels and profiles in the process of cultivation the legal knowledge in the e-Government area and will ensure the promotion of the elaborated solutions in order to make more efficient the improvement of the legal framework favorable for e-governance."

The Legal clinics will be hosted by the e-Government Center and by governmental institutions. Yet there is interest in the collaboration with private companies or academic institutions. The meetings will be held at intervals agreed with the participants. E-Government Center will assume the role of organizer and moderator, summarizing the conclusions and informing the interested parts about the discussed topics. Within the Legal Clinics will be invited foreign experts to share their experiences, learned lessons and successful practices in other countries.

The first meeting of the Legal Clinic is part of the "Information Security in the Government Week", organized by the Moldovan Government in partnership with the e-Government Center, during October 15-19th. The event takes place under the slogan "Make yourself at home in cyberspace, be safe" and includes several activities addressed to civil servants, companies, civil society and citizens.