My "corona-hobby" has been to develop a webapp for managing your home(es). Users can log information about their home - a domicil, but categorise it in such a way that information can be found again. Users can make log entries, to-do lists, post-it's, receipts, and how-to guides. They can categorise by spaces/rooms, service number contacts, different things one may have in your home, and events. The webapp is free to use, and can be accessed at domicil.online

An OECD/WPSMEE project that aimed to better understand how digital advancements can enhance e-government services and contribute to a more user-centred approach to public service delivery, a more level playing field in business interactions with the public administration, and overall a more supportive business environment for SMEs.

I was one of three accessors assessing and shortlisting Covid-specific public service projects and applications from the Western Balkans from the digital government, eEconomy, e-Health, eLearning, and social innovation areas for the Regional School of Public Administration (ReSPA) and OECD-SIGMA

Hack Pandemic Aarhus was a weekly virtual hackathon-like meetup for developers, designers and creatives in Aarhus, Denmark with the goal of building Corona-hacking applications. I participated both as an organiser and participant in the hackathon. Together with three other participants I developed the ‘Cooking Together, while Dining Apart’ website available at cookingtogether.cothomasen.com

In 2018 I participated as a jury member of the independent international awards jury selecting the best digital projects in Oman for the Sultan Qaboos Award for Excellence in eGovernment competition.

For the World Bank and Korea Green Growth Trust Fund (KGGTF) I created the knowledge portal for Smart Cities icities4greengrowth.in. The portal supports smart city practitioners by offering a repository of best practices on Smart Cities development in compliance with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Implementing open government is not an easy task, as it requires changes to long-standing systems, changes in the way government thinks and changes in the way citizens perceive their responsibility and role in governance. To aid in the implementation of open government in the Arab region, ESCWA developed an open government framework. I presented the Four Phased ESCWA Framework on Open Government at the UN ESCWA workshop on Open Government in the Arab Region in Beirut, Lebanon 25-27 September 2018.

I participated in ICEGOV 2018 the 11th International Conference on the Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance, 4-6 April 2018 that took place in Galway, Ireland.

This year I was part of the program committee reviewing papers for acceptance into the conference. I had a presentation in the World Bank invited session 3 - Digital Platforms for Smart Green Cities: Challenges and Collaboration Opportunities in Disruptive Technology Environment, and co-chaired paper session 15 and 18 on Governance of Smart Cities and Regions.

In July/August 2017 I chaired the Bahrain eGovernment Excellence jury. The eGovernment Excellence Award Program has been created under the Patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Mubarak Al Khalifa as a strategic platform for the Information & eGovernment Authority to recognize, reward and showcase the pioneering ICT initiatives taken by the Kingdom of Bahrain’s community.

The most important features of this regional comparative study of six Western Balkan States are the examination of the state of the art of e-government in the region in 2015, to examine progress since 2012, and to in addition to look at progress towards open government. Particular focus is on processes and outcomes, including the provision of information, service delivery, and the interaction between government, citizens, businesses, and civil society. The new issues examined include open government data, cloud computing, Public Private Partnerships and Public Civil, Partnerships.

As an eGovernment expert I co-authored the study together with national experts from six Balkan countries and international expert Jeremy Millard for the Regional School of Public Administration (ReSPA).

There is a need for citizen-centric services to be integrated across all channels: digital, call-centre, face-to-face in the Arab region. To adopt interoperability and standards and to integrate both back and front government offices. I helped conducting desk research on service integration cases for a report from UN ESCWA published in 2017, with the aim of providing recommendations for a strategic framework and guidelines for e-government service integration in the Arab Region.

This Comparative Study aims to provide, for the first time, concrete guidance by showing cases of abuse of information technology for corruption offenses and on the possible steps that can be taken to protect against such abuses. It focuses only on corruption risks specifically related to IT. Numerous publications exist on how corruption can be prevented through good use of IT, but, this study investigates how IT can be abused for corruption through a series of examples from the Western Balkan region. It then proceeds by analysing safeguards against using corruption using ICTs in the Western Balkans public sector and ends with a series of recommendations.

As an eGovernment expert I co-authored the study together with national experts from seven Balkan countries and international anti-corruption exerts Dr. Tilman Hoppe and Vera Devine for the Regional School of Public Administration (ReSPA).

The study investigates eGovernment and the provision of eServices in the Western Balkan region.

As international experts, Jeremy Millard and Louise Thomasen authored this comparative eGovernment study for the Regional School of Public Administration (ReSPA) with the inputs of national experts from seven Balkan countries.

One of the most important features of the study is the examination of the state of the art of eGovernment in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo. Particular focus is on eGovernment processes, including the provision of information, service delivery, interaction between Government to Government and Government to Citizen, as well as the equally important connections of Government with Business, i.e. the private sector. Thus findings elaborate individual country developments in the Western Balkans, from the policy and strategic level in specific eGovernment institutional settings and implementations, reflecting European good practice.