A country's expertise in ICT has become a measure of economic and social development and an important indicator of the degree of national and local development. Informatization has become the important driving force of global trade, investment, capital flows and technology transferring and social, economic, cultural and all other areas. Informatization is the extent to which a geographical area, an economy, or a population group is becoming information-based, therefore creating an "Information Society".

Human resource development cooperation is one of the most important forms of foreign aid of China. Through south-south cooperation, developing and consolidating cooperation among developing countries has always been the standpoint of China’s foreign policy. In recent years, the Chinese government has intensified efforts to help recipient countries cultivate talents and improve the capacity of societies in areas of national expertise, such as Informatization. With the support of China's Ministry of Commerce and Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, CIFAL Shanghai has developed a series of annual trainings on topics of Digital Cities and E-Governance, including a network of experts and past participants that continuously enrich each consecutive training seminar.