Countries across the world are pushing their frontiers in governance in the move to information economy, and governments play a pivotal role in this transformation. These governments employ modern information and communication technologies to serve the citizens and businesses better. Raising the effectiveness and quality of government services is not only a matter of leading edge technologies; it also involves visionary leadership, clear objectives and sound execution mechanism. The role of Enterprise Architecture in shaping E-Government programmes cannot be overstated. Within the context of Singapore’s e-government initiative, this chapter describes the Methodology for AGency ENTerprise Architecture (MAGENTA), a rigorous, disciplined and structured methodology for development of agency enterprise architectures that enables agencies to align to and fully support the government’s transformation objectives and outcomes. Mechanisms for agencies to align to the overall Government Enterprise Architecture are detailed. The chapter concludes with a set of recommendations for future enhancements and research.

The role of information technology standards in the electronic government developments is considered, special value of the World Wide Web standards is marked. The basic attention is paid to discussing the general characteristic and organization principles of the new Web technology platform which we call XML platform. The principles for ensuring its scalability, functionality of the complex of standards making-up the given technology platform, as well as the prospects of its development are considered.

Information society is the new phase of civilization development in which information is the major product.

Modern Russia has inherited from the USSR both actual and intellectual backwardness as compared to the countries with developed information sciences. In the most developed countries simultaneously with the society transition to a new condition the sphere of research and development changed, as well as the education and innovation systems. The status of the Russian science and the processes occurring in it can be most precisely expressed by two words: archaism and progressing degradation.

Archaism of the institutional organization of the modern Russian science is connected to the fact that it has developed in the conditions of non-market, non-competitive, exclusive and administrative environment — contradicting that in which innovations actively develop.

One of the most important problems is not just reduction of the number of people employment in the science sphere, but reduction of the number of researchers.

The Russian science has the disciplinary structure unusual for beginning of XXI century, more characteristic of an industrial society, — the balance of scientific disciplines with absolute prevalence of engineering sciences, with undeveloped segments of medical, biologic, social and human sciences, with the weakened information segment.

Science crisis in Russia is not the consequence of its “underfinancing”. It is the crisis of its socially significant functions, institutions and basic values.

There is a wide perception of nanotechnology as the key technology of 21 st century. As regards innovations it is important by the fact that it introduces new goods and creates their new quality, marks the arrival of new methods of production, opens new markets and offers a new source of raw materials supply. Expected commercial and strategic benefits from nanotechnology application are so high, that real competition has started in the world for mastering them. By now more than 60 countries, including Russia, have adopted national nanotechnology initiatives.

The article examines the dynamics of world investments into nanotechnologies development, gives comparison of input financial indicators with output scientometric indicators country wise by the example of carbon nanostructures. It shows that state support is capable of stimulating the publishing and inventive activity, formation of commercial industrial base. The basic barriers for nanotechnology commercialization are characterized, which are caused by high uncertainty (especially of “bottom-up” technologies), a considerable time interval from research to commercialization and geometrical growth of required investments, risks for health of people and ecology, etc.

The approaches of some countries to overcoming these barriers are shown. Apart from general problems, a number of specific problems and barriers for commercialization are noted for Russia. Some of them are connected with the late start of national nanotechnology programs: absence of accumulated investments, difficulties with creation of modern infrastructure. Others — with economic realities, for example impossibility for small and medium companies to obtain a credit because of their low mortgage value and high cost of bank credits, undeveloped venture financing. Based on the existing practice, estimations of experts, and also historical parallels (for example, with microelectromechanical systems introduction), a conclusion has been made that the process of nanotechnology commercialization and, primarily of its main directions, will not be fast.