The Electronic and Mobile Government Knowledge Repository (emGKR) is a global online facility for knowledge transfer, information dissemination, partnership and state-of-the-art research on central and local e/m-government development in Member States.

emGKR is a global online facility for knowledge transfer, information dissemination, partnership and state-of-the-art research on e/m-government development in Member States.

emGKR will develop, through an interactive portal, a portfolio of knowledge resources on e/m-government strategies; e/m-government policies; public sector programs in e/m-government; ICT access and connectivity, ICT legal and regulatory framework; enabling environment for effective e-development; and monitoring and evaluation of e/m-government projects.

There is a need to support developing countries to build national capacities in electronic and mobile government by providing information and tools for the development of comprehensive e/m-government olicies and programmes in support of public sector development. Given the lack of an integrated portal on e/m government at the national and international level, a collaborative one-stop-shop online facility is needed to meet the resourceneeds and expand learning opportunities for policy and decision makers in developing countries.

e/m-Government Knowledge Repository (emGKR) is an nnovative attempt to gather cross sectoral national and international stakeholders and the agencies of the United Nations in an effective partnership for knowledge sharing to further the capacities of national governments in e/m government development.

Gamos was invited to present a keynote paper on mobile Government in Africa at the first African workshop on emgkr - Capacity Building Workshop on Electronic/Mobile Government in Africa, .

The goal of the Workshop was to explore regional knowledge into the issues and challenges of e/m-government development in Africa, further explore the concept of the development of the UN Global Knowledge Repository, develop partnerships for capacity building in the region and identify capacity building needs for e/m-government in the region.

Invited participants from regional institutions and countries presented papers, made presentations on the themes outlined above, as well as participated in discussions at the Workshop which has the following objectives:

• To explore the challenges and barriers to e/m-government development, review current research, including concepts and approaches of e/m-government in Africa;
• To map innovative practices of e/m-government development citing best practices and lessons learnt;
• To facilitate an active dialogue between the UN, the various regional stakeholders, and Member States towards a framework of assessment on e/m-government development in Africa;
• To provide training on knowledge management on the development of the UN Global Knowledge Repository for Africa utilizing the UNPAN tools;
• To forge partnerships for the future work on the UN Global Knowledge Repository in Africa; and
• To promote regional cooperation and the regional perspective in e/m-government development, through discussions and presentations regarding the fundamentals of an enabling environment.

Thematic areas for the presentations included the following:

• Session I: e/m-Government: An Overview
• Session II: e/m-Government issues and challenges in Africa
• Session III: Capacity Building for e/m-government
• Session IV: Country Presentations on e/m-government practices and lessons learned
• Session V: Capacity Building for e/m-Government: The UN Global Knowledge Repository through the UNPAN tools

Sub-themes for Sessions III and IV include:

• 1. National e/m-Government Strategies
• 2. Legal and Regulatory Framework
• 3. ICT Infrastructure and Interoperability
• 4. Institutional Structure and other Enabling Environment for e/m-Development

View the Gamos Keynote Paper 

View the workshop web-repository