Executive Summary

Ever since the introduction of Information and Communications Technologies (ITCs) into the governments, considerable ongoing investment has been made in E-Government knowledge, expertise, programs, applications and services. In Canada, for example, at the present time, the Federal Government On Line (GOL) project, the single biggest source of that E-Government knowledge and expertise to date, is nearing an end. The government in which the program has been lodged, Public Works and Government Services Canada, is now taking steps to both save the knowledge gained from the evolution of their e-government history and the have the tools to sure it can be accessed and used by a multitude of stakeholders. It is now apparent that if the knowledge of any government that has evolved different forms of e-government services and applications is not properly organized and used, it will be lost in antiquity. This can have serious consequences for any government in the world who does not address this issue. This issue is relevant to all governments who continue to develop and implement e-government services.

A virtual repository, as the Canadian government has shown, can be created to link and access this E-Government Knowledge so it could be shared both inside and outside of government. There are four major questions that government officials address when seeking to decide to develop their own unique E-government Knowledge Repository.

• Why do it?

• Who gets access?

• Is it worth it?

• Is it feasible?

The answer to the question of "why create such a repository?" is to preserve the results of a long-term investment process. Access can begin narrowly and expand later. The worth of such a project comes from the value of the "Lessons Learned", in the process of evolving e-government initiatives, that can be re-used. By implementing past practices as a virtual repository, materials can simply be marked and linked to a common access point, which is feasible. The Strategy is to audit the existing E-Government environment, mark and link it, create a virtual website and a marketing plan. Online tools would include a search engine, help desk, and consulting services.

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Upcoming seminar: September 8, 2005: Access to Information: Analyzing the State of the Law. click here

International Conference: Hyderabad, India, July 29-31, 2005, E-Governance in the Developing World: 
Best Practices and Critical Success Factors  click here

Thomas B. Riley, Executive Director, of the Commonwealth Centre for e-Governance, is available for speaking engagements and facilitating workshops on a series of issues surrounding e-governance , public administrations and information policies world wide. Contact info here