From December 6-8th, NIA and the African Development Bank put on a Western African regional e-Government workshop that took place in Bamako, Mali. This is not the first time that NIA has held a joint workshop with a multi-lateral bank as it has been affiliated with workshops in past years in Latin America (Costa Rica), Asia (Indonesia) and MENA (Middle East North Africa) region (Morocco).



In total, there were 43 participants that included 2 representatives from the African Development Bank, government officials from Burkina Faso (2), C?te d || chr(39) || || chr(39) || Ivoire (1), Ghana (1), Guinea (2), Mauritania (2), Senegal (2), South Sudan (2), Tunisia (1), UEMOA - Union ?conomique et mon?taireouest-africaine

- African Economic and Monetary Union (1). The opening ceremony was held on December 6th with an opening address from with the Minister from the Ministry of Posts and New Technologies in Mali.



The workshop was a chance to share and collaborate with the Western African region in terms of e-government as NIA shared Korea || chr(39) || || chr(39) || s e-government best practices and also got a chance to learn from 8 countries their own respective informatization and e-government efforts as each country represented in

the region had a chance to present their e-government initiatives, policies and projects. NIA staff members, Seung-Mi Hong and Seung-Ho Baek made presentations on Korea || chr(39) || || chr(39) || s e-government on behalf of the Korean side as topics discussed included, "Smart Government,""mobile e-government,"

best practices and so on. Staff from SK C&C, were also in attendance for discussions and also make business contacts in the West African region.



At the conclusion of the workshop, attendees thanked the organizers for putting on the workshop and many mentioned that it was a very important step that will enhance further e-government and informatization cooperation between the Western African region and Korea in the future.