Dr. Tomasz Janowski will speak about his work at the Center for Electronic Governance at United Nations University - International Institute for Software Technology (UNU-IIST). He will describe the goals, program, and organization of the Center, along with the current project portfolio. He will also share lessons learned from the establishment of the Center, such as (1) how the interplay between research and practice in the work of the Center is realized through its hosting at the university (research) and collaboration with the local government (practice) and (2) how the special nature of the UN University enables the Center to realize its international and developmental mission. Following this overview, Tomasz will provide specific details about Software Infrastructure for Electronic Government, a technical research and development project carried out as part of the UNU-IIST Center for Electronic Governance. This infrastructure is comprised of Front-Office, Back-Office and Mid-Office (Workflow, Messaging, Administration) applications; Tomasz will focus his talk on the Mid-Office Messaging portion of the infrastructure.