Nigeria's Lagos state government has joined forces with software firm Microsoft - in a move to train 100 personnel on the implementation of e-governance services in that region.

The state's e-governance initiatives are expected to commence as early as April next year.

Lagos state governor Babatunde Fashola said the deal with Microsoft encompasses all e-governance platforms including the implementation of a citizen relationship management platform using existing call centre infrastructure.

Fashola also said such a deal would allow provision of information technology infrastructure to support health insurance initiatives and IT skills development.

According to Fashola the proposed personnel who would undergo training are expected to work with various government agencies in using information and communications technologies to enhance service delivery in the region.

He explained that through the e-governance platform, the state would deliver quality services to the public using smartphones and other mobile devices while enabling the administration to monitor the performance of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

Fashola also said the project would help government monitor all its projects, especially those based on medium term budget objectives such as power,agriculture, transportation and housing.