Draft outline of the Project Team's Report
Document status: First draft for discussion within the eGovernment Focus Group
Contents
- Background: Objectives of the Outline
- Executive Summary and Recommendations
- Introduction
- Ontology for Standards and Standardization Initiatives
- Harvesting of Standards and Standardization Bodies
- Potential of Standards
- Challenges in Current eGovernment Standardization
- European eGovernment Resource Network (eGRN)
- Summary
- Annexes
1. Background: Objectives of the Outline
1.1. Work plan
- Brainstorming activity on topics that may need to be covered in the report
- Sketch boundaries of the “territory” that we need to map in step 3
- Identify preliminary metrics for determining the potential of the use of standards in eGov
Excerpted from the Workplan for the Government Standards Roadmap
1.2. Scope of work
The Report aims to address both:
- the digital provision of services by single and multiple government or public sector agencies, at national, regional and local level, including cross-jurisdiction/cross border issues;
- the “government” of eGovernment, including how the digital provision of services is managed, quality criteria, conformance testing/certification, best practice, etc. and according to what standards and decided by whom.
It will:
- Agree on a scope for eGovernment for the purposes of this project
- identify and map out the initiatives and services that exist within the agreed scope of eGovernment, including:
- frameworks;
- naming and design rules;
- good/best Practices;
- registries, repositories; and clearing houses
- existing standards and specifications, that are used, or proposed for use, by public administrations;
- mechanisms available for managing such standards and specifications (governance, processes and infrastructure);
- project-based deliverables that could provide added-value to the work of another administration;
- identify recurring or frequently encountered policy issues, with a view to providing common solutions, with particular regard to the gap between stated goals and actual delivery of solutions;
- identify any obstacles to a coherent approach to eGovernment standardisation at the trans-national level, in terms of authority, governance and infrastructure;
- address the obstacles resulting from Europe's multilingual environment;
Excerpted from the group's Terms of Reference
2. Executive Summary and Recommendations
Contains in addition to the executive summary proper the extracted list of recommendations. The recommendations themselves first appear in the context in which they are developed.
3. Introduction
General introduction into the field, to the eGovernment Focus Group and its project team
3.1. Background
More detailed background about the institutional background, the project's mission, with a progress report in an annex.
Highlight the role of the Austrian government and especially their support of bilateral talks in preperation of the Focus Group work.
3.2. Scope
Outline the scope of this report. The scope of the report includes the priority areas of eGovernment Action Plan, namely eID, eProcurement, and Archiving.
3.3. Key Definitions
Key definitions and terminology (e. g. standards, concepts of eGovernment, interoperability, cross-border exchanges etc.)
The concept of “standard” used in this report is a wide one and includes general standards frameworks, naming and design rules, good practices documents, registries, repositories; and clearing houses, and standards in a narrower sense, namely standards and specifications in use by public administrations.
4. Ontology for Standards and Standardization Initiatives
Describe the design principles behind the ontology and its central constructs. Its formal description (UML, Topic Map representation etc.) will be added as an annex.
For an initial draft of the ontology cf. also Draft Standards Ontology.
5. Harvesting of Standards and Standardization Bodies
5.1. Major Players in eGovernment Standardization
Covers major players in eGovernment standardization, taken in a wide sense to include formal standardization bodies, consortia, government agencies, ... that create specifications in the field. Where applicable, also eBusiness standardization groups are mentioned (e. g. ebXML-related work).
5.2. Methodology
Explain the methodology used for harvesting existing standards (work plan, step 3). The full set of standards will be generated from the topic map in an annex.
Start from existing registries / taxonomies / lists of standards and service units elaborated at the national and / or European level. A preliminary Preliminary List of eGovernment Service Units and a Preliminary List of eGovernment Standards is available. Focus Group members are invited to complement it.
5.3. Services
Elaborate the relationship between services and standards and identify preliminary “service units”
5.4. Multilinguality and Multiculturalism
Explore the impact of Europe's multilinguality and multiculturalism on eGovernment standards, standardization and work practice.
5.5. Key Conclusions
Present key conclusions that can be drawn from the data collected.
6. Potential of Standards
Identify criteria for the usefulness of standards and survey the potential of standards in eGovernment in interaction with the conclusions of the harvesting process.
Map areas in which eGov standards are maximally useful, taking account of the priority areas eID, eProcurement, and Archiving, but extending beyond them.
7. Challenges in Current eGovernment Standardization
7.1. Gap Analysis
Perform a gap analysis on the potential of standards and the current situation as witnessed by the key findings of the harvesting process. Map “service units” that have been identified in the harvesting process to standards.
7.2. Maintenance of Standards
Analyze mechanisms available for managing such standards and specifications (governance, processes and infrastructure) and suggest specific improvements. Identify any obstacles to a coherent approach to eGovernment standardisation at the trans-national level, in terms of authority, governance and infrastructure.
7.3. Policy Issues
Identify recurring or frequently encountered policy issues, with a view to providing common solutions, with particular regard to the gap between stated goals and actual delivery of solutions.
8. European eGovernment Resource Network (eGRN)
Expound the key objectives of the European eGovernment Resource Network and resource sharing in general. Show — possibly with screen shots — the prototypical implementation done in step 4 of the work plan. Focus on the use of the eGRN as a resource network for eGovernment-related standardization activities.
9. Summary
10. Annexes
Contain much of the technical contents:
- Formal Ontology Specification
- Reproduce commented version of the formal specification
- Rendering of the Topic Map on Standards
Probably a XSL:fo based rendering of the original XTM that is the master version of the data collection part
- Work of the eGovernment Focus Group
- Document key stages of the eGovernment Focus Group's work including documenting major outcomes of open meetings
- References and Bibliography
- Also to be collected as a topic map and inserted in the eGRN and to be referenced from this report.