Government agencies need to work together, and share information and business processes, to provide services that are tightly integrated across those agencies. A Government Interoperability Framework or GIF facilitates this. The use of the same standards over agencies makes the delivery of e-government services faster, more reliable and more convenient for citizens.
GIFs vary across countries, but they also have many common features. The agencies bound by GIFs are different among countries but generally they cover the ‘government sector’. The legality can sometimes be strict but all countries use GIFs at least as guidelines. The common principles of GIFs, such as scalability, reusability, flexibility, preference for open standards, preference for standards with wide market support, and preference for nationally-legislated or -adopted standards, are common across borders.
Open standards are important in GIFs because otherwise one or few vendors may have an upper hand. Open standards place providers of IT products and services on an equal footing and the competition can bring down costs, particularly for users. Many GIFs explicitly specify the standards that should be followed. Those governments who are in the process of preparing their GIFs may wish to pay special attention to open standards, while those who already have them may need to reinforce the stance.
This APDIP e-Note intends to give a brief introduction to GIFs, explain how they are classified and provide details of their common features. It also discusses the importance of open standards in GIFs and why governments should consider open standards seriously when designing or evaluating their GIFs.
This APDIP e-Note is based on findings from a research study conducted as part of a collaborative effort between UNDP-APDIP, IBM, Oracle and the International Open Source Network to assist Asia-Pacific countries in sharing and creating strategies, blueprints and policies that adopt the right blend of open standards and technology services.
Policy makers in governments particularly in the area of e-government, development practitioners, and anyone interested in issue related to automating government services, will find this APDIP e-Note useful.
APDIP e-Notes are brief snapshots that present analyses of specific issues related to ICT for sustainable human development in the Asia- Pacific region. This online series introduces readers to the who, what, where, why and how of a wide range of current issues related to ICT such as Internet governance, ICT and poverty reduction, e- governance, free and open source software, and many others.
