An e-GIF, or

eGovernment E-government (known for electronic government) involves utilizing technology devices, such as computers and the Internet, for faster means of delivering public services to citizens and other persons in a country or region. E-government offer ...

Interoperability Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system to work with other products or systems. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader de ...

Framework, is a scheme for ensuring the inter-operation of computer-based systems. It is intended to resolve and prevent (or at least minimise) problems arising from incompatible content of different computer systems. An e-GIF may aim to facilitate government processes at local, national or international levels.

International implementations

About 30 countries and international bodies are known to have implemented some form of e-GIF, most, but not all, using the "e-GIF" acronym. Within the EU many of these were supported by the European Interoperability Framework (EIF) of the

IDABC All European countries show eGovernment initiatives, mainly related to the improvement of governance at the national level. Significant eGovernment activities also take place at the European Commission level as well. There is an extensive list ...

. These included

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and the ''Reach'' "Public Services Broker" in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. In Africa

COMESA The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is a regional economic community in Africa with twenty-one member states stretching from Tunisia to Eswatini. COMESA was formed in December 1994, replacing a Preferential Trade Area whi ...

and

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

provide examples of similar initiatives, whilst

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

are examples from Asia.

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, similarly, implemented their own frameworks. In the United States the

National Information Exchange Model NIEMOpen (), frequently referred to as NIEM, originated as an XML-based information exchange framework from the United States, but has transitioned to an OASIS Open Project. This initiative formalizes NIEM's designation as an official standard i ...

(NIEM) shared similar aims.

Aims of e-GIF

* to enable the seamless flow of information across government / Public Service Organisations * to set practical standards using stable well supported products * to provide support, guidance and toolkits to enable the standards to be met * to provide a long-term strategy, able to accommodate and adapt.

Key e-GIF policies

* alignment with the Internet: the universal adoption of common specifications used on the Internet and World Wide Web for public sector information systems * adoption of

XML Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing data. It defines a set of rules for encoding electronic document, documents in a format that is both human-readable and Machine-r ...

as the primary standard for

data integration Data integration refers to the process of combining, sharing, or synchronizing data from multiple sources to provide users with a unified view. There are a wide range of possible applications for data integration, from commercial (such as when a ...

and presentation tools for government systems * adoption of the browser as the key interface; all public sector information systems are to be accessible through browser based technology; other interfaces are permitted but only in addition to browser based ones * the addition of metadata to government information resources * the development and adoption of Metadata standards such as the UK e-Government Metadata Standard (e-GMS) based on the international

Dublin Core 140px, Logo of DCMI, maintenance agency for Dublin Core Terms The Dublin Core vocabulary, also known as the Dublin Core Metadata Terms (DCMT), is a general purpose metadata vocabulary for describing resources of any type. It was first developed ...

model * the development and maintenance of standard category lists such as the UK Government Category List (GCL) and IPSV. * adherence to a catalogue of Technical Standards such as the UK Technical Standards Catalogue. * adherence to the e-GIF was mandated throughout the public sector.

Drivers for selection of e-GIF specifications

* interoperability - only specifications that are relevant to systems interconnectivity, data integration, e-services access and content management are specified * market support - the specifications selected are widely supported by the market, and likely to reduce the cost and risk of government information systems * scalability - specifications selected have capacity to be scaled to satisfy changed demands made on the system, such as changes in data volumes, number of transactions or number of users * openness - the specifications are documented and available to the public at large.

Establishing competence and capability in e-GIF

In the UK, the e-GIF Accreditation Authority accredited organisations for their capability and competence in delivering e-GIF compliant solutions. There was also a programme of individual certifications at Foundation and Expert levels aimed at developing and recognising e-GIF skills and experience, referenced against an e-GIF Competency Framework. The UK e-GIF Compliance Assessment Service, operated by the NCC, offered a self-assessment tool for e-GIF compliance in projects and programmes.

Fate

Within the UK, e-GIF was replaced by the "Open Source, Open Standards And Re-Use: Government Action Plan", published by the Cabinet Office in February 2009. This is now embodied in the Open Standards principles policy. The UK e-GIF documentation and UK Government Data Standards Catalogue have been archived and are available for reference only. Although now deprecated by the Cabinet Office, many systems have been built around the framework and continue to use e-GIF components, notably within the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:E-Gif Government of the United Kingdom Politics and technology