Zagreb Nov 5 2009 Information Reports Ltd Information Architecture in E- Government John Akeroyd Information Management Consultant & Research Fellow, UCL,

Zagreb Nov 5 2009 Information Reports Ltd

Information Architecture in E- Government

John AkeroydInformation Management Consultant & Research Fellow,

UCL, London


E government drivers

• improving internal costs and management efficiencies, • encouraging citizen participation• improved service to citizens

– predominantly using the web

• promoting economic development• improving overall governance.

• service integration or ‘joined up’ government


E-government is global

• Essentially the same but

• Some differences –– Different priorities;– Differing legal context;– Different political context


Some see it as just efficiency…

• increased business efficiency between government agencies and government agencies, within agencies and between agencies and business


“In essence e- government is about the transformation of internal and external processes”

Weerakkody, V (2009) in Handbook of Research on Strategies for Local E-Government Adoption and Implementation. Reddick,C


“transformational governance”

“The transformation stage is about changing fundamentally the way government does what it does”

Murphy (2005)

Leveraging the benefits from technological investment through business process reengineering

www.improvementnetwork.gov.uk


Challenges to e-government

• Information sharing;

• People issues

• Power structures;

• Legal Context– Personal data - confidentiality and protection


Information Supports e-government

E-Government


Layne and Lee model

Zagreb Nov 5 2009 Information Reports LtdWeerakkody, V (2009) in Handbook of Research on Strategies for Local E-Government Adoption and Implementation. Reddick,C


Alternative models

• No integration;

• One to one messages;

• Warehouse

• Broker system;

• Advanced broker

Janssen and Veenstra (2005)


Integration Levels

Level 1 Functional IntegrationWhereby a secondary application is accessed and used through a

primary application to the extent that the secondary application is transparent to the user;

Level 2 Data IntegrationWhere data from one system is used to populate another either in near

or real time usually using standard protocols /programmes such as BizTalk

Level 3 Linked integrationWhere a secondary application or dataset can be accessed/triggered

via a primary application but which essentially appears as is to the user. Links might be hyperlinks or file paths

Level 4 Data exchange Where data is moved from one application to another as the result of

an operator initiated action. Data is usually structured as XML or CSV or XLS.


Problems with integration

• In large organisations there are likely to be many application systems with high overhead on maintenance and complexity

• Data will probably be held many times in many places leading to confusion as data accuracy, currency and what to believe;

• There will be increasing complexity in understanding how data moves across and around the organisation;


Options for integration

• SOAP/Web Services

• Single Repository or Data Warehouse

• Information Flow Model


Information Types

By format• Structured i.e. data – names, addresses, ID,

numbers• Semi structured – forms, case files,• Unstructured – documents, emails, memoBy function• People• Property• Transactions


Organisations

People

Property & Place

Transactions


Metadata Types in Government

• Property– UPRN available in all property records;– GIS coordinates– Fileplans standardised around street name number

• People– Citizens;– Tax payers;– Students;– Government workers;– Visitors

• Organisations– Businesses– Schools;– Community Centres– Churches– Support agencies;– Public agencies

• Transactions– Case file Numbers– Invoice reference– Purchase orders– Transaction reference


The IPSV

Integrated Public Sector Vocabulary



Data

Semi –structured

Unstructured Information

ManagementVolume


Line of Business Systems

Semi structured information e.g. case files

Unstructured Information


Data Type

Structured

Semi Structured

Unstructured

Content/InformationApplicationsMetadataAccess

Adult DataChildren’s DataProperty FilesResidentsFinancial RecordsTransactions

Social Care RecordPlanning ApplicationsLegal Case files

EmailsMeeting MinutesPlansPoliciesStuff

CarefirstM3CedarCRMSidemetc

CominoCDMIken

LivelinkESACDM

Web PortalIntranetClientsExplorerBrowsersProprietary Search

Data DictionaryUPRNCitizen index IDCRM transaction ref

FileplansCase file numbersTransaction Numbers

Taxonomy/IPSVDescriptorsKeywords


W2Shared Drives

W2LivelinkCDMEASIken Store

Idox Store

Parking Notices

Citizens Index

CRM

LLPG

Licence Flo

Carefirst

EMSAD

Resource link

CEDARAuthorityMayriseM3 Academy

ParisUniversal

Task Echo

Sidem

IkenRespond

SPOCC

YOISGalaxy


Architectural Problems

• Many application systems with high overhead on maintenance and complexity

• Data held many times in many places

• Data flows not clear

• Multiple stores;


Repository Rationalisation?

Benefits• Reduced Support Costs;• Reduced Training Costs;• Corporate ‘view’ of information;• Single Structure promotes Information Sharing;• Easy to archive and controlBut• Does one size fit all?• Integration with Line of Business Systems can be lost or poor;• Loss of functionality;• Different information, needs different management;• Security needs are different;


Possible futures

• Enterprise SearchGives Council wide view (or even Hackney wide view)Simple to use and quick implementationBenefits for customer serviceBenefits for FoIOvercomes poor historic indexing

• Single corporate record but multiple storesFiles migrate to corporate record store as life time

diminishesEasier to control/manageLong term preservation easier to manage and implement;


Records Repository

Line Of Business Applications

Repositories

Enterprise Search Engine

Repositories Repositories Repositories

Conceptual Information Model

Records Management

Policy

Enterprise data

warehouse data model

Content Management

System

Knowledge management

system

Information Access Layer

Information Specialist

Layer

Applications Layer

Data Warehouse

CorporatePerformanceManagement

Portal / Client UI

Enterprise data model

Geographical Information

Systems

Business Information Stewards

StandardsLayer

Web Content Authors

Archivists

Information Scribes

Electronics Records

& Document Management

System

Information Taxonomy

Processing Guidelines

Metadata Repository

Enterprise Search Engine

Application data models

LOB systems

Corporate Systems

Data Modellers

InformationTaxonomists

Information Architect

Naming Standards

Data retention

policy

Management Information

Systems

File SystemStructure

Content LifecycleDesign

A Conceptual Model

Structured DataDocuments, Records & Content

At the centre of the diagram is a ‘Conceptual Information Model’. The Conceptual Information Model is primarily a Business Model. It is a method for defining and clarifying the concepts that are used to conduct the business of the organisation, establishing a common frame of reference or “a standard business language”.

The Information Specialist are those individuals within the organisation that play a role in the design of, or management of information

The standards (and policy) form the basis of the organisations understanding and use of information (and management of the information assets).

The application layer describes the physical storage of information.

Enterprise Data Modelling & Data Management John Anderson