Digital and smart services - The application of enterprise architecture

Abstract

The digitalization of public administration presents significant challenge for many municipalities. At the same time, many larger cities have well progressed towards applying Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to develop modern urban spaces, commonly referred to as Smart Cities. Smart Cities are complex systems whereby ICT plays an essential role to address the needs of many stakeholders. Obviously public services are key for the development. However many municipalities and cities face challenges to transform and digitalize these services. Although single projects are often successful, the coordination and coherence of services, the consideration of many stakeholders together with strategic alignment is complex. The concept of Enterprise Architectures is seen in many organizations suitable to manage the complexity of heterogeneous systems and technologies. Therefore in this paper we extend our earlier work, and present key concepts for Enterprise Architecture Management in Smart Cities that can assist cities and municipalities to digitalize and transform public services. We particular focus on the alignment and connection related to the service layer in the Architectural Framework, and present key concepts related to this layer.