Interoperability, enterprise architectures, and IT governance in government

Abstract

Government represents a unique, and also uniquely complex, environment for interoperation of information systems as well as for integration of workflows and processes across governmental levels and branches. While private-sector organizations by and large have the capacity to implement "enterprise architectures" in a relatively straightforward fashion, for notable reasons governments do not enjoy such luxury. For this study, we evaluated 77 successful projects of government interoperation and integration from across Europe and found that the governance of highly interoperated information systems needs very close attention not only from a functional point of view, but also from a more general-policy perspective. If unchecked, interoperation and integration in government might have the potential to offset or neutralize important safeguards put in place by the constitutional design of separated powers and checks and balances. We found that IT governance might play a more important role than commonly acknowledged and could even provide important clues for informing potential changes in the model of democratic governance in the 21st century. © 2011 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.