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Abstract
This paper provides an overview of the work currently being undertaken by the OASIS e-Government Technical Committee on developing technical standards to support the work of putting government services on-line. The work of the committee is on-going and this paper provides a snapshot of current progress as at the date of this paper. For the latest situation please see http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/egov/.
Keywords
Table of Contents
This paper provides an overview of the work currently being undertaken by the OASIS e-Government Technical Committee on developing technical standards to support the work of putting government services on-line. The work of the committee is on-going and this paper provides a snapshot of current progress as at the date of this paper. For the latest situation please see http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/egov/.
When people interact with government they want to do so on their own terms. They want high quality services which are accessible, convenient and secure. People should not need to understand how government is organised, or to know which department or agency does what, or whether a function is exercised by central or local government.
New ways of doing business will change the relationship between individuals and government. At the same time, it will be vital to make sure that people can trust the systems being used, by ensuring that their personal data is protected and that systems are secure.
Many, if not all governments worldwide, are now developing and implementing strategies to a) deliver e-government services to citizens and businesses, and b) to support the modernisation of government to meet the above needs.
For the public services, the real opportunity is to use information technology to help create fundamental improvement in the efficiency, convenience and quality of service. The plan is not only to offer more convenient access to services but also to transform how governments organise mainstream delivery.
Better public services tailored to the needs of the citizen and business, as outlined above, require the seamless flow of information across government. This requires technical policies and specifications for achieving interoperability and information systems coherence across the public sector.
The main thrust nowadays by governments is to adopt the Internet and World Wide Web specifications for all their systems, and to adopt XML and XSL as the core standards for data integration and the presentation of data.
OASIS, the XML interoperability consortium, formed the e-Government Technical Committee to co-ordinate the requirements of standards by governments. The purpose of the e-Government TC is to:
· provide a forum for governments internationally to voice their needs and requirements with respect to XML-based standards which can:
be handed off to relevant OASIS TCs if they exist, or,
cause the formation of new TCs, or SCs of this TC, for needs that are not currently addressed, or,
cause the formation of Joint Committees within OASIS, or,
cause the formation of liaisons with other international standards bodies.
· provide a mechanism for the creation of best practice documents relative to the adoption of OASIS specifications/standards and other related standards within Governments internationally;
· promote the adoption of OASIS specifications/standards within Governments which could include the creation of implementation-oriented pilot projects to involve software vendors and participating government agencies to demonstrate the use of OASIS specifications/standards;
· work with other OASIS channels and other international standards bodies' channels (e.g. XML.org for schema registry and/or information portal), to act as a clearinghouse of information related to applicable specifications/standards as well as activities and projects being conducted by Governments in the adoption of XML-based systems and standards.
To meet the objectives, the Committee has identified the following as its list of deliverables:
co-ordinated input from Governments to the development of emerging standards, eg ebMXL, Web Services, to ensure the standards are not just developed for the benefit of the private sector
the identification of new standards required to support e-government and plans for development of those standards organised
the channel and process for Governments to press for all relevant standards bodies to co-ordinate their activities
co-ordinated input from EU countries to deliver aspects of the eEurope 2005 plan.
The work of the Technical Committee will continue for some considerable time, and is governed by the OASIS rules and regulations for running such committees, see http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/process.shtml.The Committee will be seeking to engage with other governments, international organisations, ICT suppliers and other standards organisations to take forward its work.
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