Connected Government Framework: An Infrastructure for the Delivery of Seamless Government Services
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Overview
The Microsoft Connected Government Framework (CGF) illustrates the value of interoperability in the delivery of Government e-services: Government-to-Government, business-to-Government and citizen-to-Government. It describes the many issues involved in achieving successful interoperability programs – together with the tools, technologies and standards that help make this possible. It also provides a core model for interoperability, expressed across six distinct levels:
| • | Infrastructure and Networking |
| • | Data Access |
| • | Service and Component |
| • | Service and Process Integration |
| • | Security and Identity |
| • | Management |
Benefits of CGF
Providing a common infrastructure shared by multiple e-Government services can produce benefits in several categories:
Government
For governments, the common e-Government infrastructure:
| • | Provides a common user identity management model for all Government services |
| • | Shares common costs across Government rather then repeating expenditure multiple times by duplication of identical pieces of core infrastructure for each online service |
| • | Enables innovative, joined-up services |
| • | Provides a single, consistent access path for Government services |
| • | Accelerates the delivery of e-Government services by providing reusable common components needed for online service delivery |
| • | Scales to meet the growing demand |
| • | Drives the take-up of e-Government services |
Constituency (Citizen, Organization, Intermediary)
The benefits for the "clients" of e-Government services include:
| • | Single online identity to access multiple government services |
| • | Reductions in cost and time to enable online transactions in a consistent, reliable fashion |
| • | Hidden complexity and multiplicity of back-end systems interactions at the point of delivery, presented as a single online interaction |
| • | Simplified processes for interacting with government across silos, including the potential for “joined-up” services |
| • | Faster access to services |
| • | Secure two-way communication between clients and Government services |
| • | An always-available 24x7 service presented to customers |
Application Developers
For application developers building e-Government solutions, the common infrastructure:
| • | Provides a single, consistent authentication and authorization model |
| • | Is platform and technology independent |
| • | Complies with open standards |
| • | Provides consistent interoperability – consistent standard interfaces expose the functionality, regardless of the services and departments concerned so applications can submit all transactions through a single delivery point |
Overall Benefits
The overall benefits from the common e-Government infrastructure include:
| • | Accelerated time-to-market for new services |
| • | Common, consistent building blocks such as user ID management, authentication, and authorization across all Government services |
| • | Improved user experience – one sign-on for all Government services regardless of who provides them, and interaction across the whole of Government rather than separately with each of its silos |
| • | Improved developer experience – provides a consistent set of interfaces and specifications to adhere to, regardless of which departments’ services their application interacts with |
| • | Limited resource requirement, rather than duplication of common components and infrastructure |
| • | A standards-based, interoperable solution – which can integrate easily with systems running on a wide variety of platforms |
The CGF Blueprint
The Microsoft Connected Government Framework Blueprint includes coverage in the following areas:
Connected Government Framework
Architecture and Design Blueprint
Introduction and Overview
| • | About the Microsoft Connected Government Framework |
| • | Authors and Contributors |
| • | A Roadmap to this Guide |
E-Government Scope and Types of Solutions
| • | What is e-Government? |
| • | Types of e-Government Solutions |
| • | Drivers for Implementing e-Government Solutions |
Phases and Levels of Maturity of e-Government
| • | Interaction |
| • | Transaction |
| • | Transformation |
| • | The Trigger Point |
The Six Core Levels for Interoperability Solutions
Enabling e-Government Services
| • | The Value of a Common Infrastructure |
Addressing Common Architectural Challenges
| • | Multiplicity |
| • | Identity Management |
| • | Integration Challenges |
| • | Flexibility and Agility |
| • | Securing the Solution |
| • | Scalability, Performance and Availability |
| • | The Need for an Owner and Sponsor |
Reference Architecture of a Generic e-Government Integration Solution
| • | Principles Guiding the Architecture |
| • | An e-Government |
| • | Identity Management |
| • | Authentication and Authorization |
| • | The Service Directory |
| • | Document Submission |
| • | Orchestrating Business Processes |
| • | Integration with Back-End Services |
| • | Security |
| • | Performance and Scalability |
| • | Management and Operations |
References, Checklists and Further Information
Additional Information
For additional information on The Microsoft Connected Government Framework, or to find your local representative, please e-mail: CGF@microsoft.com.