Short note on E-Government Architecture

1)  Presentation layer

• The presentation layer identifies and describes the system users, who require access to government information at different capacities, and the channels through which information can be accessed. 

• During system development, one is required to explicitly identify the government user, the system is intended to serve, and also the means through which this information is to be accessed so that the system can be tailored to meet these requirements.

• It manages the user’s interface with the system. If a pro- project is to be successful, different stakeholders need to be identified at the beginning, involved in the initial stages and kept involved throughout development and implementation.

2) E-government layer

E-government public services utilize very specialized applications that are only available to certain agencies and not all agencies participating in the consortium. The main goal of the e-government layer is to achieve a government that;

•  does not ask for information it already has
•  Is focused on better services towards
•  counties and national governments
•  Will not allow its facilities to be misused
•  Is well informed
•  Is efficiently organized and in control of its internal affairs.

3)  Business architecture layer

• The first step toward a successful e-governance initiative is process re-engineering. This aims to simplify the existing processes and procedures, reduce the manual touchpoints and make the entire transaction cycle-friendly. For E-governance to succeed, it is imperative that processes are simplified and understood by all stakeholders.

• The business layer provides a functional rather than organizational view of the government’s lines of business; including its internal operations and services for citizens, independent of the agencies, bureaus, and offices performing them.

• The business layer describes the devolved government around common business, thus promotes agency collaboration and serves as the underlying foundation for government process redesign and e-government strategies. Each business function is analyzed for the potential for streamlining in order to facilitate optimization via collaboration and sharing.

4) Information architecture layer

This layer can be divided into two;

a) Service classification sub-layer;

• The service classification sub-layer classifies service components according to how they support business and performance objectives e.g ERPS, CRMs. It serves to identify and classify horizontal and vertical service components supporting government and their IT investments and assets.

• It is organized across horizontal service areas independent of the business functions, providing a leverage-able foundation for the reuse of applications, application capabilities, and business services.

b) Data standardization sub-layer

The data standardization sub-layer is flexible and standard-based to enable information sharing and reuse across the government via the standard description and discovery of common data and the promotion of uniform data management practices. It provides a standard means by which data may be described, categorized, and shared. These are reflected- ed within each of the three standardized areas;

• Data descriptions:- Data descriptions provide a means to uniformly describe data, thereby supporting its discovery and sharing.

• Data context:- Data facilitates the discovery of data through an approach to the categorization of data according to taxonomies.

• Data sharing:- Data sharing supports the access and exchange of data; where access consists of ad hoc requests (such as a query of data access asset) and exchange consists of fixed, recurring transactions between parties, enabled by capabilities provided by both the data context and data description standardization areas.
• 
  

5) Technology architecture layer

• The technology architecture layer categorizes the standards and technologies that support and enable the delivery of service components and capabilities. 

• It also unifies existing agency technologies and e-government guidance by providing a foundation to advance the reuse and standardization of technology and service components from a government-wide perspective.

• So, an e-government architecture model for a devolved government is developed. It shows clearly how government can redesign their business processes based on the information and government policy to develop software. For a devolved government that operates through consultation and collaboration interoperability is of great value.