Index

Executive Summary
What is E-Government?
E-Government Strategy

   Introduction

   Challenges and Successes

   E-Government Initiatives

   Government to Consumer

   Government to Business

   Government to Government

   Internal Efficiency and Effectiveness

   E-Auth and Privacy

   Homeland Security

State and Local E-Government

   Washington State

   King County

   Seattle City Government

Implementation and Standards

   Web Standards

   Technology Suppliers

The Future of E-Government

Conclusion

Appendices:

   1. Presidential Memo

   2. International E-Government

   3. E-Gov Initiates at a Glance

Implementation and Standards

Web Standards

Overview: 

E-Government is moving towards web services. As mentioned previously, many federal and local government branches have websites that serve citizens and businesses. Most of the data transfer is done through Extended Markup Language (XML).  Two distinct programming models have emerged, those being the Microsoft .NET framework and Open source programming.

Discussion: 

A significant customer opportunity is emerging for open-source software, as more state and federal governments loosen their restrictions on implementations.  Microsoft Corp. has insisted that it can coexist peacefully with the model and has begun to offer limited access to its operating system source code to specific clients.   Many conferences were held to discuss the suitability of open source to E-Government and The Center of Open Source offers good coverage of conferences and news that supports this growing trend.  Of particular interest is a memo from the CIO of the Department of Defense allowing the use of open source software at the Dept. of Defense.

XML is an open standard for describing data.  Because it provides for a common method of identifying data, XML could become the dominant format for electronic exchange. Many government agencies have deployed XML and SOAP technologies to publish their Web sites.
 

Analysis: 

Open source software is increasingly penetrating e-government markets as it finds growing acceptance from government IT managers.  Using web standards will allow more sites to be developed faster and will allow these sites to be easily integrated.   XML technology is taking a leading place in the data exchange arena because of its simplicity and compatibility.

Recommendation: 

The government must provide a specific standards framework for its web sites for successful integration of its digital solutions. Web services are most accessible to citizens and businesses. Providing a digital solution in the form of Web services in the future will be a good trend for E-Government initiatives.
Links:

Government Technologies:                http://www.govtech.net

The politics of open source:               http://news.com.com/2010-1071_3-1025268.html?tag=rn

Open source on rise:                         http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1189729,00.asp

E-Government open source news:     http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=6603 

The center of open source:                http://www.egovos.org