Background

Following the endorsement by Cabinet of an e-government vision, the State Services Commission, together with the Chief Executives' IM/IT Group, has assigned various projects to government agencies to develop a strategy supporting the vision. This strategy was endorsed by the Chief Executives' forum.

The Ministry of Social Policy (MoSP) was tasked with presenting Social Sector Information Systems (IS) and Data Management Policies and Standards to the rest of government, modifying them to an agreed common standard, and publishing them across government. The task has been split into 2 projects, IS Policies and Standards, and Data Management Policies and Standards.

This document represents the output of Information Systems Policies and Standards project.

Guiding Principles

Common standards and policies to ensure data integrity, efficient data communication and effective return on capital investment are key to e-government. The adoption of common IS Policies and Standards is critical to providing the common 'view', which is a pre-requisite of cost-effective e-government.

The IS Policies and Standards are:

• Based on Open Standards, wherever possible

• Supportive of contestable supply from multiple vendors

• Intended to deliver interconnection between products from diverse vendors

• Able to support a very scaleable infrastructure.

They allow:

• Delivery of the lowest cost of ownership while performing to negotiated Service Level Agreements

• Enhancement of business practices with the effective use of Information Systems

• Consistent access to validated management information for formulating policy and measuring operational outcomes

Application

These Policies and Standards are expected to be mandated by Chief Executives delivering components of E-Government. The E-Government context which this document relates to is considered to be one in which citizen data and transactions are delivered to or collected from citizens by one or more Government entities. It also includes the transfer of that data between Government Agencies.

Future Direction

It is anticipated that Government will approve the establishment of a core Government unit to oversee aspects of E-Government such as these Policies and Standards. As that unit and various E-Government projects evolve these Policies and Standards will require growth and modification to reflect the more detailed specification of E-Government. The core principles of an architecture based on open standards and contestable supply should, however, remain valid.