Technical Standards And E-Governance Architecture

- Approach Paper-

Government of India Ministry of Communications and Information Technology Department of Information Technology National Informatics Centre http://egovstandards.gov.in

Technical Standards and E-Governance Architecture

Prepared by: Suchitra Pyarelal ,Technical Director Reviewed by: Deputy Director General NIC Approved by: Director General

No part of this document shall be reproduced without prior permission of Director General, National Informatics Centre

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Table of Contents
Amendment Log .........................................................................................................................4 1.
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5

Introduction ......................................................................................................................5
BACKGROUND INFORMATION .............................................................................................. 5 PURPOSE AND SCOPE ........................................................................................................ 6 NEED FOR STANDARDS AND E-GOVERNANCE ARCHITECTURE............................................ 7 OBJECTIVES AND DELIVERABLES ........................................................................................ 7 W ORKING GROUP MEMBERSHIP ........................................................................................ 8

2 Technical Standards and E-Governance Architecture .................................................9

2.1 TECHNICAL STANDARDS .................................................................................................... 9 2.2 E-GOVERNANCE ARCHITECTURE ..................................................................................... 11 2.2.1 REUSABILITY...................................................................................................................... 11 2.2.2 MIDDLEWARE AND TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS .................................................................. 12 2.2.3 SERVICE-ORIENTED ARCHITECTURE(SOA)...................................................................... 12

3. 4.

Management of the Standards Working Group ....................................................13 Road Map.........................................................................................................................14

References.................................................................................................................................14 Glossary of Terms ...................................................................................................................14

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Amendment Log
Version No. 1.0 Date 22-12-05 Change Number NA Brief Description First Version Sections Changed All

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1. Introduction
1.1 Background Information

The strategic importance of E-Governance Standards is now widely recognized globally. Standards and specifications with well defined formats, help to achieve interoperability of information and communication systems. To drive both the integration between specific Government functions (vertical applications) and shared Government functions (horizontal applications) and data sharing between applications an overall E-Governance application architecture requires to be defined . Recognizing the critical role that well designed standards and architecture play in the rapid growth of e -Governance, the Department of Information Technology (DIT), has constituted an Apex Body on Standards in DIT in September 2005, among other things, to design the broad policy framework for setting as well as development of standards for the e-Governance initiatives in India. Following have been identified as the key priority areas for standardization under the National e-Governance Programme (NeGP): i. Technical Standards and E-Governance Architecture ii. Metadata and Data Standards for Application Domains iii. Localisation and Language Technology Standards iv. Network and Information Security Standards v. Quality and Documentation Standards National Informatics Centre (NIC) that had already taken major initiatives to evolve an Interoperability Framework for all E-Governance applications developed, has been entrusted with the responsibilities to:

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?? Originate white papers on all desired standards to serve as discussion papers for Working Groups to develop standards. ?? Act as a focal point for development of methodologies for formulation of Standards.

1.2

Purpose and scope

The Technical Standards and E -Governance Architecture Working Group, that will operate under the Apex Body, will be responsible for the definition of the overall E-Governance architecture that provides for both current and future EGovernance application needs. It will aim to define the technical standards and specifications governing electronic information flow across the government sector that cover interconnectivity, data integration, government electronic services access and delivery mechanisms and content creation and management.

The Specific Terms of Reference of the Working Group is as follows: i. Advise on development of required White Papers for discussion in the Working Group to evolve standards; ii. Evolve Standards; iii. Manage interaction with similar initiatives and standards bodies elsewhere in the world; iv. Nominate members on various International standards committees and continuously strive towards key roles for India in such international forums; v. Define the scope of any deliverables, expected milestones, and the process for the group participants to approve the release of these deliverables (including publishing intermediate results);
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vi. Determine any dependencies of other entities on the deliverables of this group; vii. Define the expected level of involvement by the members of the Team (e.g., to track developments, write and edit technical reports, etc); viii. Must also include an estimate of the expected time commitment from participants; ix. Requirements that a quorum of group participants support any formal decision of the group; x. Change control of the Draft standard document and Version Management. xi. Create a supporting framework for implementation and testing xii. Setting timeline for the release of initial set of standards to the Apex Body of Standards of DIT. The Working Group will work in close cooperation with the other Standards Working Groups.

1.3

Need for Standards and E-Governance Architecture

Present mode of systems development is largely based on proprietary standards that provide limited scope for information exchange and integration with other systems. Legacy systems need to be integrated with the present technologies without compromising the information and data. Technological advances makes it necessary to migrate to new systems and platform, in which case locked in to a particular technology or platform happens most often.

1.4

Objectives and deliverables

The main objectives within the scope of the Technical Standards and EGovernance Architecture Working Group are:

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i. To establish an agreed set of technical policies and standards for achieving interoperability and coherence of ICT systems across EGovernance applications. ii. To evolve Standards and E-Governance architectures in conjunction with other Working Groups that will take into account legacy applications. iii. To ensure re-use across applications and services enablers. iv. A single point reference to locate the required architecture and specifications that should be followed for a specific project designed & developed .It shall adhere to the approved specifications laid down. v. By adopting the standards system designers can ensure interoperability between systems while at the same time have the flexibility to select different hardware, and systems and application software to implement solutions.

The charter of the TSAEGA Group will be reviewed and updated annually or as required by the Apex body.

1.5

Working Group Membership

One of the major steps in the approach towards ensuring interoperability is to have partnership with the ICT industry. This will help to quickly adopt standards, take advantage of emerging technologies and continued support. The Architecture Group will have members from the academia, industry, solution providers and the Government.

1.6

Working Group Meetings

In addition to the TSAEGA Working Group face-to-face (F2F) meetings , it is proposed to have interactions through video conferencing and conference calls. These will be arranged between the regular meetings when needed.
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A E-Governance Standards Portal will be developed for posting all the relevant work of the Working Groups.

1.7

Standards Evolution

The Technical Standards and Architecture Group assures, through review, the adherence and consistency of standardization work. To achieve these goals, the TSAEGA Architecture Group may charter a number of sub-groups and organise workshops as required.

1.8

Requirements

A E-Governance Standards Secretariat will be set up for arranging meetings, preparing meeting minutes and providing members. The Group is a coordination and information-sharing group by nature. Participation is encouraged by all members and is required from the architecture sub-group chairperson(s) and the speakers of established task forces.

Technical Architecture

Standards

and

E-Governance

2.1

Technical Standards

While implementing the Interoperability Framework, the emphasis should obviously be on interoperability. Standardization in technology and coordination with Government decisions/legislations can achieve this. In general, adherence to some prescribed guidelines and principles should result in a more efficient Interoperability Framework. The following guidelines and recommendations are considered appropriate to use while selecting Standards:

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General Requirements: ?? The cost should be low for usage. ?? It should be adopted on the basis of open decision-making process ?? No obstacle to use any version of the standard ?? Use of extensions of any adopted standards should not be allowed Industry Standards: The specifications adopted should be either globally

recognized standards or existing de- facto industry-standards. Open Standards: To the extent possible, select widely adopted open standards in place of their propriety alternatives. Adoption of open standards cannot only significantly contribute in achieving interoperability but can allow flexibility in the selection of technology and solutions. It does not bind the user to a particular vendor or technology. Compatibility with open standards should be one of the major criterions for selection of software. Vendor Neutral Products: The specifications adopted should be vendor neutral as far as possible. Limited Number of Specifications: For any Interoperability Domain, the number of allowable specifications should be limited, as far as practicable and without compromising the overall objective of interoperability, in order to minimize the cost and complexity to support these specifications. Alignment with Internet: The specifications should be aligned with Internet standards as the Internet is a primary channel for delivering E-Government services. Global Initiatives: The specifications adopted should take due notice of similar global initiatives, demonstrating good practices.

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New versions: Versions of standards may need to be revised as new functionality is introduced. Special attention should be paid to ensure backward compatibility to minimize the impact of transition to a new version of a specification, thereby facilitating continued interoperability. Version Selection: The selected version by the user need not be the latest available version; this is because the selected version may meet the functional requirements.

2.2

e-Governance Architecture

2.2.1 Reusability

A large number of E-Governance applications developed in isolation, resulted in self-contained islands of information. Every application followed its own standards with the main objective of delivering process-centric results irrespective of other applications. Hence, at the outset there is a need for an architecture that is aimed at reuse and customization. Software reuse must become a key part in the software architecture. The continuing need for speeding up the software development life cycle and reducing the cost of development to manageable proportions exists in all large software projects. Component ware Architecture enables efficient reuse of existing application assets, faster deployment of new applications, and improved responsiveness to changing business needs. Reusable software components are the building blocks that make a system able to respond quickly to change. Systematic techniques for reuse adoption must therefore be enabled. Planning for reuse must begin at the architecture stage itself. In short it delivers the much

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needed openness and flexibility. A central repository of reusable components provides foundation to this concept.

2.2.2 Middleware and technology standards

There is a need to introduce the concept of middleware and technology standards as a tool to develop integrable, scalable and robust E-Governance solutions, while employing multiple solution providers. The middleware should support processes involving multi-department and multi-agency workflows. For this purpose, it is necessary that the different department offices and also external agencies are interconnected and share the same underlying back-end databases and applications. The middleware also should be able to facilitate integration with legacy systems. Middleware needs to provide services such as identification, authentication, authorization, directories, and security to all applications. By promoting standardization and interoperability, middleware will make advanced network applications much easier to use. The key middleware components are (a) Web Application Server, (b) Inter-application communication and messaging and collaboration software (c) Language and data interchange standards.

2.2.3 Service-Oriented Architecture(SOA)

Service-Oriented Solutions: Applications must be developed as independent sets of interacting services offering well-defined interfaces to their potential users. Similarly, supporting technology must be available to allow application developers to browse collections of services, select those of interest, and assemble them to create the desired functionality.

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A service is generally implemented as a coarse-grained, discoverable software entity that exists as a single instance and interacts with applications and other services through a loosely coupled (often asynchronous), message-based communication model.

3.

Management of the Standards Working Group

Management

implies

continuous

monitoring

of

the

development

and

maintenance of Standards so that it responds to the change in technology or other environment. The management process or mechanism involves:

?? Periodical review and update of the set of specifications that constitute the Standards Tracking technology changes and makes appropriate changes in the specifications. ?? Obtain feedback from the Government agencies and the end users in respect of changing requirements and co-ordinate with the technology teams working on the revision of specifications. ?? Advising on the development of policies, guidelines and procedures to support the development and management of XML schemas for EGovernment. Adherences to standards are central to the success of implementation and adaptation of the framework and good E-Governance practices. Where appropriate, adherence should be made mandatory for all Government businesses and infrastructure development.

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4.

Road Map

All E-Government applications developed will have to have conformity with the TSAEGA. Institutioal Mechanisms to be evolved to enforce adherence to TSAEGA.

References
Interoperability Framework for E-Governance Technical Standards Version 1.0 brought out by NIC in 2004 SAGA Version 2.0

Glossary of Terms
ICT Information and Communication Technology

NeGP

National E-Governance Programme

SOA

Services Oriented Architecture

TSAEGA

Technical Architecture

Standards

and

E-Governance

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