Interoperability in e-Government: Legal Modelling on the Rise Again

Interoperability in e-Government: Legal Modelling on the Rise Again

Roland Traunmüller

Johannes Kepler University of Linz, AustriaInstitute of Informatics in Business and Government

Interoperability and Legal Modelling

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My Personal Background 1

Annual EGOV- Conference Series: Founded 2001 they have become the big European conference with scientific focus; about 200 researchers attending: Aix, Prague, Zaragoza, Copenhagen; Krakow

eEurope Awards 2003 : The Como event 2003 involved 357 cases. The report drawing conclusions co-authored by the presenter - see http://www.eipa.nl .

eEurope Awards 2005: The Manchester event 2005 involved involved the presenter as juror for the competition- see http://www.eipa.nl .

Roadmap 2020: Cooperation in the ongoing EU Roadmap project on “e-Government in the Next Decade”.


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My Personal Background 2

Eastern Europe eGOV Days: Annually organised by the presenter - the last years in Budapest, next event 19 - 22 April 2006 in Prague.

MEA – Workshops on e-Government: The presenter organised one-day Workshops in Schiras and Damascus; next a WS at ICTTA, 24 –26 April 2006, Damascus.

MEA - World Information Technology Forum: Organization by UNESCO and IFIP in 2005 in Gaborone (Botswana). The presenter was in charge of Section 8: Empowerment and Participation.


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Agenda

Public Governance as Scope E-Government as Transformation Online One Stop Government Back Office Integration Usability and Knowledge Enhancement Aspects of Interoperability (EIF) Work on Semantic Standards Identity Management


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e-Government Has a History

Concepts on Government and IT have changed. The praxis: Big administrative projects since five decades. Academic interest emerged three decades ago starting with

the term Data Processing in Public Administration. International institutionalisation by IFIP (International

Federation of Computer Societies) with founding 1990 IFIP Working Group “Information Systems in Public Administration”.

One decade ago the concepts electronic Government (Europe) and digital Government (US) were created.

Further concepts have emerged: some replacing “e” with “m” for mobile or “k” for knowledge; others such as “drop the e” bring a radical view.

Now Public Governance broadens the scope.


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Now the Scope is Public Governance

The scope of e-Government has widened to “e-Governance” Public Governance can be seen covering three zones. 1. Inner: Public Administration as the machinery of Government2. Middle: Public Governance cycle with the “policy cycle”.3. Outer: The shifting balance of the public and private realm The discussion on Governance has got momentum on diverse

grounds: - a co-evolution of Public Governance and e-Transformation;- a trend in evaluating/ranking Governments (Education: PISA); - a stimulation by the corporate governance discussion. It is useful to stick to the established label “e-Government” and

having a broader scope of Public Governance in mind.


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e-Government is e-Transformation

e-Government is one way to improve Government. e-Government goes further than earlier approaches

to modernisation - it aims at fundamentally transforming the production processes of public services.

e-Government thereby transforms the entire range of relationships of public bodies to clients and partners.

e-Government is a socio-cultural and socio-technical domain


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Actors and relations in Government

Authority

Public-private partnerships

Company, which acts on behalf of an authority in order to provide public services

Authority

G2G

Co-operation between agenciesContractual relations

Business

Business informationOnline public services

Business complaint managementBusiness service points

G2B

G2B

G2C

Acts on behalf of a citizen or

business client

Intermediary

Citizen

Citizen informationOnline public services

Citizen complaint managementCitizen service points

G2C


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Definition of e-Government used by the EU-Commission

„eGovernment is the use of information and communication technologies in public administrations - combined with organisational change and new skills - to improve public services and democratic processes and to strengthen support to public policies.”

http://europa.eu.int/information_society/soccul/egov/index_en.htm


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Characteristic Features

There is a big difference between e-Commerce and e-Government.

There are several characteristic features. Here four points of distinction are given:1. Distinctions – Law and negotiation2. Distinctions – Institutions3. Integration4. Multidisciplinary discipline Change becomes pervasive


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Distinctive Characteristics I: Law and Negotiation

There is a big difference between e-Comm and e-Gov due to several reasons.

One is the extraordinarily complex goal structure of the public realm. Legal norms are a standard vehicle of communication between

government and executive agencies. Often norms establish a framework leaving leeway for interpretation

and situative decisions. Here consensus building and negotiation come in. Quasi as

supplementary mode of work. Legal norms give particular meaning to administrative structures:

protecting the rights of citizens, procedures bound to the rules of law or safeguarding legal validity.

Administration works via a complex tissue of cooperation of acting entities.


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Distinctive Characteristics II: Institution-bound

Public agencies - unlike in the private field - are not spurred by competition.

Administrative acts are a particular type of products : providing licenses, decreeing obligations.

Responsibility seems to be often diluted, due to a multitude of actions in complex networks.

Administrative culture and historically grown structures may impede change.

Inertial forces are reinforced by bureaucratic attitudes. Administrative work appears as complex and rather strange.


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The Pivot: Online One Stop Government

Innovative interaction models based on modern IT Unique access point to many public services and info Connecting glue between external customers and

internal service provision A single-window access for all services regardless of

government level and agency. Further, a multi-channel access mix with a diversity

of contact points: home and mobile as prime choice, then kiosk, citizen office and multifunctional service shops.

Design has to consider all stages of service provision: information, intention, contracting, settlement, aftercare.


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Online One-stop Government Needs Data Interchange

Taking as an example the life situation of civil marriage. In a systemic view it is a rather simple case that will comprise initiation by citizens, proof of legal grounds, proclamation.

Yet in any concrete case a variety of transactions and repositories is concerned; so internally it is just the opposite from simple what goes on in Online One-stop Government

In the life situation of civil marriage a lot of transactions and number of repositories are involved - data are brought together from diverse data sources and disseminated to several repositories

So before the event documents located in different agencies have to be checked; afterwards many updates on documents have to be made (change of name, civil status, common domicile etc.)


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Service Orientation Needs Cooperation

It starts with thinking in service categories; then understanding the nature of an administrative process is essential; later rebuilding comes in.

Rebuilding has to integrate divers demands from citizens, businesses and public authorities.

Processes in Government are very particular, often they cut across different government levels – local, regional or national - and different types of agencies

Cooperation joins up different branches and levels needing close and pertinent contact among all actors involved.

Public administrations work via a complex tissue of cooperation involving quite many acting entities.


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Local PublicAuthority

LocalService

Repository

ServiceCreation

Environment

System architecture: eGOV platform for online one-stop Government

useruser


LocalService

Repository

ServiceCreation

Environment


LocalService

Repository

ServiceCreation

Environment

NationalPublic Authority

ServiceCreation

Environment

NationalService

Repository

InternetWAP/GSM/UMTS Network

One-StopGovernment Portalglobal access point for

citizens, businesses andauthorities

user. . .


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One-stop Government Calls for Back Office Integration

Electronic Service Delivery is the immediate perspective for clients – yet - turning to an inside view - integrated platforms are needed.

Most applications cut across different governmental levels. Generally, cooperation has to join up different branches and levels and so have close contacts among all actors involved are needed.

Online One-stop Government demands for back-office integration and interoperability - both are closely connected and bringing tangible increases in effectiveness.

Interoperability touches several levels such as technology, organisation, legal and political matters.


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Portals as the Linking Glue

Front-office Intake and communication

Back-office Service Production and Settlement

Mid-office Platform for secure transactions

Portal

External citizen / customer

Pro

cess

mod

els


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Aspects of Interoperability

Online One-stop Government demands for back-office integration and interoperability - both are closely connected and bringing tangible increases in effectiveness.

Interoperability means the ability of public authorities to share information and knowledge via their ICT systems.

Interoperability touches several issues such as technology, organisation, legal and political matters.

The European Interoperability Framework (EIF) endorses three aspects: technical, semantic, organisational.


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The Benefits of Interoperability

The benefits become clear in the following settings:- Bundling different services to the same customer.- Need of an agency to get data from others in order

to produce a service.- Data interchange between geographical dispersed

agencies.- Exchanging metadata such as directories and

descriptions.- In particular services as identity management.


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The EIF Distinction and Extensions

The European Interoperability Framework EIF endorses three main aspects (see below i,ii,iii).

THen two more points are added:i. Technical interoperability covers the technical issues of computer systems. It

includes also issues on platforms and architecture.ii. Semantic interoperability ensures that the precise meaning of exchanged

information is understandable by other applications.iii. Organizational interoperability is concerned with business processes and

cooperation of agencies. Here the requirements of decentralized agencies have to meet the central needs on coordination.

iv. Extension of iii : The Modinis project extends iii also covering political, legal and structural conditions.

v. Identity Management: It is n some way a field of its own, but in praxis very closely related and not easy to separate

In the following main attention goes to ii and v.


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Interoperability at the Semantic Level

Semantic standards are a necessary condition for Electronic Data Interchange.

It allows a global use of data locally collected – given that their legal and administrative semantics is represented carefully.

Several approaches exist mostly based on XML languages. With RDF a minimum on semantic structures comes in. Now modelling semantic of data with more complex

descriptions (ontologies) is on the rise. There are many obstacles in practical work: - Basic problem is a lack in common domain ontologies. - Further, the legal language for administrative applications

results in a complexity surmounting the private sector. - When administrative documents cross state borders difficulties

even increase.


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Obstacles impeding Semantic Descriptions

A lot of specific problems appear in an international view: 1. It is different to find adequate meaning of terms. 2. The nature of the administrative process allows some

openness; discretionary power of street level bureaucrats. 3. There is an increasing dynamics and complexity in law.4. Difficulties comprise adequate meaning of terms (taking

licenses, certificates) 5. Also different connotations of terms occur: boundaries of

professions as in the case of lawyer and barrister6. Non-existence of counterparts poses problems: public

honours, awards, and titles


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Legal Modelling Grows in Importance

In e-Government the legal modelling grows in importance. One argument for the growing importance is based in the domain itself; the quasi ubiquity of legal norms, the quantity of rules.

Legal modelling is by no way not a new topic – yet the focus before was distinct, namely put on the decision process (as to mention the legal expert systems research that started three decades ago).

Now the focus is legal modelling as part part of the electronic data interchange. Being part of Online One stop Government has upgraded the importance of legal modelling; now it is a necessary condition for building standards.

.


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The Need for Legal Drafting

Apart from the interchange topic - in a knowledge enhanced Government there are other applications using legal modelling. Very important is usage for legal drafting.

With a strong interest on Public Governance the policy cycle becomes more and more important.

Usually legal drafting is underrated. Now formal methods such as in the POWER project provide new means.


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Routing Citizen Requests

Modelling norms opens automatism. As an example a goal is an automatically routing of citizen demands – either to relevant knowledge repositories or to the agency with competencies in the legal sense.

Various ways exist: mapping requests on administrative and legal structures by means of domain ontologies; comparing key words; evolving scenarios of life situations.

The target is different: a plain data base, a sophisticated piece of software, a staffed service centre (e.g. a call centre) or an official in a particular agency


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One Word on Invoking Expertise

Giving the complexity of cases a software-only-solution for advice is not the only option. Another is bringing in the right human expert

Mediating persons at the counter of public service shops improve their capability for advice by using the system

Making remote expert know-how accessible when needed for a specific case. Such expert dialogues may be enabled via advanced multimedia technology (dialogues become trialogues)

With the accessed expert himself using knowledge repositories human and machine expertise become interwoven


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A Broader Need for Advanced Retrieval Systems

The need for legal information retrieval becomes urgent:1. Policy making and legal drafting need retrieval.2. There is a need for handling individual cases of high legal

complexity (e.g. tax, permits)3. In addition, many administrative actions need building a case.

The material gained is evaluated in the light of legal premises. It is the proper task of the administrators to interpret the law -

the facts of a case have to be evaluated in the light of judicial premises

Present retrieval is insufficiently used, as retrieval systems are keyword-oriented not case-oriented

Needed are tools for case based retrieval; yet nearly all systems using deontic logic, probabilistic measures, neuronal nets etc. belong to the scientific realm


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A Particular Aspect: e-Identity

A particular aspect of interoperability is e-Identity needed in most administrative transactions.

Applications comprise different areas with different importance and sensitivity. There is a portfolio of divers applications listed in next foil.

An annotation: Differences in urgency appear between sectors. So in e-Commerce having a 3 % loss by bouncing cheques is tolerable and included in the cost-schema; administrations could not tolerate 3 % wrong passports.


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Cntd.

Here examples are given in rising order of sensitivity and sophistication:

a) City cards with multiple use (transport, entertainment)b) Minor administrative tasks (allowance)c) e-Identity for core admin. areas (tax declaration)d) e-Identity for identity cardse) e-Identity for passports and visa In the last two examples additional technical problems occur: - Reading capability in several countries- Technical duration and legal validity- Lamination of chips on paper etc.


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In Praxis: e-Identity Solutions in Parallel

The picture is quite equivocal:1. There is a clear commitment and long-term trend to digital

signatures. 2. In reality many important applications still run on conventional

ways (combining passwords, magnetic strips, chips etc). 3. As a broad deployment of digital signatures will take time such

intermediary solutions may remain important for several years. 4. Partnerships and intermediaries are also a viable way. They

may include bank staff, local officials and also professional intermediaries.

This breaks a common deadlock: It is that (a) few applications exist because there few citizen cards and (b) deployment of such cards is weak, because too few applications are running.

Interoperability in e-Government: Legal Modelling on the Rise Again

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