Organizational Interoperability in E-Government

Dr. Herbert Kubicek is a Professor of Applied Computer Science, in particular Telecommunications and Information Management, at the University of Bremen, Germany, and Scientific Director of the Institute for Information Management Bremen (ifib). He has a background in business administration and social science, and his research deals with inter-organizational information systems since the 1990s. Ralf Cimander is a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Information Management Bremen (ifib). He was involved in the identification, analysis and description of good practice cases in the European Commissions' Study on Back-office Reorganization and the MODINIS Study on Interoperability in E-Government at the Local and Regional Level, as well as a European Commission transfer project concerned with interoperability in public procurement. His current research focuses on the comparative assessment of e-participation in the context of sustainable development and climate change. Dr. Hans J. Scholl is an Associate Professor with tenure in the Information School at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. His special interests include open government, interoperability, emergency and disaster response management, and strategic choices in mobile technology diffusion in digital government. He is President of the Digital Government Society and also the vice chair of the IFIP TC 8.5 Working Group (Information Systems and Public Administration). In addition, he chairs the renowned Electronic Government Track at the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) and co-organizes the premier European conference on e-Government (IFIP EGOV).

Introduction.- Interoperability in Government.- Review of Prominent IFs and the Need for Re-conceptualization.- Selection and Classification of Case Studies.- Interdependencies in E-Government and their Interoperability Requirements.- Wants and Needs when Pursuing Interoperability.- Layers of Interoperability.- Modes of Implementation of Interoperability.- IT Governance of Collaboration for Interoperability.- Strategic Choices for Setting Up Interoperable E-Government Services.- Interoperability Beyond Interoperation.- Conclusions and Outlook.