E-Government Interoperability: A Cooperative Architecture Model To Facilitate Information Sharing In Namibia

ABSTRACT

Governments face continued pressure to increase their performance with the aim to improve efficiency and service delivery to their stakeholders, customers and citizens. To improve efficiency and performance, Governments adopt e-Government models and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions as enablers and vehicles for transforming public administration. As part of the transformational process, Public Services need to transform themselves into an integrated entity that responds to the needs of its stakeholders, customers and citizens.

Interoperability solutions provide the means for accomplishing integration by interlinking heterogeneous Information Systems and infrastructures that would allow data to be shared and exchanged within the Public Service. Interoperability is one of the most crucial barriers that e-Government initiatives should overcome. The study highlights the critical role of interoperability and presents a qualitative survey of technical interoperability and interoperability adoption factors within the Public Service of Namibia. It also proposes theoretical models that define and describe ways of establishing technical interoperability within the key areas of data, software and communications.

The study used a qualitative research approach of descriptive type in which explorative research was combined with case study research. As part of the explorative research process, literature study was carried out to clarify the different aspects (e.g., interoperability maturity, interoperability adoption factors) of interoperability and to identify distributed architectural forms available for establishing interoperability. Case study research was conducted to investigate the technical interoperability dynamics within the public service, so as to obtain a better understanding of the uniqueness and idiosyncrasy of technical interoperability among Information Systems and the factors that

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may influence technical interoperability adoption in all its complexity. Data was gathered for Information Systems interoperability cases through semi-structured interviews from Public Service Information Technology (IT) Managers and IT Staff.

A quantitative analysis of the qualitative data collected from the different Information Systems interoperability cases were performed using Microsoft Excel and the MoonStats statistical software program. The analysis findings indicated that technical interoperability was limited to a small number of public service organisations and that technical interoperability between Information Systems was at a low level of sophistication and compliance. The analysis findings further indicated that there was a need to increase the level of technical interoperability sophistication and compliance between Information Systems and to further expand the number of technical interoperability Information Systems. The data analysis findings identified twenty-four factors that may influence the adoption of interoperability within the Public Service of Namibia of which ‘Data Security’ and ‘Data Quality’ were the most identified by respondents.

Based on the study findings and the supporting models developed, a conceptual Cooperative Architectural Model (CAM) was developed and proposed. The conceptual model provides technical interoperability guidance through a conceptual, layered and distribution architecture.

The study concludes that the conceptual Cooperative Architectural Model (CAM) proposed in this study meets the architectural requirements identified and serves as a conceptual architectural blueprint for achieving the desired state of technical interoperability within the Public Service of Namibia.