E-GIF
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e-GIF is the UK eGovernment Interoperability Framework.
It is an ambitious exercise intended to resolve and prevent (or at least minimise) problems arising from incompatible content of different computer systems.
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What are the aims of e-GIF?
- to enable the seamless flow of information across government/ Public Service Organisations
- to set practical standards using stable well supported products
- to provide support, guidance and toolkits to enable the standards to be met
- to provide a long term strategy that is able to accommodate and adapt.
Key e-GIF policies
- alignment with the Internet: the universal adoption of common specifications used on the Internet and World Wide Web for all public sector information systems
- adoption of XML as the primary standard for data integration and presentation tools for all public sector systems
- adoption of the browser as the key interface; all public sector information systems are to be accessible through browser based technology; other interfaces are permitted but only in addition to browser based ones
- the addition of metadata to government information resources
- the development and adoption of the e-GMS (e-Government Metadata Standard) based on the international Dublin Core model
- the development and maintenance of the GCL (Government Category List)
- adherence to the e-GIF is mandated throughout the public sector.
Selection of e-GIF specifications has been driven by
- interoperability - only specifications that are relevant to systems interconnectivity, data integration, e-services access and content management are specified
- market support - the specifications selected are widely supported by the market, and are likely to reduce the cost and risk of government information systems
- scalability - specifications selected have capacity to be scaled to satisfy changed demands made on the system, such as changes in data volumes, number of transactions or number of users
- openness - the specifications are documented and available to the public at large.
The website responsible for publishing developments regarding e-GIF is:
News sites which cover e-gif developments
- Kablenet (http://www.kablenet.com) includes e-gif developments in their coverage in their reporting on UK and other eGovernment
- Support Insight (http://www.supportinsight.com) has published several articles on e-GIF and is monitoring its progress.