E-gif

e-GIF is the UK eGovernment Interoperability Framework.

This is an extremely ambitious exercise intended to resolve and prevent (or at least minimise) problems arising from incompatible content of different computer systems.

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:

http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/

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.