Implementing Interoperability Standards for Electronic Government

Abstract

Interoperability standards play an important role in the integration of systems and information sharing for electronic government. However, these processes do not just mean exchange of data but, mainly, integration of processes and transactions. Therefore, the implementation of these standards depends not only on technological aspects, but also on other variables of the institutional, organizational and economical contexts. Based on this scenery, this chapter discusses the implementation of the standardization process in an electronic government environment. It presents the findings from a case study of the Brazilian interoperability framework (e-PING), based on documents content analysis and face-toface semi-structured interviews. As a result, it points out some aspects that may be conditioning in the setting of these standards.