E-government Data Interoperability Framework in Hong Kong

Since its first release in 1998, the Digital 21 Strategy has been serving the blueprint for Hong Kong to develop the information and communications technology infrastructure. With government leadership as an important component, the Strategy has put forward the development of an e-government that can realize one-stop delivery of public electronic services. In 2003, Hong Kong Government has launched the Interoperability Framework (IF) as an e-government initiative to facilitate implementation of cross-department joined-up government services. IF comprises two parts: (1) definition of a set of recommended technical specifications as a single point of reference for departments and contractors to implement joined-up projects, (2) a framework for formulating and managing XML message standards for G2G and G2B data exchange. This paper discusses about the second part of the IF, mainly on the XML Schema and Design Guide, and its real-life applications.