EURIM INTEROPERABILITY GROUP
This Group delivered on its objectives in July 2002 with the publication of EURIM Briefing No. 36- Interoperability: Joined-up-Government needs Joined-up-Systems. Some aspects of the work of this group have been taken on by EURIM’s Open Source group. All the group outputs are available through this website.
Interoperability
The Modernising Government White Paper of 1999 lists an ambitious set of reforms aimed at implementing ‘joined-up government in action’, and includes the specific target of making all dealings with government available electronically by 2005. Getting computer systems to work well together is difficult and failure to do so presents one of the biggest single threats to achieving the Modernising Government agenda. Properly interoperating computer systems, both within government organisations and between them and the private sector would, however, make a major contribution to realising these intentions. The factors involved in getting computer systems to interoperate are fundamentally issues of management structure and policy rather than being purely technical issues. Interoperability is therefore an area in which informed policy makers can make a real, and positive, impact on achieving the government’s targets and in building a new government culture. Conversely, in the absence of clued-up decision making, ‘joined up government’ initiatives are doomed to eventual failure.
The Interoperability Group
The Interoperability Group is a sub-group of EURIM’s Modernising Government working party. The group membership includes parliamentarians, civil servants and observers from DTI, OeE, OGC and NAO, corporates, small firms, trade associations and professional bodies and represents a wide range of perspectives, both at the policy and at the implementation levels. The group is chaired by Henryk Trzebiatowski of Royal Mail. The group’s parliamentary sponsor is The Earl of Erroll.
Group Terms of Reference and objectives
To promote truly effective interoperation in eGovernment. To define what is truly effective in the context or interoperability. To use those insights to lobby for relevant government activity.
Group Deliverables
The group’s deliverables are a briefing paper that defines terms, identifies the issues and sets them into context and suggests some solutions. A glossary of terms to support the paper. A series of short case studies illustrating some of the benefits of making systems interoperable, and the problems that have been encountered
Group Outputs to date
Date	Type of Output
July 02	Briefing	EURIM Briefing No. 36:- Interoperability – joined up government needs joined up systems (Click Here for a list of all Mod Gov briefings)
July 02	Case Studies	Interoperability case studies
16 July 02	Minutes	Minutes of the presentation meeting to obtain EURIM approval for the publication of Briefings 35, 36 & 37 (The Next Steps, Interoperability in Joined up government and Making IT Work, respectively).
18 April 02	Minutes	Drafting meeting to prepare Briefing No. 36, Interoperability for presentation to EURIM members
30 Jan 02	Minutes	Minutes of a meeting to review the draft of briefing 36 – Interoperability.
19 Nov 01	Minutes	Minutes of a planning meeting on the need for Interoperability in joined up government.
Oct 01 ToR	Group ToR	Note giving terms of reference for group

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