ICT standardisation and public procurement in the United States and in the European Union: Influence on egovernment deployment

Most governments have regarded interoperability as one of the key enablers of egovernment. If interoperability was achieved, the vision of an integrated provision of public services to both citizens and businesses by means of the information and communications technologies (ICT) regardless of the number and type of departments involved in the provision could be realized. This paper analyses two factors that may influence egovernment interoperability: standardisation and public procurement. The paper analyses the policy and legal framework setup by these factors and checks whether egovernment deployment have been influenced by them or not. The analysis is focused on the cases of the United States federal government and of the European Union institutions and Member States administrations.