Information governance as a basis for cross-sector e-services in public administration

Information governance and systematic work with metadata and semantics are important elements of the implementation of an open, transparent, accessible, accountable, user-friendly and service-oriented public sector. Top management commitment is crucial in order to achieve necessary attention and sufficient budgets. Management needs to be aware of metadata and semantics as important enablers for the goals set forth in strategies and requirements from ministries. Documentation of economic potential and cost savings will help to get attention among decision makers, but today, few trustworthy sources are available. The development of cross-sector services and the demand for reuse of public service information, both in the public sector itself, but also for commercial services, underpins the importance of well-defined information. Participation in cross-sector e-Services demands the establishment of metadata repositories and ontologies as obligatory parts of the public sector information governance regimes.