Technical specifications and standards that are under consideration for future versions of the TSC are:
1. Introduction
The Technical Standards Catalogue defines the minimum set of specifications that conform to the technical policies as defined in e-GIF.
The current specification for the e-GIF is given below and covers the areas of interconnectivity, data integration, content management metadata and
e-services access. Each area comprises tables containing specifications and includes version numbers and notes. Government is, however, committed to ensuring that these technical policies and specifications are kept aligned to the changing requirements of the public sector and to the evolution of the market and technology. Please consult the website for the latest version of the e-GIF specification.
Where the specification required is not the latest published version, the version number is quoted, e.g. 1.3. Otherwise a reference URL for the specification is quoted.
*Additional specifications may be necessary to support specific sector’s business requirements.
2. Changes from previous version
Technical policies are now available in the e-GIF. The Technical Standards Catalogue covers standards, specifications and proposed changes to the technical policy only.
The main changes from TSC v6.1 that this version addresses are:
- revised specifications for interconnection, see Specifications for interconnectivity
- revised specifications for web services, see Specifications for web services
- specifications for semantic web, see Specifications for data integration
- revised specifications for data integration, see Specifications for data integration
- revised specifications for document access, see Specifications for e-services access
- revised specifications for smart cards, see Specifications for smart cards
- revised specifications for biometrics data interchange, see Specifications for biometrics data interchange
- specifications for accessibility and usability, see Specifications for accessibility and usability
- revised specifications for specific business areas, see Specifications for specific business areas
Issues addressed where there are no changes to the TSC:
- as with other applications e-forms have to comply with XML, but no specific e-Forms specifications are mandated in the e-GIF
3. Issues under consideration
Technical specifications and standards that are under consideration for future versions of the TSC are:
- selection of specific business area related specifications
- ISO / IEC standards for XML schema languages
- XML specifications for office applications.
Technical policies under consideration for future version of the e-GIF are:
Policy for Web services and repositories
- Web services - The standards for web services across government are subject to the evolving UK government policy and possible adoption of service orientated architecture. Particular aspects under consideration are:
- Web services supported by SOAP version 1.1 must define a strategy for conformance to SOAP version 1.2.
- Switching servers for web services must support both SOAP versions 1.1 and 1.2 at interfaces claiming conformance to the e-GIF.
- Web services should be considered where there is a requirement for service syndication, joined up architectures, handshaking or common rules engines.
Note: Tutorial information on web services architecture can be found at http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/WebServices.html
Repositories - Repositories used for sharing policy, standards and common business data across UK government shall conform to agreed standards.
Policy for accessibility and usability
The technical policies for providing accessibility and usability are:
- government information systems will be designed to meet UK legislation and to support channels that provide accessibility for disabled people.
- government information systems will be designed to meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA 1995) and the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (DDA 2005). The DDA's places a legal obligation on a department that offers a service to the public to make all reasonable adjustments where services would otherwise be impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled people to use.
- government information systems will be designed so that anyone with an impairment that affects their use of this equipment is not disadvantaged or excluded by these systems.
- designers and developers of Government information systems are to be fully aware of, and complying with a set technical standards for accessibility and useability specified in the technical standards catalogue
