Author: John
Last saved by: Nigel Greenaway
Company: DELLNBX

1.	Proposed new Pattern:

[S7] Platform Management  

Context
There is growth in the number of government services are being delivered by means of a variety of platforms, e.g. physical, smart devices.  One of the core aims of a Transformational Government program is to ensure that all platforms are managed in the most cost-effective way at a whole-of-government level, and meet the needs of citizen and business customers.
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The Problem
The use of platforms as an integral part of a government service is increasing and is presenting new challenges to the overall management of a Transformational Government program. 

The platforms for government services are no longer confined to datacenters run by (or on behalf of) public sector organizations. A number of governments are promoting cloud-first strategies - largely in an attempt to save money and reduce supplier lock-in but also to provide agility.
In parallel, IT is becoming more pervasive with e-devices being built into infrastructure such as roads, vehicles, localities (e.g. smart cities), homes, livestock and even people (often by use of smart phones e.g. for measuring bodily functions). Many organizations (including government) are realizing that there are financial, social and other benefits that are emerging though the use of networks of e-devices for the collection of data (e.g. the monitoring of people and their environment for health purposes) or raising alerts (e.g. when river levels rise).
Thus, the provision of platforms is no longer a relatively straight forward selection, purchasing and deployment exercise but has become one of selective use of ‘in-house’ IT coupled with the consumption of a range of infrastructure (e.g. cloud) services plus collaboration with a range of partners who provide services that can be leveraged by the government.
This disaggregation leads to a number of platform types that a government will need to consume:-
•	Enterprise services (that provide enterprise capabilities internally)
•	Cloud services (that provide enterprise capabilities externally)
•	A service platform (a ‘hub’ that integrates all externally supplied services and those retained ‘in-house’) 
•	External business services (provided by partners who are generally working in another public or private domain)
•	e-Device services (provided by service providers with reach into the environment, business and citizen spaces).
This disaggregated approach to platforms gives rise to a range of interface considerations. As well as the machine-to-machine issues it introduces, the human-to-machine interfaces will also change dramatically as will the society that government serves (the human-to-human interfaces).
Governments will need to focus more on the functional requirements of the platforms it exploits (rather than the technology) and the range of suppliers present within the ecosystem that serves citizens and businesses.
Many of these other players will legitimately utilize the data that their platforms manage and this provides government organizations with a range of privacy and data protection issues that they need to address. This is essential not only to protect users’ privacy but also to ensure their trust as they will otherwise seek to ignore or circumvent the services that government provides for their benefit.

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The Solution
TGF programmes MUST establish a Platform Management Framework, that includes:
•	a clear definition of the functional requirements of the platforms, this should be described at a service level (e.g. the data required at an aggregated level from  e-Device services) and, wherever possible, be consumed as services
•	arrangements for engaging all stakeholders in the use of platforms to deliver government services. This should include consideration of leveraging other programmes e.g. smart meter rollouts, smart city initiatives, low latency/volume network infrastructures, etc. Technical standards provide a basis for many of the technical discussions but it is more important that the social and business implications are actively managed
•	processes for ensuring the privacy and data protection issues are fully addressed
•	ongoing governance and management of the platforms. Where a range of organizations contribute platforms, the ongoing availability of the platforms and the business service(s) must be actively managed to protect the interests of all stakeholders.
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Linkages
To succeed in the successful use of the various platforms, there needs to be close linkages with work on [B5] Stakeholder Collaboration and [S3] Identity and Privacy Management, and the more integrated approach to specifying, purchasing and managing government services recommended at [B7] Supplier Partnership. Further details on the technology and data asset management processes needed to support the approach are set out at [T1] Digital Asset Mapping and Management and [T2] Technology Development and Management. 

2.  Existing Patterns that require additional wording, still to be written, to reflect the new references to platforms and the Platform Management pattern:

B5 Stakeholder Collaboration
B7 Supplier Partnership
S3 Identity and Privacy Management
T1 Digital Asset Mapping and Management
T2 Technology Development and Management

3.  New entries in Terminology pattern required:

e-Device
any piece of equipment that is used as an endpoint for monitoring or alerting purposes (e.g. a sensor or a smart phone)
platform
(a set of) physical, device(s) and the connecting network(s) that are used in the execution of a (group of) business service(s). 

4.  New Conformance Clause required:

MUST have a Platform Management Framework, which includes:
•	a clear definition of the functional requirements of the platforms.
•	arrangements for engaging all stakeholders in the use of platforms to deliver government services.
•	processes for ensuring the privacy and data protection issues are fully addressed.
•	ongoing governance and management of the platforms