The Shape of Interoperability: Reviewing and Characterizing a Central Area within eGovernment Research

Interoperability has been discussed and studied for more than a decade. While early discussions were very conceptual, interoperability is increasingly seen as one of the key enablers of the promised benefits from eGovernment. Consequently, and not surprisingly, a considerable amount of research has been published related to interoperability. However, a conceptual model of the interoperability domain is currently missing. We thus propose such a model based on an extensive review of a subset of the eGovernment literature published in highly ranked information systems, public administration and eGovernment journals. The model outlines and discusses actors, activities, contextual factors, effects and evaluation related to interoperability. The resulting framework can be used as a common reference to assist in the development of cumulative research related to interoperability.