Evaluating and enhancing the IT architecture (enterprise architecture) maturity in Lithuanian public sector institutions

Problem

Imagine the state and its institutions as a large complex Lego sets. “Lego City” has various sets – fire stations, police stations, train stations, residential buildings, etc. Each institution looks at its activities and its digitization only from the perspective of its set, and the responsible institution must see how all these sets connect and function with each other. 

Each block corresponds to certain operational processes, data, information system, information technology (hereinafter – IT) platform or IT tool, which, when properly connected, ensure that this structure works properly. In order for us to have a clear organizational IT architecture, Lego instructions and blocks must meet certain standards so that we can use them more easily, if necessary, connect with each other. Designing and managing an organizational IT architecture is about creating a plan for how these Lego bricks should fit together. The right architecture ensures that all the building blocks (i.e. IT systems, business processes) fit together and work together seamlessly, rather than creating chaos.  

Generally speaking, organizational IT architecture shows what this Lego set is made of and how the blocks in it are connected to each other (the self-is situation). The formation and management of the organizational IT architecture is a plan on how to connect new blocks to the existing structure properly, without creating chaos, or abandoning the existing blocks so that this structure can be improved, with the aim of making it not only better perform the functions already intended for it, but could also pursue new strategic goals and be resistant to environmental changes (to-be situation). A proper and detailed instruction plan helps ensure that institutions can easily understand how this system works and how to operate it properly without dismantling the entire structure.

The Law on Management of State Information Resources of the Republic of Lithuania already establishes the concept and principles of formation of the national organizational IT architecture, but  it is necessary to prepare instructions on how to form and manage this organizational IT architecture so that state institutions’ investments in information technology are rationally used and directed to the implementation of the strategic goals of state management and preparation for future challenges. In that way IT would be more resilient and more prepared. 

Currently, the maturity of organizational IT architecture formation practices in institutions is not the same – institutions that are more advanced in the field of digitization and have more capabilities in the field of IT are ahead of institutions where, for various reasons, less attention has been paid to digitization and its management. And when you need to see the entire structure at the state level, this unevenness creates challenges. 

Goal

The aim of the project is to propose measures to gradually form an optimal organizational IT architecture model for Lithuania and prepare a brief description of their use in practice.

Participants

2023/24

Aurelija Požytė Grinė

2023/24

Paulius Bagdonas