IMAPS is an online survey designed as a self-assessment tool to assist public service owners to evaluate, consider and improve all key interoperability aspects of their digital public service (legal, semantic, organisational, or technical). Ultimately, they can view and monitor the service’s compliance with the New European Interoperability Framework (EIF).
Not only can IMAPS be used to assess the interoperability of any public service – from open data portals, and e-voting platforms, to public procurement services, and much more – it is applicable to services at all levels of government (international, national, regional and local).
IMAPS looks at three different service areas:
- Service Delivery (D) – Delivery of the digital public service;
- Service Consumption (C) – Consumption of reusable machine-to-machine services from other public administrations and businesses. This can include the consumption of functionalities, base registry information and security services;
- Service Management (B) – Controlling and monitoring the process flow related to service interactions with the external domain from trigger to outcome. This area includes Service Management aspects such as enterprise architecture, procurement, and service level management.
IMAPS defines four levels of interoperability maturity:
- Ad hoc (level 1): Poor interoperability – the digital public service cannot be considered interoperable;
- Opportunistic (level 2): Fair interoperability – the digital public service implements some elements of interoperability best practices;
- Essential (level 3): Essential interoperability – the digital public service implements the essential best practices for interoperability;
- Sustainable (level 4): Good interoperability – all relevant interoperability best practices are implemented by the digital public service;
- Seamless (level 5): Interoperability leading practice – the digital public service is a leading interoperability practice example for others.
Upon completion of the IMAPS survey, the solution provides:
- An interoperability maturity score which captures the current maturity level of your digital public service;
- A set of recommendations on how to improve the interoperability maturity;
- A set of interoperability good practices and standards;
- A confirmation of conformance of the digital public service with the European Interoperability Framework (EIF).
Specialised versions of IMAPS are available to assess legal, semantic, organisational and technical interoperability aspects of a digital public service (i.e. LIMAPS, SIMAPS, OIMAPS, TIMAPS).
More information: https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/collection/imaps-interoperability-maturity-assessment-public-service/about
The latest release version of IMAPS (v2.0.0) and the related documentation is available here.