Abstract
This article describes the evolution of the United States Department of the Interior (DOI) Enterprise Architecture (EA) from an under-developed state that primarily focused on the technology architecture to its current position as a model for other agencies. This was evidenced by the high rating of DOI’s EA (4.0 out of 5.0) among all federal EA programs in June 2005 from the Office of Management and Budget. This article presents the evolution of the Department’s EA over the past three years in terms of the development and application of a set of techniques that have facilitated business transformation at a sustainable rate while achieving broad organizational buy-in. This article will also include a detailed examination of various approaches to EA, a discussion of key fundamentals identified during the process and lessons learned.
Keywords
federal enterprise architecture, business transformation, reference model, repository
About the author
Colleen Coggins is the Chief Architect for the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and has overall responsibility the Department’s Enterprise Architecture program, including establishing technology and product standards that are approved for use within DOI. Through Ms. Coggins’ leadership, DOI has been recognized as leader in enterprise architecture as evidenced by DOI winning the ‘Excellence in Enterprise Architecture’ award by the E-Gov Institute in September 2004, and receiving the highest score for enterprise architecture maturity by the Office of Management and Budget in June 2005. Under Ms. Coggins’ tenure DOI was also awarded the ‘Federal Civilian Leadership in Government Transformation Award.’ Ms. Coggins has lead the development of modernization blueprints for key DOI lines of businesses which define a roadmap for minimizing redundant systems, enhancing data sharing, and incorporating proven technologies while reducing costs and improving services to citizens and DOI’s business partners. Prior to serving as the DOI Chief Architect, Ms. Coggins was the Chief Architect for the Bureau of Land Management, whose architecture approach was cited as a “Best Practice” in EA across DOI. Ms. Coggins is married and has three daughters.
References
Office of Management and Budget. Federal Enterprise Architecture Reference Models. May 2005.
Office of Management and Budget. Federal Enterprise Architecture Program, EA Assessment Framework Version 2.0. December 2005.
U.S. Department of the Interior; Interior Information Architecture, Conceptual Architecture Principles. January 2002.
U.S. Department of the Interior; Enterprise Architecture, Business Reference Model, Version 2.0. October 2004.
U.S. Department of the Interior Enterprise Architecture; Technical Reference Model, Version 2.0. October 2004
Journal of Enterprise Architecture