New GovSpecs Publication Expands the Toolkit for Digital Government Services

Today GovStack, a leading consortium of global organizations, released a new version of the GovSpecs.

Earlier this year, we published version 1.0 which included 9 foundational building blocks, associated reference use cases and core workflows, and the interconnections between them. With this latest addition, we are expanding the toolkit to include more foundational building blocks, more examples of services, and new UI/UX guidance to ensure digital services are designed with users in mind.  

We create these resources with the aim of helping governments and technology developers to create cost-effective and vendor-agnostic solutions and reach more people with e-government services.  

In this new release you will find:

3 new building blocks

• Geographic information services 
• e-Marketplace 
• e-Signature 

10 reference use cases

• Telemedicine  
• Smart Vaccination  
• Pandemic Response  
• Remote Learning  
• Business Taxation  
• Inclusive Financial Services for SMEs  
• Anticipatory Cash Transfers  
• Market Linkage  
• Disaster Management  

• Rural Advisory Service for Farmers 

UI/UX guidelines and more!

Also included in this release are updates to Wave 1 and 2 building blocks, which encompasses updates to API testing, improved clarity and consistency across building blocks, and updates to security specifications. These new additions allow us to continue progressing towards our goal of providing a common set of reference use cases, technical building blocks, and associated tools to accelerate and improve digital system design and implementation. 

You can review these updates in the Release Notes.  

The GovStack initiative is expert-driven and community-based, with participation from stakeholders across the globe. To reflect the active and dynamic nature of GovStack, we are moving from a version-based structure (version 1.0) to a date-based structure (23Q4). This new naming format will allow users to keep pace as the framework grows and adapts over time. The specifications can be used by developers; maintainers of both Digital Public Goods (DPGs) and commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software; and government CIOs and CTOs as they build digital services. 

GovStack often works together with country governments to incorporate these building blocks into national digital strategies. Through the digital building block approach, governments can create and modify digital platforms, services, and applications while also minimizing cost, time, and resource requirements. 

Other related GovStack resources: 

The GovTest sandbox offering provides a demo environment for digital teams from governments and service providers to learn and test how to technically implement the GovStack approach. 

Learn more about GovStack’s work with country governments on our Global Showcase. 

Discover how use cases, products, and Building Blocks all connect on the GovExchange. 

Not familiar with building blocks? Get a 90-second primer to what building blocks are and why they matter in this short video.