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Vision

The GovStack Sandbox makes the GovStack approach tangible. It is the key tool to raise awareness and educate people on the benefits of the GovStack approach.

The GovStack Sandbox is a safe environment/playground (you can break everything, but it doesn't have a negative effect) simulating a small governmental e-service system (reference implementation).
The GovStack Sandbox is an architectural approach centered around APIs and microservices to help unlock monolithic legacy systems to increase the speed of IT project delivery, leading to more effective and cost efficient digital governments

The sandbox shall encapsulate the business logic and data necessary to represent multiple GovStack capabilities such as APIs, building blocks, use cases and transaction flows.

The GovStack Sandbox serves Policy Makers, Technical Government Experts, and Technical Vendor Experts with functionalities to lower the barrier of using the GovStack approach or getting involved in GovStack Initiative.

The GovStack Sandbox can also serve as a demo or model “Digital Government Services Platform” for learning and capacity-building purposes.

The GovStack Sandbox provides a unified environment for various digital government ecosystem actors to discover, understand, engage, experiment, innovate, and build digital government solutions using the GovStack platform.

High-level features

  • Software Factory/DevSecOps methodology and tooling

  • Generic Building Block Architecture (combining different BB with Information Mediator into decentral system)

  • Specific e-service use cases (as pre-determined test scenarios to validate the functioning of the BB architecture)

  • Frontend to showcase use cases (citizen-facing, not civil servant facing)

  • Registries and Synthetic Data to enable the use cases

  • Software compliance testing harness (implemented as part of DevSecOps, see Compliance Concept - Demo/Sandbox - GovStack Wiki (atlassian.net))

  • Training material and documentation

Users and User Stories

Policy Maker/Subject Matter Expert (Non-technical)

  • I want to see example results of the service design process described in the “GovStack Implementation Playbook” so that I see proof of the theoretical framework.

  • I want to experience BB-based use cases without any access barrier (login, deployment time) so that I do not lose attention and can access without tech experience.

  • I want to click through sector-diverse use cases so that I can experience the generic nature of the BB approach.

  • I want to click through use cases that are of high importance for my country so that I can convince my colleagues/superiors.

  • I want to see the data flow in the background while clicking through a use case so that I can understand the BB interaction.

  • I want to see interactions with among use cases highlighted so that I can understand dependencies between use cases.

  • I want to see the assumptions and framework conditions (e.g. organizational setup) the use cases/sandbox is based on so that I can compare it with the conditions in my country.

Technical Government Expert

  • Status
    colourYellow
    titleMedium
    I want to create my own instance of the sandbox so that I can analyze the system in a safe environment

.
  • Status
    colourRed
    titlenot in scope
    I want to change

APIs
  • API so that I can test integration with the test environment of my country.

  • Status
    colourYellow
    titleMedium
    I want to be able to

change registries, API calls of use cases, UI
  • access and change source code or any other aspect in a save environment, so that I can showcase a customized deployment to my colleagues/superiors.

  • Status
    colourYellow
    titleMedium
    I want to save my custom sandbox deployment so that I can continue working with it another time.

  • Status
    colourGreen
    titleHigh
    I want to deploy the sandbox with different software products so that I can experience the interchangeability of software components.

  • I want to get recommendations for DevSecOps environment so that I can build up my own BB-based system.

  • Status
    colourRed
    titleLow
    I want to get security recommendations on how to set up such an environment so that I can build a secure testing ground for my country's systems.

  • Status
    colourGreen
    titleHigh
    As an IT expert in

a  Ghanian
  • a Ghanian ministry/contracted IT consultant I want to be able to select for each BB 1 out of 3 Govstack-Compliant applications and deploy them with a particular use-case configuration so that i can understand Govstack interoperability concept and consider using the architecture and methodology in my own digital transformation. (Owner: Taylor Downs )

  • Status
    colourGreen
    titleHigh
    I want to test the performance and other metrics (e.g. latency, network speed, response time, compression, carbon footprint) so that I can evaluate the potential usage of the architecture.

  • Status
    colourYellow
    titleMedium
    I want to see the technical resources of the infrastructure that is needed to assess the sustainability of the BB based approach.

  • Status
    colourGreen
    titleHigh
    I want to experience accessibility and UX so that I can assess the usability for my target group.

  • Status
    colourYellow
    titleMedium
    I want to check the administration and maintainability concept so that I can evaluate the potentially needed Maintenace efforts.

  • Status
    colourGreen
    titleHigh
    I want to read a living documentation (technology stack, licences, architecture diagram,…) so that I can inform myself about details of use software and architecture.

Technical Vendor Expert

  • I want to see how my organization can suggest our software product to be integrated into the GovStack sandbox so that I can showcase our spec-compliant software product.

  • I want to run functional requirements-based test scripts so that I can check the compliance of my software product.

  • I want to deploy a sandbox instance with my software product so that I can advertise my product as a component of the GovStack BB-based system.

Additional Functional Requirements

DevSecOps Environment

From the ToR:

  1. WP_2.1 Developing the software factory using Open Container Initiative (OCI)
    compliant containers and Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF)
    certified Kubernetes to orchestrate and manage the containers.

  2. WP_2.2 Designing the GovStack software factory such that it should be possible to host the software factory in any general-purpose public/ private cloud, or multi-tenant environments, as well as in disconnected and classified
    environments.

  3. WP_2.3 Developing the DevSecOps approach for automating the development and deployment activities as much as possible

  4. WP_2.4 Setting up the tools and process workflows created and executed on the tools to support all the activities throughout the full DevSecOps lifecycle.
    WP_2.5 Setting up of the CI/CD Orchestrator as the central automation engine of the CI/CD pipeline for managing the pipeline creation, modification, execution, and termination.

  5. WP_2.6 Prepare documentation and other assets for reuse of the GovStack
    DevSecOps software factory by other actors.

See also DEV.1. to DEV.10., page 15, ToR

Building Block Architecture

Sources for building blocks (purely Open Source):

  1. ITU Procurements: ID, Payment, (IM), Consent

  2. Ukraine (Registries)

  3. DIGIT (30 possibly components, e.g. workflow, messaging)

  4. UNCTAD (Registries)

  5. GIZ (OpenIMIS, see file below)

  6. SunBird

  7. Typo3 Association

  8. MOSIP (Identity)

  9. Others? Open for suggestions

OpenIMIS Integration concept and work plan

View file
name(openIMIS) GovStackIntegration.pptx

See also SNB.1. to SNB.16., page 17, ToR

See also QLTY.1. to QLTY.13., page 19, ToR

See also HOST.1. to HOST.8., page 19, ToR

Use Cases

The selection of use cases should consider the following criteria:

  1. has been already implemented

  2. has an owner who could describe the user journey in detail

  3. uses as many BB as possible

  4. have interconnections with other use cases

  5. use a core registry (e.g. civil, business, land)

  6. Political priorities (G2P, Social Protection, Gender)

Sources:

DIGIT: Products & Modules - DIGIT URBAN

G2P Connect: common/docs at main · G2P-Connect/common · GitHub

Side products to be produced

  • Onboarding methodology for Building Block suppliers

  • Styleguide

Further Resources

Description of vision, tasks, and deliverables as part of the public tender (February 2022):

View file
nameSandbox ToR-1.1.pdf

Sketch-up by the technical committee: Sandbox Procurement and Tech Committee Overlap - Technical - GovStack Wiki (atlassian.net)

Notes from the Kick-Off Session with GoFore:

View file
nameSandbox Kick-off.pdf

Sketches

Mocl-up of a citizen portal:

Govstack citizen portal guideline.pptx - Google Präsentationen

Action Items