An Initial Understanding of Legacy Systems Modernisation for Citizen-Centric Digital Government

Abstract

The fourth industrial revolution or also known as Industry 4.0 affects every aspect of industry and economy. The transformation to the new revolution strengthens the organisations’ competitiveness besides boosting their productivity through the use of cutting-edge technology. To reap the benefits of Industry 4.0, the governments of many countries have initiated various innovative public services for their citizens. The digital government, for instance, aims to offer citizen-centric services and encourages close engagement of the citizens through the use of advanced technology. The effort however is hindered by the aging software or information systems known as legacy systems, which unfortunately could not be simply scraped away as they contain critical public administration and citizens information. This constraint necessitates the legacy systems to undergo modernisation so that the systems could still be relevant in delivering the best public services. Although promising, modernisation effort for legacy systems is not straightforward and in fact, little is known about how to go about it. This study reviewed the related models and methods to date in order to build an initial understanding about the key elements of citizen-centric digital government and the expected quality characteristics of modernised legacy systems for citizen-centric digital government. The understanding shall act as the basis for further development on the matter in future.