Gap Analysis Methodology for Identifying Future Ict Related eGovernment Research Topics – Case of “Ontology and Semantic Web” in the Context of eGovernment

Modern ICT enables governments all over the world to improve their operation in order to become more efficient and effective. Despite of all possible benefits of using modern ICT, governments still struggle with the problems of inefficiency of their operation. eGovernment is being discussed in many contexts. Expectations of research and implementation in this field were high. However, many investments have not met the visions and reached the maturity aimed at. What are the deficiencies of current developments in eGovernment? What is the role of research in advancing the field? In an European Commission funded project, eGovRTD2020, eGovernment research is being investigated in terms of current state of play and future needs of eGovernment research based on visionary scenarios of governments using modern ICT in 2020 for their service provision and interaction with their constituency (citizens, companies, other governments, etc.). To understand the future needs of eGovernment research, a structured methodology of analyzing the gaps of current research in respect to the future needs has been developed. This paper presents the gap analysis methodology with the example of identified gap and future research theme “semantic web and ontology in the context of eGovernment”.