Enterprise Architecture in small municipalities

The purpose of the project is to explore the conditions for a municipality-wide work in the area of Enterprise Architecture in the municipalities of Härnösand and Timrå. The goal is for the study to start of the municipalities' work with an implementation of an Enterprise Architecture function.

The project has a number of related goals.

The goal is for the municipalities to begin joint work towards a municipality-wide and joint EA function. This was achieved by laying the foundation for the municipalities' continued work with the design of a enterprise architecture function by increasing the knowledge of both management and employees regarding the area. The starting point is an increased understanding of the organisation’s needs, as well as an increased and broadened knowledge of the components that build an overall enterprise architecture.
The goal for the university is to gain in-depth knowledge of municipal organizations' digitization and organization development, which can form the basis for further research as well as training and development efforts.

In the project, we will start from three main steps: (1) current situation, (2) new situation, and (3) development of a roadmap.

Understanding the current situation
In this step, an understanding of what the enterprise architecture looks like in the two municipalities by conducting 2x10 interviews with key individuals in both municipalities. This also includes an element of external monitoring via a survey that is sent out to all of Sweden's 290 municipalities. Here we expect to get an overview of needs, challenges, value-creating processes, and solutions related to Enterprise Architecture from the country's municipalities as a whole, but also about differences between municipalities based on size.
Exploring the future
In this step, we will hold a workshop with each municipality plus a joint workshop. The idea is to gather goals and expectations for an architectural function and above all for a common architectural function. Through this collection, we will explore what benefit and what value an architectural function is expected to provide for the organizations' value-creating processes. The format and content of the workshops is planned in collaboration with the municipalities, but a preliminary plan is to first carry out a workshop in each municipality focused on collecting problems and wishes. The results from these workshops then form the basis for a joint and more visionary workshop where both expectations and impact goals are discussed, determined and corroborated.
Production of roadmap
In the third step, the municipalities take a more active role and the project researchers a more facilitating role. The ambition is for the municipalities to organize a municipality-wide working group, in which the project's researchers also participate. The working group works on the basis of the results from previous project steps to produce a roadmap for continued work with the implementation of a municipality-wide Enterprise Architecture function and a basis for decisions for implementation in each municipality, including a intention of collaboration. The working group is also working on the issue of designing a future common EA framework. The idea is not to develop a complete framework but to agree on the scope and determine a plan for joint development efforts.

The project's researchers work with facilitating contacts with external parties and conducting workshops focusing on frameworks and good examples, compiling existing frameworks and success factors, and coordinating three meetings of the municipal working group.