Software Architecture for a Transparency Assessment Platform in E-Government Systems
TL;DR
A well-structured software architecture enhances government transparency by ensuring auditable, traceable, and secure public data access and provides a self-diagnostic tool for institutions to assess their transparency maturity based on open government principles.
Abstract
One of the factors that has steadily eroded the legitimacy of public institutions is the recurrence of corruption and irregularities in state management, especially in procurement processes, budget allocation, and public appointments. These phenomena have intensified public mistrust and highlight the urgent need for tools to strengthen transparency in the digital sphere. In this context, e-government platforms have become key mechanisms for promoting openness and accountability in public administration. However, ensuring transparency in electronic procedures remains challenging due to the lack of standardized auditing mechanisms and system interoperability. The objective of this study is to design, implement, and technically evaluate a software architecture for an electronic platform that operationalizes a maturity-based diagnostic model to assess transparency in electronic procedures within public organizations. The proposed platform enables real-time monitoring, centralized data management, automated reporting, and evidence-based transparency assessment. The architecture follows a structured design process aligned with ISO 25010 quality attributes, incorporating microservices, database replication, and load balancing to enhance system performance and security. Performance tests identified bottlenecks in authentication, query processing, and concurrent user load, leading to optimizations such as query indexing, caching, and message queue implementation. The results indicate that a well-structured software architecture enhances government transparency by ensuring auditable, traceable, and secure public data access. The platform provides a self-diagnostic tool for institutions to assess their transparency maturity based on open government principles.