Analyzing Processes for E-Government Application Development: The Emergence of Process Definition Languages

E-government developers need to clearly understand processes they are automating and ensure that automated processes are defect-free. This paper introduces readers to Process Definition Language (PDL) technology that provides rigor and precision over traditional forms of process documentation. We report our experience documenting license renewal processes for application in the Mass.gov portal. The PDL helped analysts identify inconsistencies and errors in natural language-based documents that were guiding system development. This case provides an initial demonstration of the benefits PDLs can bring to e-government application development. We conclude with a discussion of the current limitations of PDLs and a discussion of computer-based analysis approaches that will likely emerge in the future. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800HAWORTH. E-mail address: Website: © 2004 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]