FEAF – Framework Thinking

FEAF

Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework

1. Overview: FEAF, an EA that strategically aligns US federal IT investment and enables reuse across agencies

    flowchart LR
    A["IT investment scattered<br/>across agencies —<br/>duplication, inefficiency, no alignment"] --"5 reference models,<br/>integrated EA framework"--> B["FEAF<br/>federal integrated architecture"] --"Sharing, reuse,<br/>performance measurement"--> C["Improved government service quality,<br/>more efficient IT investment"]

    style A fill:#FFEBEE,stroke:#D32F2F,color:#000
    style B fill:#E3F2FD,stroke:#1976D2,color:#000
    style C fill:#E8F5E9,stroke:#388E3C,color:#000

Definition: An EA framework established by the US federal government to prevent duplicate IT investment across agencies and align business goals with IT. It standardizes architecture across government through five reference models — Performance, Business, Service Component, Data, and Technology.

Characteristics: (Sharing and reuse) Optimizes federal IT investment by identifying shared services and reusable components. (CPIC linkage) Linked to the OMB (Office of Management and Budget)-led federal IT investment review (CPIC), serving as the basis for budget allocation. (Public-sector specialization) Unlike TOGAF or DoDAF, it is specialized for government and the public sector — centered on citizen service delivery and inter-agency cooperation.

2. FEAF’s core structure

A. The five reference models

    flowchart TD
    subgraph R1["　"]
        direction LR
        PRM["Performance RM<br/>Measures government<br/>performance goals —<br/>KPI and metrics framework"]
        BRM["Business RM<br/>Classifies government<br/>functions/services —<br/>basis for cross-agency function sharing"]
        SRM["Service Component RM<br/>Manages a catalog of<br/>reusable IT service components"]
    end
    subgraph R2["　"]
        direction LR
        DRM["Data RM<br/>Common federal data structure —<br/>data sharing across agencies"]
        TRM["Technical RM<br/>Standard technology stack/platform —<br/>interoperability criteria"]
    end

    style PRM fill:#1E3A5F,stroke:#1E3A5F,color:#fff
    style BRM fill:#E3F2FD,stroke:#1976D2,color:#000
    style SRM fill:#F3E5F5,stroke:#7B1FA2,color:#000
    style DRM fill:#FFF3E0,stroke:#F57C00,color:#000
    style TRM fill:#E8F5E9,stroke:#388E3C,color:#000
    style R1 fill:none,stroke:none
    style R2 fill:none,stroke:none

Reference model	Core purpose	Key content	Application
Performance RM (PRM)	Establishes a performance-measurement framework for federal IT investment	Performance metrics, KPIs, outcome-linkage structure	Basis for linking outcomes during IT budget review
Business RM (BRM)	Standardizes classification of government functions and services	Service areas, business function classification	Identify and consolidate duplicate functions across agencies
Service Component RM (SRM)	Catalog of reusable IT service components	Common services, support services, access channels	Use shared services instead of building individually
Data RM (DRM)	Standardizes the common federal data structure	Data description, context, and sharing framework	Standard for data exchange between agencies
Technical RM (TRM)	Defines the federal standard technology stack and platforms	Standard technologies, interfaces, security specifications	Ensures interoperability and prevents vendor lock-in

B. Establishing public-sector EA and its linkage elsewhere

    flowchart LR
    subgraph US["US FEAF application framework"]
        direction TB
        U1["OMB Circular A-130<br/>federal IT management policy"]
        U2["CPIC<br/>Capital Planning and<br/>Investment Control"]
        U3["FEA reference models<br/>architecture based on the 5 RMs"]
    end

    subgraph KR["Korea's public-sector EA linkage"]
        direction TB
        K1["Electronic Government Act<br/>legal basis for public informatization"]
        K2["Government-wide EA<br/>led by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety"]
        K3["Informatization project review<br/>Ministry of Economy and Finance / MOIS"]
    end

    US --"Methodology reference,<br/>model application"--> KR

    style US fill:#E3F2FD,stroke:#1976D2,color:#1E3A5F
    style KR fill:#E8F5E9,stroke:#388E3C,color:#1B5E20

FEAF vs. Korea’s government-wide EA

Comparison	FEAF (US)	Government-wide EA (Korea)
Governing body	OMB (Office of Management and Budget)	Ministry of the Interior and Safety
Legal basis	Clinger-Cohen Act, OMB A-130	Electronic Government Act, Framework Act on Informatization Promotion
Reference models	5 RMs (PRM, BRM, SRM, DRM, TRM)	Government-wide EA reference model (localized adaptation)
Budget linkage	Directly tied to IT budget allocation via CPIC	Informatization project review and feasibility study
Maturity	Mandatory across all federal agencies	Centered on central agencies, expanding to local governments

3. Expected benefits and practical application of adopting FEAF

Category	Key expected benefit	Practical application
Preventing duplicate investment	Identify and consolidate common functions across agencies using BRM/SRM	Review shared-service reuse potential before starting new informatization projects
Aligning performance	PRM clarifies the link between IT investment and policy goals	Justify investment based on KPIs when requesting budget
Interoperability	TRM/DRM standardize data and system linkage across agencies	Reference DRM when designing shared administrative-data platforms
Public-service innovation	Supports citizen-centric integrated service design and digital transformation	Establish one-stop civil-service architecture in conjunction with government-wide EA

TOGAF ITA (Information Technology Architecture)