On the benefit of 3-tier SOA architecture promoting information sharing among TMS systems and Brazilian e- Government Web Services: A CT-e case study

Technological advances regarding software integration processes have revolutionized the communication between government and society, which are increasingly based on information and communication technologies (ICTs). Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) has emerged originating new prospects for system integration within organizations and external partners, providing essential information for decision-making process. Brazilian e-Government initiatives has introduced as a national electronic document model known as Electronic Transportation Knowledge (CT-e), looking for simplifying additional obligations of taxpayers and, at the same time, allowing real-time monitoring of cargo transportation services provided by the Revenue. Nonetheless, there is a major challenge that prevents Transportation Management Systems (TMS) and Government to be benefited by this innovation, due to their distinct platforms and databases that prevent information exchange between them. This paper proposes an architectural solution to integrate TMS systems with CT-e Web Service applying concepts of SOA and N-tier architecture. Through a real case study of a large Cargo carrier, we report an increase in transportation knowledge management, speeding up in the communication and data validation process and several costs reduction including paper, printing, document storage and those involved in the necessary logistics that is needed to recover such documents.