Technology Foundation

1. Digital Sovereignty Through Technical Independence

For a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), technological sovereignty means possessing the sustained capability to build, maintain, and evolve national digital infrastructure without indefinite reliance on foreign vendors or proprietary systems.

Achieving this requires selecting technologies that are modern enough to be efficient while remaining accessible enough to be sustained by local teams over decades, not contract cycles.

This blueprint therefore adopts a Philosophy of Openness. All core systems are based on widely adopted, open-source technologies. This ensures that the State retains full ownership of its code and data, avoids vendor lock-in, and preserves the freedom to change service providers or hosting arrangements without rebuilding foundational systems.

To support this goal, the blueprint defines a default reference stack designed to minimize complexity, maximize local participation, and ensure long-term maintainability.

2. Simplicity as a Strategic Asset

The primary risk to government digital systems is not technical inadequacy, but organizational and operational complexity.

Traditional enterprise technology stacks—designed for populations in the millions—impose high cognitive overhead through verbose frameworks, fragmented tooling, and deep specialization requirements. For a nation of approximately 100,000 citizens, this complexity introduces unnecessary cost, slows delivery, and increases long-term dependence on external consultants.

This blueprint therefore prioritizes simplicity as a strategic advantage. Tools are selected to reduce cognitive load, shorten onboarding time, and allow a small, well-trained local team to safely operate national systems.

Simplicity enables:

• Faster delivery cycles
• Lower training barriers
• Reduced vendor dependence
• Greater institutional ownership of systems

3. Reference Technology Stack (Default Platform)

The following stack is defined as the default reference implementation for citizen-facing and administrative services. It establishes a common baseline for development, training, procurement, and maintenance. Exceptions may be granted where justified by regulatory or domain-specific requirements.

Language: TypeScript

TypeScript is selected as the standard development language across government systems. It combines the flexibility of JavaScript with the safety of static typing and is globally adopted across frontend, backend, and infrastructure tooling. This allows a single language to be used consistently for portals, dashboards, server logic, and data access.

Application Architecture: Full-Stack SvelteKit

The blueprint adopts a consolidated two-tier architecture using full-stack SvelteKit applications. Each functional domain operates as an independent application with server-side logic executing in a secure environment before any database access occurs.

This model reduces unnecessary middleware layers while preserving strong access controls, validation, and auditability. Internal APIs remain available where required for interoperability, but duplication of boilerplate services is avoided for standard workflows.

Database: PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL serves as the authoritative system of record for government data. It provides:

• ACID compliance for data integrity
• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
• Row-Level Security (RLS) to enforce strict data segregation
• Mature replication and recovery capabilities

PostgreSQL enables multiple applications to safely share a single data foundation without compromising security or isolation.

Identity & Access Management: Keycloak

A centralized Single Sign-On (SSO) system is implemented using Keycloak. One identity works across all government services, with permissions scoped by role and context. Authorization decisions are enforced both at the application and database layers, ensuring consistent and auditable access control.

Runtime Environment: Bun

Bun is selected as the default runtime for server-side execution due to its performance efficiency, fast startup times, and simplified tooling. By consolidating build, runtime, and package management into a single toolchain, Bun reduces operational complexity and infrastructure overhead.

4. Architectural Risk Assessment: Centralized vs. Distributed Data

A critical architectural decision is the use of a centralized PostgreSQL database (a modular monolith) rather than separate databases per ministry. While this introduces specific risks, they are mitigated through established engineering practices:

• Single Point of Failure
  Mitigated via High Availability (HA) clustering, replication, and point-in-time recovery. Automatic failover ensures continuity of service.
• Resource Contention (“Noisy Neighbor”)
  Managed through workload isolation, query governance, and vertical scaling on appropriately provisioned hardware.
• Security Blast Radius
  Controlled using database-enforced Row-Level Security. Even if an application is compromised, it cannot access data outside its explicit authorization scope.

Strategic Assessment:
For a SIDS with limited IT human capital, the operational risk of managing multiple independent data platforms exceeds the architectural risk of maintaining a single, well-secured data foundation.

5. Scope Boundaries and Exclusions

This reference architecture applies to:

• Citizen-facing services
• Administrative and regulatory systems
• Financial, registry, licensing, and reporting platforms

Explicit exclusions include:

• Clinical hospital systems
• Police criminal intelligence and records

These domains require specialized infrastructure, hardware integrations, and international compliance frameworks that fall outside the scope of general-purpose government platforms. They should integrate with the national identity and authorization layer but remain operationally independent.

6. Mobile Access Strategy

The blueprint adopts Progressive Web Applications (PWAs) as the default mobile delivery model.

PWAs function across all modern devices and browsers, eliminating the need to maintain separate native applications for different platforms. This ensures inclusivity for citizens using lower-cost devices while enabling rapid updates without app store delays.

A single codebase reduces maintenance cost, accelerates iteration, and allows small teams to focus on quality rather than platform fragmentation.

7. Talent Development and Workforce Transition

The chosen technology foundation directly supports workforce development and long-term sustainability.

Because the reference stack emphasizes simplicity and modern standards, it enables rapid skills acquisition. Students and early-career professionals can become productive contributors in weeks rather than years, supporting a National Coding and Digital Skills Initiative.

Transition Pathways for Existing Public Servants

Not all staff need to become developers. The blueprint defines complementary roles that preserve institutional knowledge while strengthening delivery capacity:

• Business Process Analysts
• Quality Assurance and Testing Leads
• Identity and Access Managers
• Infrastructure and Operations Specialists

This ensures modernization without workforce displacement.

8. Conclusion

This technology foundation is deliberately designed for St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It avoids heavyweight enterprise solutions designed for vastly larger states and instead establishes a pragmatic, durable reference architecture aligned with national scale, talent availability, and fiscal reality.

By prioritizing simplicity, openness, and ownership, this blueprint defines a platform that can evolve over decades—fully controlled, fully understood, and fully maintained by the people it serves.