A capability map is a structured, hierarchical view of what an organization or government (Stakeholder) must be able to do to achieve its mission — independent of how it currently does it, which systems it uses, or which departments perform the work.
The unit of "what" is a Capability, a model element defined in the Strategy elements of the ArchiMate Framework. Capabilities are technology‑agnostic, organization‑agnostic, and solution‑agnostic.
For instance for life‑event–based service delivery, a capability map shows the end‑to‑end abilities government needs in order to deliver services organized around state changes in a citizen’s life (birth, moving, retirement, job loss, death, etc.).
Core definition
A capability map is a layered, business‑centric model that identifies and organizes the stable abilities an organization needs to deliver value. It is a governance tool, the power of which lies in aligning stakeholders around what must exist, not what currently exists.
It answers the question: “What must we be able to do to deliver seamless journeys for social actors?”
It does not answer questions such as: who does it? Which system does it? How it is implemented?
A proper capability map has three qualities:
- It is hierarchical
- Level 1: broad domains (Experience, Orchestration, Foundation)
- Level 2: sub‑capabilities (Event Detection, Eligibility, Workflow)
- Level 3: detailed abilities (Rules Engine, Pre‑fill, Consent Management)
- It is stable: Capabilities do not change when:
- a new portal is launched
- a new agency is reorganized
- a new system is procured
- It is implementation‑agnostic.
- It describes enduring abilities, not projects.
- A capability map does not show: processes, systems, data flows, roles, applications
- Those are mapped onto capabilities later.
Source for the page : Copilot, asked on May 24, 2026. Links to other Societal architecture model elements and some modifications by the editor so as to better illustrate the relevance of the concept in public policy cycles at levels international, federal and national.
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