EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORK (EIF) FOR …4.4.3 Change management 4.5 Semantic interoperability 4.5.1 The EU Semantic Interoperability Initiative 4.6 Technical interoperability

391

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EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORK (EIF)

FOR EUROPEAN PUBLIC SERVICES

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392 anexo xIII

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Introduction to the European Interoperability Framework

1.1 Purpose and legal framework

1.2 Definitions

1.2.1 European public service

1.2.2 Interoperability

1.2.3 Interoperability framework

1.3 Theneedsandbenefitsofinteroperability

1.4 The EIF’s recommendations

1.5 Context

1.5.1 The political and historical context of interoperability in the EU

1.5.2 Interoperability frameworks

1.6 European public service scenarios

1.6.1 Scenario 1: Direct interaction between businesses/citizens and a foreign administration

1.6.2 Scenario 2: Exchange of information between administrations on business/citizen requests

1.6.3 Scenario 3: Exchange of information between national administrations and EU institutions

1.6.4 Examples of European public services

1.7 Structure of the document

2 Underlying principles of European public services

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Underlying principle 1: Subsidiarity and proportionality

2.3 Underlying principle 2: User-centricity

2.4 Underlying principle 3: Inclusion and accessibility

2.5 Underlying principle 4: Security and privacy

2.6 Underlying principle 5: Multilingualism

2.7 Underlyingprinciple6:Administrativesimplification

2.8 Underlying principle 7: Transparency

2.9 Underlying principle 8: Preservation of information

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393EuropEan IntEropErabIlIty FramEwork For EuropEan publIc SErvIcES

2.10 Underlying principle 9: Openness

2.11 Underlying principle 10: Reusability

2.12 Underlying principle 11: Technological neutrality and adaptability

2.13 Underlyingprinciple12:Effectivenessandefficiency

3 The conceptual model for public services

3.1 Introduction

3.2 The key concepts of the conceptual model

3.2.1 Basic public services

3.2.2 Secure data exchange layer

3.2.3 Aggregate services layer

3.3 Applications of the conceptual model

3.3.1 Cross-border example

3.3.2 Cross-sectoral example

3.3.3 Cross-administrative boundary example

4 Interoperability levels

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Political context

4.3 Legal interoperability

4.4 Organisational interoperability

4.4.1 Business process alignment

4.4.2 Organisational relationships

4.4.3 Change management

4.5 Semantic interoperability

4.5.1 The EU Semantic Interoperability Initiative

4.6 Technical interoperability

5 Interoperability agreements

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Assessingandselectingformalisedspecifications

5.2.1 Specifications,opennessandreuse

5.3 Contribution to the standardisation process

6 Interoperability governance

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394 anexo xIII

INTROdUCTION TO ThE EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORK

1.1 Purpose and legal framework

The purpose of the European Interoperability Framework (EIF) is:• to promote and support the delivery of European public services by fos-

tering cross-border and cross-sectoral1 interoperability; • to guide public administrations in their work to provide European public

services to businesses2 and citizens; • to complement and tie together the various National Interoperability

Frameworks (NIFs) at European level.Thisnon-technicaldocumentaddressesall those involvedindefining,

designing and implementing European public services.The EIF should be taken into account when making decisions on Eu-

ropean public services that support the implementation of EU policy initia-tives. The EIF should also be considered when establishing public services that in the future may be reused as part of European public services.

The EIF is maintained under the ISA3programme,inclosecooperationbetweenthe Member States and the Commission. They work together in the spirit of Article 170of theTreatyontheFunctioningof theEuropeanUnion.UnderthisArticle,tohelpachievetheobjectivesreferredtoinArticle26concerningtheinternalmarket,the European Union should help establish and develop trans-European networks and promote the interconnection and interoperability of national networks as well as access to such networks.

The EIF contributes to the better functioning of the internal market by increasing interoperability among European public administrations.

1.2Definitions1.2.1 European public serviceIn this document, European public service

means ‘a cross-border public sector service supplied by public administra-tions4,eithertooneanotherortoEuropeanbusinessesandcitizens’.

Although not all European public services are supported by information and communicationtechnologies(ICT),mostwillrelyontheinterlinkingof softwaresystems which are mainly custom-made5 and developed by public administrations.1Sectoristobeunderstoodasapolicyarea,e.g.customs,police,eHealth,environment,agriculture,etc.2InthecontextoftheEIF,theconceptofbusinessesincludesnongovernmentalorganisations,not-for-profitorganisations,etc.3InteroperabilitysolutionsforEuropeanpublicadministrations(ISA),OJL260,3.10.2009,p.20,2009http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:260:SOM:EN:HTML.4Referstoeithernationalpublicadministrations(atanylevel)orbodiesactingontheirbehalf,and/orEUpublicadministrations.5Publicadministrationsneedcustom-madesoftwaremeetingtheirspecificrequirements(taxadministration,policecooperation)tocomplement

commercial‘offtheshelf’software(operatingsystems,databasesystems,textprocessors,spreadsheets,etc.)inordertocoveralltheirneeds.

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1.2.2 Interoperability The EIF addresses interoperabilityintheveryspecificcontextof provi-

ding European public services.Although the provision of European public services almost always invol-

vesexchangingdatabetweenICTsystems,interoperabilityisawidercon-cept and encompasses the ability of organisations to work together towards mutuallybeneficialandcommonlyagreedgoals.

Therefore,thefollowingdefinitionisusedintheEIF6:‘Interoperability, within the context of European public service deli-

very,istheabilityof disparateanddiverseorganisationstointeracttowardsmutuallybeneficialandagreedcommongoals,involvingthesharingof in-formationandknowledgebetweentheorganisations,throughthebusinessprocesses they support, bymeansof the exchangeof databetween theirrespectiveICTsystems.’

Interoperability is multilateral by nature and is best understood as a shared value of a community.

1.2.3 Interoperability framework‘An interoperability framework is an agreed approach to interoperabili-

ty for organisations that wish to work together towards the joint delivery of publicservices.Withinitsscopeof applicability,itspecifiesasetof commonelements such as vocabulary, concepts, principles, policies, guidelines, re-commendations,standards,specificationsandpractices.’1.3 The needs and benefitsof interoperability

Interoperability is both a prerequisite for and a facilitator of efficientdelivery of European public services. Interoperability addresses the need for:

• cooperation among public administrations with the aim to establish public servi-ces;

• exchanginginformationamongpublicadministrationstofulfillegalrequire-ments or political commitments;

• sharing and reusing information among public administrations to increase administrativeefficiencyandcutredtapeforcitizensandbusinesses.

The result is:• improved public service delivery to citizens and businesses by facilitating the

one-stop-shop delivery of public services; • lowercostsforpublicadministrations,businessesandcitizensduetotheeffi-

cient delivery of public services.

6Article2of DecisionNo922/2009/ECof theEuropeanParliamentandof theCouncilof 16September2009oninteroperabilitysolutionsforEuropeanpublicadministrations(ISA)OJL260,03.10.2009,p.20.

7Anecosystemisasystemwhosemembersbenefitfromeachother’sparticipationviasymbioticrelationships(positive-sumrelationships).

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396 anexo xIII

1.4TheEIF’srecommendationsTheEIFprovidesrecommendationsthataddressspecificinteroperabili-

ty requirements. Implementing the recommendations will create an environ-ment conducive to public administrations establishing new European public services. This will help cultivate a European public service ecosystem7with people familiar with interoperability, organisations ready to collaborate,andcommonframeworks, toolsandservices facilitatingtheestablishmentof European public services.1.5 Context

The EIF is one of a series of interoperability initiatives that aim to sup-port the establishment of European public services.

Thefigurebelowshowstherelationshipbetweenthese initiatives: theEuropeanInteroperabilityStrategy(EIS),theEIF,theEuropeanInterope-rabilityGuidelines,Europeaninteroperabilityservicesandtoolsandactivities to establish European public services.

SUPPORT

Services & Tools Services & Tools

Guidelines

Strategy Governance

Implementation

Operation

Design

INTEROPERABILITY INITIATIVES EUROPEAN PUBLIC SERVICES ACTIVITIES

EIF scope Frameworks

Interoperability initiatives supporting activities to establish European public services

Figure 11

There should be a systematic approach to governing interoperability at EUlevel,withspecificgoalsset.Tothisend,theEuropeanInteroperabilityStrategy (EIS)8 providesabasisforanorganisational,financialandopera-

8ThestrategydefinesacommonvisionforEuropeanpublicservicedelivery,andasetof focusedactionsatboth

national and EU level to improve interoperability for public services in Europe.

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tional framework to support cross-border and/or cross-sectoral interope-rability. The EIS steers the EIF and all other associated efforts by setting strategic priorities and objectives.

The purpose of the EIF is to help design European public services. The European Interoperability Guidelines help establish European in-

teroperability services and tools that underpin the delivery of European public services.1.5.1 The political and historical context of interoperability in the EU

ToimplementEuropeanpublicservices,thepublicsectormustaddressmany challenges. Cross-border and cross-sectoral interoperability is seen as a key factor in overcoming these challenges.

Achieving cross-border interoperability is a political priority in Euro-pean public service initiatives. The provision of seamless cross-border pu-blic services (for which interoperability is a prerequisite) has the potential to have a high impact on businesses and citizens.

TheEUinitiativesshownbelowillustrate, fromahistoricalperspecti-ve,thesupportprovidedatpoliticallevelforinteroperabilityamongpublicadministrations.

1993 Delors paper

1994 Bangemann Report

2000 Lisbon strategy for growth and employment

2002 eEurope 2005 initiative

2001 eGovernment Ministerial conference in Brussels

2003 eGovernment Ministerial conference in Como

2005 Manchester Ministerial Declaration

2007 Lisbon Ministerial Declaration

2007 i2010 initiative

2006 Commission Communication on Interoperability for Pan- European eGovernment Services

2005 ModinisIDM Programme

2005 eEurope 2005 Action plan

2006 Service Directive (2006/123/EC)

2004 Public Procurement Directive (2004/18/EC)

2003 Public Sector Information Directive (2003/98/EC)

1998 Standards Directive (1998/34/EC)

2004 EIF V1

2004 Decision 2004/387/EC adopting the IDABC Programme

Legend Blue - EU Directives Red - Political Initiatives

2007 INSPIRE Directive (2007/2/EC)

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

2010 EIF V2

2010 Europe 2020 Strategy 2009

Decision 2009/922/EC Adopting the ISA Programme

2010 Digital Agenda

2009 Malmö Ministerial Declaration

Timeline of EU initiatives concerning interoperability

Figure 12

1.5.2 Interoperability frameworks Manypublicadministrationsalreadyhave,orareintheprocessof de-

veloping,frameworksaddressinginteroperabilityissuesatnational,regional

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398 anexo xIII

or local level. The scope of these frameworks is restricted to the jurisdic-tionswithinwhich theyhavebeendeveloped.However,Europeanpublicadministrations must be ready to work together to deliver European public services to meet the needs of businesses and citizens.

It is important that interoperability frameworks used by public admi-nistrations,bothnational(NIFs)andEuropean(EIF),arealignedasregardshow to achieve interoperability so that Member States can agree on the concrete implementation of the EIF recommendations when establishing European public services.

Bytheirnature,NIFsare,ingeneral,moredetailedandoftenprescrip-tivethantheEIF,whichoperatesatahigherlevelof abstraction,asa‘metaframework’and,inlinewiththesubsidiarityprinciple,doesnotimposespe-cificchoicesorobligationsontheMemberStates.9

Recommendation 1. Public administrations should align their interoperability frameworks with the European Interoperability Framework to take into account the European dimension of public service delivery.

AstheEIFandtheNIFsarecomplementary,theEuropeanCommissionsupportsaNationalInteroperabilityFrameworkObservatory(NIFO),whosemain objective is to provide information about national interoperability fra-meworks to allow public administrations to share experiences and knowledge.

1.6 European public service scenariosInteroperability as covered by the EIF comes into play in a number of

interaction scenarios. European public services covered by the EIF can be sub-dividedintocross-borderinteractiontypes,asthefollowingdiagramllustrates.

Member State X

Administration

Member State Y

A2C

Business A2B

Citizen

Administration

EU Administration

A2B

A2C

A2A

A2A A2A

First type

Second type

A2A: Administration to Administration A2B: Administration to Business A2C: Administration to Citizen

Figure 13

9Theprincipleof subsidiarityappliesnotjusttotheEUvis-à-visMemberStates,butinsomecaseswithinMember

Statesthemselves,atfederal/nationalleveloratotherlevels(e.g.regional,provincial,countyandmunicipality).

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Thefirsttypeisdirectinteractionbetweenbusinessesorcitizensfromone Member State and public administrations in another Member State and/oranEUadministration(A2BandA2C)thatdeliverthepublicserviceto those businesses or citizens.

The second type is interaction between administrations from many Member States or EU administrations (A2A). This may support administra-tions in serving businesses or citizens (A2B and A2C).

1.6.1 Scenario 1: direct interaction between businesses/citizensandaforeignadministration

Member State X

Administration

Member State Y

A2B Business

A2C Citizen

Figure 14

Example: a citizen from Member State Y taking up a job in destination Member State X has to complete a number of formalities in Member State X.

1.6.2 Scenario 2: Exchange of Information between administrationsonbusiness/citizenrequests

Member State X

Administration

Member State Y

A2A Administration

Citizen or Business A2C or A2B

Figure 15

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400 anexo xIII

Example: a service provider established in Member State X wishing to establish in Member State Y submits a request for establishment in Member State Y. To process his request and avoid asking the required information to theserviceprovider,administrativebodiesinbothMemberStateXandYcould exchange information directly. This requires interoperability between the Member States involved.

1.6.3 Scenario 3: Exchange of information between national adminis-trations and EU institutions

Member State X

Administration

Member State Y

Administration

Member State Z

Administration

EU Administrations

Administrations , Business and Citizens

Member State X

Administration

Member State Y

Administration

Member State Z

Administration

EU Administration

Administrations , Businesses and Citizens

Figure 16

Typically,thisscenarioinvolvesnetworksof administrationsinagivensectorwhereEUlawrequiresMemberStateadministrationstocollect,ex-change,andshareinformationwitheachother,and/orwithEUinstitutionsand agencies.

Examples include cases where Member States provide information and statistics toacompetentEuropeanauthority,whichthendisseminates theaggregated information to the public concerned.

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1.6.4 Examples of European public services

A non-exhaustive list of examples10 illustrates generic scenarios for the European public services outlined above:

Birth and marriage certificatesDriving licencesPassports, visasResidence and working permitsCar registration

Certificates and licenses (A2C)

Online TaxTaxes for citizens (A2C)

Enrolment in schools and universitiesStudy grants

Education (A2C)

Start-up of a companyPublic procurementRegistration of patents, trademarks, designsConsumer protection, labelling, packaging

Business development (A2B, A2A)

ServiceSector/Area

Birth and marriage certificatesDriving licencesPassports, visasResidence and working permitsCar registration

Certificates and licenses (A2C)

Online TaxTaxes for citizens (A2C)

Enrolment in schools and universitiesStudy grants

Education (A2C)

Start-up of a companyPublic procurementRegistration of patents, trademarks, designsConsumer protection, labelling, packaging

Business development (A2B, A2A)

ServiceSector/Area

Tax for businessesVAT refunding Information on tax incentivesDeclaration of excise goods

Supply of statistical data(A2B, A2A)

Information on Customs dutiesCustoms declarations

Customs (A2C, A2B, A2A)

Recognition of qualifications and diplomasJob search

Work (A2C)

Information service for social security systemsUnemployment benefitsChild allowances PensionsPublic health insurance

Social security (A2C)

ServiceSector/Area

Tax for businessesVAT refunding Information on tax incentivesDeclaration of excise goods

Supply of statistical data(A2B, A2A)

Information on Customs dutiesCustoms declarations

Customs (A2C, A2B, A2A)

Recognition of qualifications and diplomasJob search

Work (A2C)

Information service for social security systemsUnemployment benefitsChild allowances PensionsPublic health insurance

Social security (A2C)

ServiceSector/Area

1.7 Structure of the documentInthefollowingchapters,theEIFaddressesanumberof keyissuesfor

theefficientandeffectivedeliveryof Europeanpublicservices.Chapter 2, dealing with the ‘underlying principles’, sets out general

principlesunderpinningEuropeanpublicservices.Theyreflecttheexpecta-tionsof citizens,businessesandpublicadministrationswithregardtopublicservice delivery.

Chapter 3 presents the ‘conceptualmodel for public services’. It su-ggestsanorganisingprinciple fordesigningEuropeanpublic services, fo-cusing on basic services that can be aggregated to form aggregated services and help establish other European public services in the future.

Chapter4on‘interoperabilitylevels’coversthedifferentinteroperabi-lity aspects to be addressed when designing a European public service and provides a common vocabulary for discussing issues that arise.

10Studyonstakeholderrequirementsforpan-EuropeaneGovernmentServices,FinalReportv1.3,providingarankinganddescriptionof variouspan-EuropeaneGovernmentservices(see:http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/servlets/Docc7f6.pdf ?id=19649).

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402 anexo xIII

Chapter 5 presents an approach to facilitate cooperation among public administrations to provide a given European public service by introducing concepts of ‘interoperability agreements’, formalised specifications andopenspecifications.

Chapter6on‘interoperabilitygovernance’setsoutwhat isneededtoensure interoperability over time when delivering a European public service and to coordinate interoperability activities across administrative levels to support the establishment of European public services.

2. UNdERLYING PRINCIPLES OF EUROPEAN PUBLIC SERVICES2.1 Introduction

This chapter sets out general principles of good administration that are relevant to the process of establishing European public services. They des-cribe the context in which European public services are decided and imple-mented.Theycomplementoneanotherregardlessof theirdifferentnatures,e.g.political,legalortechnical.

The twelve underlying principles of the EIF can be broken down into three categories:

• ThefirstprinciplesetsthecontextforEUactiononEuropeanpublicservices;• Thenextgroupof underlyingprinciplesreflectgenericuserneedsandexpec-

tations (2-8);• The last group provides a foundation for cooperation among public adminis-

trations (9-12).

2.2 Underlying principle 1: Subsidiarity and proportionality Thefirstunderlyingprinciplecallsforsubsidiarityandproportionality

as enshrined in the EU Treaty. The subsidiarity principle requires EU decisions to be taken as closely

aspossibletothecitizen.Inotherwords,theEUdoesnottakeactionunlessthisismoreeffectivethanactiontakenatnational,regionalorlocallevel.

The proportionality principle limits EU action to what is necessary to achieve agreed policy objectives. This means that the EU will opt for solu-tions that leave the greatest possible freedom to Member States.

Subsidiarity and proportionality also apply to the delivery of European public services and therefore to the exchange of information needed to de-liver such services. Exchanging information and the joint delivery of Euro-

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pean public services will either be the result of EU legislation or when public authorities willingly and proactively participate in coordinated initiatives.

2.3 Underlying principle 2: User-centricity

Public services are intended to serve the needs of citizens and businesses. Moreprecisely,thoseneedsshoulddeterminewhatpublicservicesarepro-vided and how public services are delivered.

Generallyspeaking,citizensandbusinesseswillexpect:• toaccessuser-friendlyservicesinasecureandflexiblemannerallowingper-

sonalisation; • multichanneldelivery,allowingaccesstoservicesanyhow,anywhere,anytime;• toaccessasinglecontactpoint,evenwhenmultipleadministrationshaveto

work together to provide the service;• to provide only the information necessary to obtain the public service and to

provide any given piece of information only once to administrations;• administrations to respect privacy.

2.4 Underlying principle 3: Inclusion and accessibility11

The use of ICT should create equal opportunities for all citizens and businesses through inclusive services that are publicly accessible without dis-crimination.

Inclusion means allowing everyone to take full advantage of the op-portunities offered by new technologies to overcome social and economic disadvantages and exclusion. Accessibility ensures that people with disabi-lities and the elderly can use public services with the same service levels as all other citizens.

Inclusion and accessibility must be part of the whole development life-cycleof aEuropeanpublicserviceintermsof design,informationcontentanddelivery,accordingtoe-accessibilityspecificationswidelyrecognisedatEuropean or international level.12

Inclusion and accessibility usually involve multichannel delivery. Tradi-tional paper-based or face-to-face service delivery may need to co-exist with electronicdelivery,givingcitizensachoiceof access.

11http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/einclusion/policy/accessibility/index_en.htm.12 See also EC standardisation mandate No376 on the development of European standards for public procurementof accessibleICTproductsandservices(http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activi-ties/einclusion/archive/deploy/pubproc/eso-m376/a_documents/m376_en.pdf ).

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404 anexo xIII

Inclusion and accessibility can also be improved by the ability of a sys-temtoallowthirdpartiestoactonbehalf of citizenswhoareunable,eitherpermanentlyortemporarily,tomakedirectuseof publicservices.

Recommendation 2. Public administrations should ensure that public servicesareaccessibletoallcitizens,includingpersonswithdisabilitiesand the elderly, according to e-accessibility specifications widelyrecognised at European or international level.

2.5 Underlying principle 4: Security and privacyCitizens and businesses must be assured that they interact with public

administrations in an environment of trust and in full compliance with the relevantregulations,e.g.onprivacyanddataprotection.Thismeansthatpublicadministrationsmustguaranteetheprivacyof citizensandtheconfi-dentiality of information provided by businesses.

Subjecttosecurityconstraints,citizensandbusinessesshouldhavetheright to verify the information that administrations have collected about them and to be consulted whether this information may be used for purpo-ses other than those for which it was originally supplied.

Recommendation 3. Publicadministrations shouldconsider the specificneedsof eachEuropeanpublicservice,withinthecontextof acommonsecurity and privacy policy.

2.6 Underlying principle 5: MultilingualismMultilingualism needs to be carefully considered when designing Euro-

pean public services. A balance needs to be found between the expectations of citizens and

businesses to be served in their own language(s) and Member State public administrations’abilitytoofferservicesinallofficialEUlanguages.

Ideally,EuropeanpublicservicesprovidedEU-wideshouldbeavailableinallofficialEUlanguagestoensurethatrightsandexpectationsof Euro-pean citizens are met.

Multilingualismcomesintoplaynotjustatthelevelof theuserinterface,butatalllevelsinthedesignof Europeanpublicservices.Forexample,choiceson data representation may limit the ability to support different languages.

The multilingual aspect to interoperability again becomes apparent when European public services require exchanges between ICT systems

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acrosslinguisticboundaries,asthemeaningof theinformationexchangedmustbepreserved.Wheneverpossible,informationshouldbetransferredinalanguage-independentformat,agreedamongallpartiesinvolved.

Recommendation 4. Public administrations should use information systems and technical architectures that cater for multilingualism when establishing a European public service.

2.7Underlyingprinciple6:AdministrativesimplificationBusinessescompile largeamountsof information,often solelydue to

legalobligations,which isof nodirectbenefit to themandnotnecessaryfor achieving the objectives of the legislation imposing the obligations. This creates a considerable administrative burden13,whichcanbeexpressedasacost incurred by businesses.

Forthisreason,theEuropeanCommissionproposedinJanuary2007toreduce the administrative burden on businesses by 25 % by 2012. To achieve thistarget,publicauthoritiesacrossEuropewillhavetoacttogetherwhenestablishing European public services.

Thisprincipleiscloselylinkedtounderlyingprinciple2,user-centricity.2.8 Underlying principle 7: Transparency

Citizens and businesses should be able to understand administrative processes. They should have the right to track administrative procedures thatinvolvethem,andhaveinsightintotherationalebehinddecisionsthatcould affect them.

Transparency also allows citizens and businesses to give feedback about thequalityof thepublicservicesprovided,tocontributetotheirimprove-ment and to the implementation of new services.

2.9 Underlying principle 8: Preservation of information

Records14 and information in electronic form held by administrations for the purpose of documenting procedures and decisions must be preser-ved. The goal is to ensure that records and other forms of information re-taintheirlegibility,reliabilityandintegrityandcanbeaccessedaslongasneeded,takingintoaccountsecurityandprivacy.

13http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/admin-burdens-reduction/faq_en.htm.14Asdefinedbythemodelrequirementsforthemanagementof electronicrecords(MOREQ): a record is (a) document(s) produced or received by a person or organisation in thecourseof business,andretainedbythatpersonororganisation.

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406 anexo xIII

In order to guarantee the long-term preservation of electronic records andotherkindsof information,formatsshouldbeselectedtoensurelong-termaccessibility,includingpreservationof associatedelectronicsignaturesandotherelectroniccertifications,suchasmandates.

For information sources owned and managed by national administra-tions,preservationisapurelynationalmatter.ForEuropeanpublicservicesandforinformationthatisnotpurelynational,preservationbecomesaEu-ropeanissue,requiringanappropriate‘preservationpolicy’.

Recommendation 5. Public administrations should formulate together a long-term preservation policy for electronic records relating to European public services.

2.13 Underlying principle 9: Openness Inthecontextof theEIF,opennessisthewillingnessof persons,orga-

nisations or other members of a community of interest to share knowledge andstimulatedebatewithinthatcommunity,theultimategoalbeingtoad-vance knowledge and the use of this knowledge to solve problems.

Whilerespectingdataprotectionandprivacy,interoperabilityinvolvessha-ringinformationamonginteractingorganisations,andhenceimpliesopenness.

Applying the principle of openness when jointly developing custom-ma-desoftwaresystems,Europeanpublicadministrationsgenerateresultsthatcanbeinterconnected,reusedandshared,whichalsoimprovesefficiency.

Therefore,Europeanpublicadministrationsshouldaimforopenness,takingintoaccountneeds,priorities,legacy,budget,marketsituationandanumber of other factors.

Recommendation 6. Public administrations should aim for openness whenworking together to establish European public services, whiletaking into account their priorities and constraints.

2.13 Underlying principle 10: ReusabilityReusemeansthatpublicadministrationsconfrontedwithaspecificpro-

blemseektobenefitfromtheworkof othersbylookingatwhatisavailable,assessingitsusefulnessorrelevancetotheproblemathand,anddecidingtouse solutions that have proven their value elsewhere.

This implies that public administrations must be willing to share with others theirsolutions,concepts,frameworks,specifications,toolsandcomponents.

Thiscanbefacilitatedbyapplyingtheprincipleof openness,asdescribedabove.

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Reuse and sharing naturally lead to cooperation using collaborative plat-forms15,towardsmutuallybeneficialandagreedcommongoals.

Reuseisconsequentlykeytotheefficientdevelopmentof Europeanpublicservices.

Recommendation 7. Public administrations are encouraged to reuse and share solutions and to cooperate on the development of joint solutions when implementing European public services.

2.12 Underlying principle 11: Technological neutrality and adaptability

WhenestablishingEuropeanpublicservices,publicadministrationsshouldfocus on functional needs and defer decisions on technology as long as possible inordertoavoidimposingspecifictechnologiesorproductsontheirpartnersand to be able to adapt to the rapidly evolving technological environment.

Public administrations should render access to public services indepen-dentof anyspecifictechnologyorproduct.

Recommendation 8. Publicadministrationsshouldnotimposeanyspecifictechnologicalsolutiononcitizens,businessesandotheradministrationswhen establishing European public services.

2.13Underlyingprinciple12:Effectivenessandefficiency

Public administrations should ensure that solutions serve businesses and citizensinthemosteffectiveandefficientwayandprovidethebestvaluefortaxpayer money.

There are many ways to take stock of the value brought by public ser-vicesolutions,includingconsiderationssuchasreturnoninvestment,totalcostof ownership,increasedflexibilityandadaptability,reducedadminis-trativeburden, increasedefficiency,reducedrisk, transparency,simplifica-tion,improvedworkingmethods,andrecognitionof publicadministrationachievements and competencies.

3. ThE CONCEPTUAL MOdEL FOR PUBLIC SERVICES

15AtEUlevel,variousplatformshavebeensetuptoshareopensourcesoftwarecomponents(http://www.osor.eu/),

semanticassets(http://www.semic.eu/)andbestpractices(http://www.epracice.eu/).TheEuropeanCommissionhas

alsocreatedEUPL(http://www.osor.eu/eupl)inordertofacilitatethesharingof softwarecomponents.

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408 anexo xIII

3.1 IntroductionThis chapter proposes a conceptual model for public services to suggest

ways to organise the creation and operation of these services.The model is derived from a survey of the implementation of public

servicesintheMemberStates,andbringstogetherthecommonaspectsandbest practices observed. As a blueprint for future implementations of Eu-ropeanpublicservices,themodelhelpsdevelopacommonvocabularyandunderstanding across Member States about the main elements of a public service and how they come together.

The model emphasises a building-block approach to setting up Euro-peanpublicservices,allowingfortheinterconnectionandreusabilityof ser-vice components when building new services.

Themodelisgenericbynature,sonoteveryexistingorfuturepublicservicewillexactlyfitintoit.However,itisgenericenoughtobeapplicableatanylevelof governmentprovidingpublicservices,fromlocallevelallthewayuptotheEUlevel,anditillustratesthefactthatanylevelof govern-ment can be a provider of both basic and aggregate public services. In this sense, themodelclarifiesandrationalisestherelationshipsamongentitiesthat work together to deliver public services.

Theaimof themodelistobringpracticalbenefitstoestablishingEuro-peanpublicservices.Forexample,splittingfunctionalitiesintobasicpublicserviceswithwell-definedinterfaces,designedtobereused,willsimplifyandstreamline the implementation of aggregate services and the reuse of servi-cecomponents,avoidingduplicationof work.

3.2 The key concepts of the conceptual modelThemodelpromotesthereuseof information,concepts,patterns,solu-

tions,andspecificationsinMemberStatesandatEuropeanlevel,recogni-sing that European public services:

• are based on information from various sources located at different levels of administration,indifferentMemberStates,and

• combine basic public services constructed independently by public administra-tions in different Member States.

Therefore,themodelhighlightstheneedformodular,looselycoupledservice components16 interconnected through infrastructure and for wor-king together to deliver European public services.

It explicitly calls for EU-wide adoption of a service orientation to desig-ninganddevelopingsystems,andanICTecosystemcomprisingconsistent,andinsomecasesjointlydeveloped,servicecomponents.Itsparticularser-

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viceorientationisaspecificwayof creatingandusingbusinessprocesses,packagedasservices,throughouttheirlifecycle.

Recommendation 9. Public administrations should develop a component-basedservicemodel,allowingtheestablishmentof Europeanpublicservicesbyreusing,asmuchaspossible,existingservicecomponents.

Public administrations will need to agree a common scheme on how to interconnect service components.

Therearewell-knownandwidelyusedtechnicalsolutions,e.g.webservices,todothis,butimplementingthematEUlevelwillrequireconcertedeffortsbypublicadministrations,includinginvestmentincommoninfrastructure.

Recommendation 10. Public administrations should agree on a common scheme to interconnect loosely coupled service components and put in place the necessary infrastructure when establishing European public services.

The basic elements of the conceptual model are depicted in the diagram below:

16 Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is an implementation of that concept.

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410 anexo xIII

Conceptual model for public services

Basic Public Services

Orchestration

Users

Aggregate Public Services

Base Registries

Interoperability Facilitators

External Services

Secure Data Exchange/Management Secure Data Exchange/Management Secure

Communications Management

Figure 31

Inordertounderstandthismodel,itisusefultosubdivideitintothreelayers:basicpublicservices,securedataexchangeandaggregatepublicser-vices,whicharedetailedinthefollowingsections.

3.2.1 Basic public services

The lowest layer of the model deals with the most basic service com-ponents from which European public services can be built. It groups three typesof components,namelyinteroperabilityfacilitators,servicesbasedonbaseregistries,andexternalservices,togethercalledbasicpublicservices.

Basic Public Functions

Base Registries


External Services


Base Registries


External Services

Base Registries


External Services

Figure 32

Some basic public services have been developed primarily for direct use bythepublicadministrationthatcreatedthem,orbytheirdirectcustomers,i.e.businessesandcitizens,butaremadeavailableforreuseelsewherewithaviewtoprovidingaggregatepublicservices.Othersaregenericand/orin-frastructuralbynature,whiletheremainderrepresentexternalservices,i.e.

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services provided by third parties. The following sections describe in more detail each type of basic public service.

3.2.1.1 Base registries The most important components are base registries that provide relia-

blesourcesof basicinformationonitemssuchaspersons,companies,vehi-cles, licences,buildings,locationsandroads.Suchregistriesareunderthelegalcontrolof publicadministrationsandaremaintainedbythem,buttheinformation should be made available for wider reuse with the appropriate security and privacy measures.

The common feature of all implementations of basic registries is the fact that they are authentic and authoritative and form, separately or incombination,thecornerstoneof publicservices.Generallyspeaking,theircontentisnotstatic:theyalsoreflecttheinformationlifecycle.

Recommendation 11. Public administrations should make their authentic sources of information available to others while implementing access and control mechanisms to ensure security and privacy in accordance with the relevant legislation.

One of the obstacles to adopting the conceptual model for European publicservicescouldbelegacysystems.Thesesystems,andtheirunderlyingdata repositories, have specific characteristics limiting thepossibilities forreuse(e.g.lackof publishedinterfaces),andtheymayrequireextensivere-engineering in order to make their information available for European pu-blic services.

Access to authentic data sources across borders will be facilitated if the interfacestothesesourcesarepublishedandharmonised,atbothsemanticand technical level.

Recommendation 12. Public administrations, when working toestablish European public services, should develop interfaces toauthentic sources and align them at semantic and technical level.

3.2.1.2 Interoperability facilitatorsInteroperability facilitators provide services such as translation between

protocols,formatsandlanguagesoractasinformationbrokers.

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412 anexo xIII

3.2.1.3 External servicesThese include services provided by external parties such as — at business

level—paymentservicesprovidedbyfinancialinstitutionsor—atinfrastruc-ture level — connectivity services provided by telecommunications providers.

3.2.2 Secure data exchange layer This layer is central to the conceptual model since all access to basic

public services passes through it.

Secure Data Exchange/ManagementSecure

CommunicationsManagement Secure Data Exchange/ManagementSecure Data Exchange/Management

Secure Communications

Management

Figure 33

3.2.2.1 Secure data exchangeFromabusinesspoint of view, administrations andother entities ex-

changeofficialinformationthatmayinvolveaccesstobaseregistries.Thisshould go through a secure, harmonised, managed and controlled layerallowing information exchanges between administrations, businesses andcitizens that are:

signedandcertified—bothsenderandreceiverhavebeen identifiedandauthenticatedthroughagreedmechanisms,

encrypted—theconfidentialityof theexchangeddataisensured,logged – the electronic records are logged and archived to ensure a legal

audit trail. Intheproposedconceptualmodel,thesefunctionsaregroupedinthe

‘securedataexchange’layer.Thislayershouldallowthesecureexchangeof certifiedmessages,re-

cords,formsandotherkindsof informationbetweenthedifferentsystems.Inadditiontotransportingdata,thislayershouldalsohandlespecificsecu-rityrequirementssuchaselectronicsignatures,certification,encryptionandtime stamping.

Security is potentially one of the main barriers to interoperability if it is not applied in a harmonised and agreed way among organisations. The conceptual model highlights this and calls on all service providers to:

· consider the security issues head-on;

· cooperate on a common framework to meet their respective

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security needs via compatible mechanisms and commonly agreed specifications;

· reach a common understanding on essential characteristics such as protective marking levels, authorisation levels and authenticationstrength.

Therefore,publicadministrationsshouldagreeonacommonsecurityframework when establishing a European public service (see Recommenda-tion No 2).

One of the key prerequisites for implementing the functionality ex-pected in securedataexchange involves leveragingnational identificationand authentication infrastructures in the Member States to reach a working cross-border scheme. This scheme should establish which ICT architectures and data are needed in a cross-border context to make existing Member State electronic identity infrastructures interoperable.

3.2.2.2 Secure communications managementThe provision of secure (i.e. signed, certified, encrypted and logged)

dataexchangealsorequiresseveralmanagementfunctions,including:· servicemanagement, to oversee all communications on identifica-

tion,authentication,authorisation,datatransport,etc.,includingac-cessauthorisations,revocation,andaudit;

· serviceregistration,toprovide(subjecttoproperauthorisation)ac-cesstoavailableservicesthroughprior localisationandverificationthat the service is trustworthy;

· servicelogging,toensurethatalldataexchangesareloggedforfu-tureevidence,andarchivedwhennecessary.

3.2.3 Aggregate services layerAggregate public services are constructed by grouping a number of ba-

sic public services that can be accessed in a secure and controlled way. They canbeprovidedbyseveraladministrationsatanylevel,i.e.local,regional,national or even EU level.

Atypicalaggregateserviceshouldappeartoitsusers(administrations,businesses or citizens) as a single service.Behind the scenes, transactionsmaybeimplementedacrossborders,sectorsandadministrativelevels.

Aggregationisaccomplishedviamechanismstailoredtospecificbusi-nessrequirements.Inthemostgeneralcase,somebusinesslogicisrequired

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414 anexo xIII

toimplementtherequirements,andtheimplementationmechanismcouldtakeseveralforms,suchasorchestrationorworkflowengines,allincludedin portal-like access infrastructures. Conceptual Model for Public Services Orchestration

Users


Figure 34

Nowadays,usersexpecttoaccesspublicservicesnotsolelythroughgo-vernment portals or websites but also via intermediaries with whom they are incontactonaregularbasis.Therefore,publicservicesshouldbedevelopedinsuchawaythattheycaneasilybeintegratedinintermediaries’websitesthroughmechanisms suchasmash-upsandwidgets,withoutgovernmentlosing responsibility for the service itself and with clear indications enabling users to tell the difference between private and public services.

If aggregatepublicservicesareprovidedbyintermediaries,publicad-ministrations should establish:

1. a process for authorisation to determine which basic public services maybedisclosedtowhichintermediary,and

2. a process for certifying intermediaries to establish trust between users and service providers.

3.3 Applications of the conceptual modelWhatmakes themodel powerful is its flexibility in allowingdifferent

aggregate services to be created by combining basic public services from multiple providers. The model unlocks the potential for further aggregating and combining the different services available. The sections below describe threecases,allwithahighaddedvalueintheEUcontext:thecross-borderexample,thecross-sectoralexampleandthecross-administrativeboundaryexample.3.3.1. Cross-border example

This illustrates a European public service implemented by combining basicpublic services, in thiscaseaccess tonationalbaseregistries, imple-mented in different Member States.

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European Union / Member States


Orchestration

Users


Secure Data Exchange / Management

Base Registeries Base Registeries Base Registries





MS - X MS - Y MS - Z

Themodelhasbeensimplifiedforthesakeof clarity. Figure 35

The situation depicted in the diagram is a variation on the original conceptual model to illustrate its cross-border application by adding natio-nal boundaries to indicate where individual sets of basic public services are located.

This raises a number of issues: Trust: The cross-border application of the model involves allowing ex-

ternal access to national base registries,which requires a high degree of security and trust.

dependence of European public services and service levels on lower-level services: The aggregated service depends on basic public services pro-vided by different entities.

Commonspecificationsforbasicpublicservices:Thefactthatthebasicpublic services on which the aggregated services are based are developed by different public administrations highlights the need for common interface specifications,attechnicalandsemanticlevel.

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416 anexo xIII

Privacy and data protection: Even when personal information is ex-changed across borders, national data protection legislations apply. Thesecure data exchange layer implements and enforces the security require-ments for the aggregate service. As data originating from different Member Statesmaybe subject to different data protection requirements, a set of common requirements for data protection should be agreed in order to im-plement the aggregate service.

Recommendation 13. Public administrations, when workingtogethertoestablishEuropeanpublicservices,shoulduseacommontaxonomy of basic public services and agree on minimum service requirements for secure data exchange.

3.3.2. Cross-sectoral exampleThis application of the conceptual model combines basic public servi-

ces from different sectors to provide new aggregate public services.

European Union


Orchestration

Users


Secure Data Exchange / Management






Sector - X Sector - Y Sector - Z

Themodelhasbeensimplifiedforthesakeof clarity

Figure 36

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This application of the model channels interaction between users and aggregated public services provided through cooperation between different sectors via a single point of contact.

Tomake this approach successful, it is essential that sectors adopt acommonapproachtoservicedefinition.

3.3.3 Cross-administrative boundary exampleThis case illustrates the aggregation of services originating in different

layersof governmentatlocal,regional,nationalandEUlevel.Ahypotheti-cal example is illustrated below.

European Union

Orchestration

Users


Member State

Orchestration

Users


Member State


Orchestration

Users


Base Registries


External Services

Secure Data Exchange/

Management

Region


Orchestration

Users


Base Registries


External Services

Secure Data Exchange/

Management

Themodelhasbeensimplifiedforthesakeof clarity Figure 37

The challenge for implementing this application is to master the com-plexity resulting from multiple service providers. Cooperation among public administrations at each level is essential.

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418 anexo xIII

4. INTEROPERABILITY LEVELS

4.1 IntroductionThis chapter describes four levels of interoperability. Each deserves

special attention when a new European public service is established. The practicalimplementationof theconceptualmodelforcross-border/cross-sectoral services requires each of these levels to be taken into account.

P o l i tic a l C o n te x t

O rg a n is a tio n a l In te ro p e ra b i l i ty

L e g a l In te ro p e ra b i l i ty

S e m a n tic In te ro p e ra b i l i ty

T e c h n ic a l In te ro p e ra b i l i ty

L e g is la ti v e A l ig n m e n t

Aligned legislation so that exchanged data isaccorded proper legal weight

Coordinated processes in which different organisations achieve a previously agreed and mutually beneficial goal

Planning of technical issues involved in linking computer systems and services

Cooperating partners with compatible visions, aligned priorities, and focused objectives

O rg a n is a tio n a n d P ro c e s sA l ig n m e n t

S e m a n tic A l ig n m e n t

In te ra c tio n & T ra n s p o rt

Precise meaning of exchanged information which is preserved and understood by all parties

P o l i tic a l C o n te x t

O rg a n is a tio n a l In te ro p e ra b i l i ty

L e g a l In te ro p e ra b i l i ty

S e m a n tic In te ro p e ra b i l i ty

T e c h n ic a l In te ro p e ra b i l i ty

L e g is la ti v e A l ig n m e n t

Aligned legislation so that exchanged data isaccorded proper legal weight

Coordinated processes in which different organisations achieve a previously agreed and mutually beneficial goal

Planning of technical issues involved in linking computer systems and services

Cooperating partners with compatible visions, aligned priorities, and focused objectives

O rg a n is a tio n a n d P ro c e s sA l ig n m e n t

S e m a n tic A l ig n m e n t

In te ra c tio n & T ra n s p o rt

Precise meaning of exchanged information which is preserved and understood by all parties

Figure 41

4.2 Political contextThe establishment of a new European public service is the result of

directorindirectactionatpoliticallevel,i.e.newbilateral,multilateralorEuropean agreements.

If the establishment of a new service is the direct consequence of new EUlegislation,thescope,prioritiesandresourcesneededtoestablishandoperatetheserviceshouldbedefinedwhenthelegislationisadopted.

However,politicalsupportandsponsorshipisalsoneededincaseswhe-re new services are not directly linked to new legislation but are created to providebetter,moreuser-focusedpublicservices.

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Likewise,politicalsupportisalsonecessaryforcross-borderinteropera-bility efforts to facilitate cooperation among public administrations.17 For effec-tivecooperation,allstakeholdersinvolvedmustsharevisions,agreeonobjecti-ves and align priorities. Action at cross-border level can only be successful if all MemberStatesinvolvedgivesufficientpriorityandresourcestotheirrespectiveinteroperability efforts towards agreed goals within agreed timeframes.4.3 Legal interoperability

Each public administration contributing to the provision of a European public service works within its own national legal framework.

Sometimes, incompatibilitiesbetween legislation indifferentMemberStatesmakeworkingtogethermorecomplexorevenimpossible,evenwheresuch legislation is the result of transposing European directives into national law. Legal initiatives may be needed to remedy such situations.

When information is exchanged between Member States to provide Eu-ropeanpublicservices,thelegalvalidityof suchinformationmustbemain-tained across borders and data protection legislation in both originating and receiving countries must be respected.

Recommendation 14. Public administrations should carefully considerallrelevantlegislationrelatingtodataexchange,includingdata protection legislation, when seeking to establish a Europeanpublic service.

4.4 Organisational interoperabilityThis aspect of interoperability is concerned with how organisations,

such as public administrations in differentMember States, cooperate toachieve theirmutually agreed goals. In practice, organisational interope-rability implies integrating business processes and related data exchange. Organisational interoperability also aims to meet the requirements of the usercommunitybymakingservicesavailable,easilyidentifiable,accessibleand user-focused. 4.4.1 Business process alignment

In order for different administrative entities to be able to work together efficiently and effectively to provide European public services, theymayneedtoaligntheirexistingbusinessprocessesoreventodefineandestablishnew business processes.

Aligning business processes implies documenting them, in an agreedway,sothatallpublicadministrationscontributingtothedeliveryof Euro-pean public services can understand the overall business process and their role in it.

17 The ISA programme is an example of such political support.

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420 anexo xIII

Recommendation 15. Public administrations should document their business processes and agree on how these processes will interact to deliver a European public service.

4.4.2 Organisational relationships Serviceorientation,onwhichtheconceptualmodelforpublicservices

isbuilt,meansthattherelationshipbetweenserviceprovidersandserviceconsumers must be clearly structured.

This involvesfindinginstrumentstoformalisemutualassistance, jointaction and interconnected business processes in connection with cross-bor-der service provision. Examples of such instruments are Memoranda of Un-derstanding(MoUs)onjointactionsandcooperationand/orServiceLevelAgreements (SLAs) signed between participating public administrations. For cross-borderaction,theyshouldpreferablybemultilateralagreements.

Recommendation 16. Public administrations should clarify their organisational relationships as part of the establishment of a European public service.

4.4.3 Change management Since delivering a European public service is the result of collective work

partiesthatproduceorconsumepartsof theservice,changemanagementprocessesarecriticaltoensuretheaccuracy,reliabilityandcontinuityof theservicedeliveredtootherpublicadministrations,businessesandcitizens.

Recommendation 17. Public administrations working together to provide European public services should agree on change management processes to ensure continuous service delivery.

4.5 Semantic interoperabilitySemantic interoperability enables organisations to process information

from external sources in a meaningful manner. It ensures that the precise meaning of exchanged information is understood and preserved throug-hout exchanges between parties.

Achieving semantic interoperability in the EU context is a relatively newundertaking,notachievedbeforeonthisscale.However,anumberof publicadministrationshaverecentlyacquiredexperienceinthisfield.

Astartingpoint is tocreate sector-specificsetsof data structuresanddata elements that can be referred to as semantic interoperability assets. Once these are created, the cooperatingorganisationswill need to agreeon the meaning of the information to be exchanged. Given the different linguistic,cultural,legal,andadministrativeenvironmentsintheMember

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States,thisposessignificantchallenges.MultilingualismintheEUaddsfur-ther complexity to the problem.

In the context of theEIF, semantic interoperability encompasses thefollowing aspects:

· Semantic interoperability is about the meaning of data elements and the relationship between them. It includes developing vocabulary to describe data exchanges, and ensures that data elements areunderstood in the same way by communicating parties.

· Syntactic interoperability is about describing the exact format of theinformationtobeexchangedintermsof grammar,formatandschemas.

Achieving semantic interoperability at European level requires at least:· agreed processes and methodologies for developing semantic

interoperability assets;

· agreementbysector-specificandcross-sectoralcommunitiesontheuse of semantic interoperability assets at EU level.

due to the complexity of the task and the large number of interested par-ties,itwilltakeaconcertedefforttoharmoniseprocessesandmethodologies.

4.5.1 The EU Semantic Interoperability Initiative18

Severalinitiativesaimtoachievesemanticinteroperability,atbothna-tional and EU level. The EU semantic interoperability initiative aims to lay thefoundationsof semanticinteroperabilityforEuropeanpublicservices,across all sectors and in close cooperation with national initiatives. It pro-vides coaching services for the design and implementation stages, and aweb-based platform for cooperating and sharing solutions to semantic inte-roperability challenges.

Public administrations establishing public services should verify at an early phase of any given project whether existing semantic interoperability assetscanbereused.If not,theycanusetheEUsemanticinteroperabilityplatform to advertise their goals and approach to a wider European audien-ce,seekingcontactandcooperationwithotherprojectswithsimilarneeds.

Recommendation 18. Public administrations should support the establishmentof sector-specificandcross-sectoralcommunitiesthat

18 SEMIC.EU: Semantic Interoperability Centre Europe.

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422 anexo xIII

aim to facilitate semantic interoperability and should encourage the communities to share results on national and European platforms.

4.6 Technical interoperabilityThis covers the technical aspects of linking information systems. It in-

cludesaspectssuchasinterfacespecifications,interconnectionservices,dataintegrationservices,datapresentationandexchange,etc.

While public administrations have specific characteristics at political,legal,organisationaland,partly, semantic level, interoperabilityat the te-chnical level isnotspecifictopublicadministrations.Therefore,technicalinteroperability shouldbeensured,wheneverpossible, via theuseof for-malisedspecifications,eitherstandardspursuanttoEUDirective98/34orspecificationsissuedbyICTindustryforaandconsortia.

Recommendation 19. Public administrations should agree on the formalised specifications to ensure technical interoperability whenestablishing European public services.

5 INTEROPERABILITY AGREEMENTS

5.1 Introduction

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This chapter proposes an approach to facilitate cooperation among pu-blic administrations to provide a given European public service.

Asstatedthroughoutthisdocument,providingEuropeanpublicservi-ces requires cooperation among different public administrations at the diffe-rentinteroperabilitylevelsdescribedinthepreviouschapter.Foreachlevel,the organisations involved should formalise cooperation arrangements in interoperability agreements.

Agreementsshouldbedraftedwithsufficientdetailtoachievetheiraim— to provide a European public service — while leaving each organisation maximum internal autonomy.

Atlegallevel,interoperabilityagreementsarerenderedspecificandbin-dingvia legislation, includingEuropeandirectivesand their transpositionintonationallegislation,orbilateralandmultilateralagreements,whichareoutside the scope of the EIF.

Atorganisational level, interoperability agreements can, for example,take the form of MoUs or SLAs that specify the obligations of each par-ty participating in cross-border business processes. Interoperability agree-mentsatorganisationallevelwilldefineexpectedlevelsof service,support/escalationprocedures,contactdetails,etc.,referring,whennecessary,toun-derlying agreements at semantic and technical levels.

Atsemanticlevel,interoperabilityagreementscantaketheformof re-ference taxonomies, schemes,code lists,datadictionaries, sector-based li-braries and so forth.

Attechnicallevel,interoperabilityagreementsincludeinterfacespecifi-cations,communicationprotocols,messagingspecifications,dataformats,secu-rityspecificationsordynamicregistrationandservicediscoveryspecifications.

While interoperability agreements at legal and organisational level will usuallybeveryspecifictotheEuropeanpublicserviceconcerned, intero-perabilityagreementsattechnicalleveland,toalesserextent,atsemanticlevelcanoftenbemappedontoexistingformalisedspecifications.

Recommendation 20. Public administrations, when establishingEuropeanpublicservices,shouldbaseinteroperabilityagreementsonexistingformalisedspecifications,or,if theydonotexist,cooperatewith communities working in the same areas.

Whentryingtoimplementinteroperabilityagreements,attechnicalorsemantic level, theremay be a choice between a number of equivalent,competing specifications, all of whichmaybeable toprovideabasis forsuch agreements.

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424 anexo xIII

Public administrations may decide to support multiple formalised spe-cifications or technologies to communicate with citizens and businesses. However,forreasonsof efficiency,theyshouldreduce,asmuchaspossible,thenumberof formalisedspecificationsandtechnologieswhenworkingto-gether to provide a European public service.

Similar decisions are often taken not just to provide a single European public service but within a wider context of cooperation within or among organisations.Inthiscontext,theyshouldbeawarethatinternalinterfacesmay become external in the future when new European public services are created.

Decisionsonwhatformalisedspecificationsandtechnologiestousetoensure interoperability for European public services should be based on transparency, fairness and non-discrimination. One way to do this is toagree on a common assessment methodology and selection process.

5.2AssessingandselectingformalisedspecificationsWhenpublicadministrationsselecttheformalisedspecificationsorte-

chnologiestoensureinteroperability,theyshouldassessrelevantformalisedspecifications.

Thisassessmentshouldbetailoredtothespecificinteroperabilityneedsof thepublicadministrations inquestion,butbasedonobjectivecriteria,primarily related to functional interoperability needs. When several formali-sedspecificationsmeetfunctionalinteroperabilityneeds,additionalcriteriaonqualityof implementation,marketsupport,potentialforreusabilityandopenness can be used.

Recommendation 21. Public administrations should use a structured, transparent and objective approach to assessing andselectingformalisedspecifications.

5.2.1Specifications,opennessandreuseThelevelof opennessof aformalisedspecificationisanimportantele-

ment in determining the possibility of sharing and reusing software compo-nentsimplementingthatspecification.Thisalsoapplieswhensuchcompo-nents are used for the establishment of new European public services.

If the openness principle is applied in full:· All stakeholders have the same possibility of contributing to the

developmentof thespecificationandpublicreviewispartof thedecision-making process;

· Thespecificationisavailableforeverybodytostudy;

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· Intellectual property rights related to the specification are li-censed on FRANd19 terms or on a royalty-free basis in a way that allows implementation in both proprietary and open source software20.

Due to their positive effect on interoperability, the use of such openspecifications,characterisedbythefeaturesmentionedaboveaswellasthesharingandreuseof softwareimplementingsuchopenspecifications,hasbeen promoted in many policy statements and is encouraged for European publicservicedelivery.Thepositiveeffectof openspecificationsisalsode-monstrated by the Internet ecosystem.

However,publicadministrationsmaydecidetouselessopenspecifica-tions,if openspecificationsdonotexistordonotmeetfunctionalinterope-rability needs.

Inallcases,specificationsshouldbematureandsufficientlysupportedbythemarket,exceptif usedinthecontextof creatinginnovativesolutions.

Recommendation 22. WhenestablishingEuropeanpublicservices,publicadministrationsshouldpreferopenspecifications,takingdueaccountof thecoverageof functionalneeds,maturityandmarketsupport.

CONTRIBUTION TO ThE STANdARdISATION PROCESS

Insomecases,publicadministrationsmayfindthatnosuitableformalisedspecification is available for a specific need in a specific area. If newspecifications have to be developed, public administrations may eitherdevelop the specifications themselves and put forward the result forstandardisation,orrequestanewformalisedspecificationtobedevelopedbystandardsdevelopingorganisations.Theresultingformalisedspecificationsshould comply with the characteristics set out in Section 5.2.1.

Evenwhereexistingformalisedspecificationsareavailable,theyevolveover time and experience shows that revisions often take a long time to be completed. Active government participation in the standardisation process mitigatesconcernsaboutdelays,improvesalignmentof theformalisedspe-

19FRAND:Fair,reasonableandnondiscriminatory.

20Thisfosterscompetitionsinceprovidersworkingundervariousbusinessmodelsmaycompetetodeliverproducts,

technologiesandservicesbasedonsuchspecifications.

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426 anexo xIII

cificationswithpublic sectorneedsand canhelpgovernments keeppacewith technology innovation.

Recommendation 23. Public administrations should lead or actively participate in standardisation work relevant to their needs.

6 INTEROPERABILITY GOVERNANCEdue to their cross-border and in some cases cross-sectoral characteris-

tics,Europeanpublicservicesoperateinacomplexandchangingenviron-ment.

Ensuringinteroperabilitybetweenlegalinstruments,organisationbusi-nessprocesses, informationexchanges,servicesandcomponentsthatsup-portthedeliveryof aEuropeanpublicserviceisacontinuoustask,asinte-roperabilityisdisruptedbychangestotheenvironment,i.e.tolegislation,theneedsof businessesorcitizens,theorganisationof publicadministra-tions,businessprocessesortechnologies.

Recommendation 24. Public administrations should ensure that interoperability is ensured over time when operating and delivering a European public service.

Even if interoperability is maintained for a given European public ser-vice,itsdeliveryoftenreliesoncomponentsthatarecommontomanyEu-ropeanpublicservices.Thesecomponents,whicharetheresultsof intero-perability agreements reached outside the scope of the European public service,shouldalsobemadeavailableovertime.

Moreover,asthecommoncomponentsandinteroperabilityagreementsare the results of work carried out by public administrations at different le-vels(local,regional,national,EU),coordinationandmonitoringthisworkrequires a holistic approach.

Recommendation 25. Public administrations should establish a framework for the governance of their interoperability activities across administrative levels.

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Documents

EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORK (EIF) FOR …4.4.3 Change management 4.5 Semantic interoperability 4.5.1 The EU Semantic Interoperability Initiative 4.6 Technical interoperability