Eif Brochure
IDABC
EIF European
Interoperability Framework
EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORK
FOR PAN-EUROPEAN eGOVERNMENT SERVICES
European Commission
Version 1.0
Disclaimer
Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on its behalf is responsible for
the use that might be made of the information contained in this document.
This brochure can be downloaded from the IDABC website (http://europa.eu.int/idabc).
A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet.
It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int).
Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication.
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2004
ISBN 92-894-8389-X
© European Communities, 2004
Reproduction is authorised, except for commercial purposes, provided the source is
acknowledged.
Printed in Belgium
Printed on recycled paper
EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORK
FOR PAN-EUROPEAN eGOVERNMENT SERVICES
VERSION 1.0
IDABC
EIF European
Interoperability Framework
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................2
1.1
What is the European Interoperability Framework ?...........................2
1.1.1
Goals.....................................................................................................................2
1.1.2
Definitions and objectives..................................................................................2
1.1.3
Target groups.......................................................................................................3
1.1.4
Area of validity.........................................................………….......................3
1.2
Background information..................................................……….........................4
1.3
Underlying principles............................................................................................5
1.4
Context and governance..........................................................….....................8
2 THE FRAMEWORK: BASICS OF PAN-EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY................9
2.1 Scope...................................................................................................................................9
2.1.1
Interaction types..................................................................................................9
2.1.2
Interoperability areas........................................................................................12
2.2
Key interoperability areas.................................................................................13
2.2.1
Organisational interoperability.........................................................................13
2.2.2
Semantic interoperability..................................................................................16
2.2.3
Technical interoperability..................................................................................17
3 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NATIONAL INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORKS........22
3.1
High-level policy issues.....................................................................................22
3.2
Scope............................................................................................................................22
3.3
Business requirements for eGovernment services............................23
3.4
General approach..................................................................................................24
3
INTRODUCTION
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. What is the European Interoperability Framework?
1.1.1. Goals
In June 2002, European heads of state adopted the
eGovernment3 services so that public administra-
eEurope Action Plan 2005 at the Seville summit. It
tions, enterprises and citizens can interact across
calls on the European Commission “to issue an
borders, in a pan-European context.
agreed interoperability framework to support the
delivery of pan-European eGovernment services to
The objectives of the European Interoperability
citizens and enterprises”. This framework would
Framework are:
address information content and recommend tech-
nical policies and specifications to help connect
•
To support the European Union's strategy
public administration information systems across
of providing user-centred eServices by facilitating
the EU. The Action Plan also stipulated that the
the interoperability of services and systems
Framework would “be based on open standards
between public administrations, as well as
and encourage the use of open source software”1.
between administrations and the public (citizens
and enterprises), at a pan-European level.
The present document establishes the European
Interoperability Framework (EIF) to support the pan-
•
To supplement national interoperability frame-
European delivery of electronic government servic-
works in areas that cannot be adequately
es. In particular, it will be the reference document on
addressed by a purely national approach.
interoperability for the IDABC programme2.The doc-
ument represents the highest-ranking module of a
• To help achieve interoperability both within and
comprehensive methodological tool kit for imple-
across different policy areas, notably in the
menting pan-European eGovernment services. It
context of the IDABC programme and any
will be further developed parallel to the progress
other relevant Community programmes and
and the emerging requirements of pan-European
initiatives.
infrastructures and services.
The European Interoperability Framework shows
1.1.2. Definitions and objectives
how services and systems of administrations
throughout Europe should interrelate in order to
Interoperability means the ability of information
serve, supplement and enrich each other with a
and communication technology (ICT) systems
view to providing pan-European eGovernment
and of the business processes they support to
services. To achieve this, it needs to complement
exchange data and to enable the sharing of infor-
national interoperability frameworks by providing a
mation and knowledge.
An interoperability framework can be defined as a set
1
http://europa.eu.int/information_society/eeurope/2005/all
of standards and guidelines that describes the way in
_about/action_plan/index_en.htm
which organisations have agreed, or should agree, to
2
Decision 2004/387/EC “Decision of the European Parliament and
interact with each other. An interoperability frame-
of the Council on Interoperable Delivery of pan-European Services
work is, therefore, not a static document and may
to Public Administrations, Businesses and Citizens (IDABC)
(http://europa.eu.int/idabc/)
have to be adapted over time as technologies, stan-
dards and administrative requirements change.
3
In the Communication “The role of Government for Europe's
future”, COM (2003) 567 final of 26 September 2003, eGovernment
is defined as the use of information and communication technologies
The European Interoperability Framework defines
in public administrations combined with organisational change and
new skills in order to improve public services and democratic
a set of recommendations and guidelines for
processes and strengthen support to public policies.
5
EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORK FOR PAN-EUROPEAN eGOVERNMENT SERVICES
multilateral framework with a pan-European dimen-
1.1.4. Area of validity
sion. In doing so, it also creates benefits such as
economies of scale and the re-use of knowledge
The EIF focuses on supplementing, rather than
and resources, whilst ensuring that each Member
replacing, national interoperability guidance by
State is given the maximum level of independence.
adding the pan-European dimension. In order to
operate at pan-European level, a Member State
In particular, the European Interoperability
administration must therefore already have a
Framework should:
national interoperability framework or equivalent
technical strategy for the delivery of eGovernment
•
Address the pan-European dimension of
services in place5. The EIF can then provide the
interoperability and provide an answer for the
pan-European layer to the national framework
following questions: What is interoperability?
(See also Section 3: Recommendations for National
Why is interoperability needed at the pan-
Interoperability Frameworks).
European level? What are the implications
of interoperability from the pan-European and
However, the recommendations and guidelines of
national perspectives?
the Framework and related documents, such as
the IDABC Architecture Guidelines, are mandatory
•
Provide a description of the elements that
for pan-European projects carried out in the context
have to be addressed for the interoperability of
of the IDABC programme.
pan-European eGovernment services.
•
Identify reference information that provides
additional guidance on interoperability issues.
RECOMMENDATION 1:
•
Support the pan-European eGovernment
Member State administrations and EU
projects and the related activities to be
Institutions and Agencies should use the
launched, notably in the context of the IDABC
guidance provided by this European
programme.
Framework to introduce a pan-European
dimension into their own interoperability
In so doing it will:
frameworks and administrative infrastruc-
tures to enable interoperable pan-European
•
Lead to the identification of a number of actions
eGovernment services. Adherence to the EIF
to be carried out by the Member States and the
should also be mentioned in the national inter-
EU Institutions and Agencies in order to
operability frameworks.
achieve interoperability.
For IDABC projects, the guidance provided
1.1.3. Target groups
by the EIF and related documents should be
considered mandatory.
The target audience of the EIF are the managers
of eGovernment projects in Member State
administrations and EU bodies. Member State
administrations should use the guidance provid-
ed by the EIF to add a pan-European dimension
4
Proper account should nevertheless be taken of the sometimes
to their national eGovernment interoperability
“sui generis” nature of the European Institutions with regard to
the Member State Administrations: The principle of “extra-
frameworks, thus enabling pan-European inter-
territoriality” applies to many areas of the Institutions' dealings with
operability. European Institutions and Agencies4
national administrations, which might require particular attention in
such issues as handling data exchanges.
should use the European Interoperability
Framework for their operations with each other
5
The institutions are governed by explicit and separate regulations
and with citizens, enterprises and administrations
concerning such matters as personal data protection and public
access to information, rather than being covered by the provisions
in the EU Member States.
in law of a particular Member State.
6
INTRODUCTION
1.2.
Background information
There is a growing awareness that the interoperabil-
should be accompanied by joint actions to build
ity of national public ICT infrastructures is a precon-
up experience and validate advanced solutions
dition for a more service-oriented and competitive
concerning common approaches to key aspects
public sector. Ever since the adoption of the
of seamless pan-European eGovernment service
Interoperability Decision 6 of the European Council
provision such as accessibility, user identification,
and the European Parliament in July 1999, the
security, interoperability, including data definitions
European Commission has focused on the pan-
and procedures. As far as appropriate, pan-
European dimension of eGovernment and on the
European eGovernment services should be
interoperability requirements for its implementation.
integrated and interactive.”
One of the conclusions of the conference on pan-
The proposal from the Commission for a Decision on
European eGovernment services at Sandhamn,
Interoperable Delivery of pan-European eGovern-
Sweden7, was that:
ment Services to Public Administrations, Businesses
and Citizens (IDABC) has been adopted by the
“… to implement eGovernment services an agreed
Council and by the European Parliament on 21 April
interoperability framework for Europe is a pre-
200412. Following on from the IDA Programme,
requisite. This is required to underpin the fast and
IDABC will continue to work on improving coopera-
efficient development of eServices. In addition to
tion between public administrations and on support-
technology, this framework must also address
ing the delivery of pan-European eGovernment
both procedures and content”.
services to citizens and businesses, thus contribut-
ing to greater efficiency in both the public and the
Similarly, the Ministerial Declaration issued at the
private sectors. Interoperability, and in particular the
European eGovernment conference in Como8, Italy
European Interoperability Framework, are key ele-
in July 2003, co-organised by the Italian Presidency
ments of the new programme to support the develop-
of the European Council and the European
ment of pan-European eGovernment services.
Commission, recognised that interoperability is
central to the development of pan-European
The present document therefore aims to meet
eGovernment services. It also stated that an agreed
the demands of the Council conclusions, of the
European Interoperability Framework was a neces-
new IDABC Decision and of the eEurope Action
sary pre-requisite9. The Ministers also welcomed
Plans for an interoperability framework for
the Commission staff working paper on interoper-
Europe's public administrations.
ability in support of eGovernment and restated their
6
desire to see the Commission, in close cooperation
1720/1999/EC: Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council
of 12 July 1999 to adopt a series of actions and measures in order to
with the Member States, deliver the interoperability
ensure interoperability of, and access to, trans -European networks for
framework for pan-European services by the end of
the electronic interchange of data between administrations (IDA).
2003, as announced in eEurope 2005 Action Plan.
7
“eGovernment in the service of European citizens and enterprises -
what is required at the European level”, Sandhamn, Sweden, 13 to 14
June 2001.
On the 26th of September 2003, the Commission
8
issued a Communication to Council and Parliament
eGovernment Conference 2003, 7-8 July 2003, Villa Erba, Como
(Italy)(http://europa.eu.int/information_society/eeurope/egovconf/
on “The role of eGovernment for Europe's Future”10,
index_en.htm)
which supports interoperability and the importance of
9
Ministerial Declaration, European eGovernment Conference 2003
an agreed European Interoperability Framework.
(http://europa.eu.int/information_society/eeurope/egovconf/doc
In its meeting on the 20th of November 200311, the
/ministerial_declaration.pdf)
Council invited the Commission, the Member States
10
COM(2003) 567
and the Acceding States
11 14671/03 (Presse 327), 2543th Council meeting - Transport,
Telecommunications and Energy - Brussels, 20 November 2003
“… to ensure that the creation, development and
12
Decision 2004/387/EC “Decision of the European Parliament and of the
implementation of these [eGovernment] services
Council on Interoperable Delivery of pan-European Services to Public
Administrations, Businesses and Citizens (IDABC)
7
EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORK FOR PAN-EUROPEAN eGOVERNMENT SERVICES
1.3.
Underlying principles
The eEurope Action Plan 2005 as well as the
an obstacle to the delivery of eGovernment
Decisions of the European Parliament, the
services. If neutrality is not feasible (i.e. in
Council and the Commission quoted above have
XML-schemes), provisions should be made in
adopted and promote a set of general principles
order to facilitate translation mechanisms.
which should be respected for any eGovernment
services set up at a pan-European level.
•
SECURITY
Accordingly, the considerations and recommenda-
Overall, the reliable exchange of information
tions of the European Interoperability Framework
takes place in conformity with an established
are based on the following principles:
security policy. This is achieved by conducting
appropriate risk assessment activities prior to
•
ACCESSIBILITY
the set-up of the services and the appropriate
security measures.
There is a need to ensure that eGovernment
creates equal opportunities for all through
This principle applies equally well to the
open, inclusive electronic services that are
information exchange at pan-European level.
publicly accessible without discrimination.
In this case, the administrations concerned will
Generally accepted design principles for inter-
need to consider their own security policy and
faces should be applied in order to ensure
come to an agreement on a common security
access for disabled persons and offer support
policy at pan-European level. In particular, for
in a language understood by the user. The
document classification at EU level and related
Web Accessibility Guidelines established by
security measures, the Council's security
the Web Access Initiative of the World Wide
regulation13 applies.
Web Consortium should be taken into account.
From the user perspective, functions associated
Issues such as socio-economic disparities
with security (identification, authentication,
between regions and groups of citizens should
non-repudiation, confidentiality) should have a
also be addressed. In terms of eInclusion, a
maximum level of transparency, involve minimum
multi-channel approach should be considered
effort and provide the agreed level of security.
in order to render the services available to
citizens and enterprises through several
•
PRIVACY (PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION)
different communication means (kiosks,
web-TV, mobile connectivity, etc.).
Pan-European eGovernment services need to
ensure uniform levels of personal data protection,
•
MULTILINGUALISM
including measures in which individuals have the
right to choose whether their data may be used
In Europe, a vast variety of languages are
for purposes other than those for which they
used extensively in services today. At the
originally supplied the data in question14.
presentation level (front office and web pages
Appropriate information regarding the data
on the Internet - the level at which citizens
and enterprises are to interact with
administrations), language is clearly a major
factor in the effective delivery of trans-
13
OJ L 101/1 - COUNCIL DECISION of 19 March 2001 adopting the
Council's security regulations (2001/264/EC), see also OJ L 137/1
European eGovernment services.
COMMISSION DECISION of 29 November 2001 amending its
internal Rules of Procedure (notified under document number
C(2001) 3031) (2001/844/EC, ECSC, Euratom)
At back-office level, the underlying information
architectures should be linguistically neutral,
14 The European Court of Justice has emphasised in its recent
judgement of 20 May 2003 in the Rechnungshof case the importance
so that multilingualism does not become
of the cumulative application of articles 6 and 7 of Directive 95/46/EC
8
INTRODUCTION
processing activities should be made available
- There are no constraints on the re-use of
to the concerned individuals. Full compliance
the standard.
with the existing European and national data
protection legislation should be ensured15.
In particular, work on interoperability should be
coordinated with the mechanisms already in
place following the Directive 95/46/EC16
RECOMMENDATION 2:
(in particular article 29). When available,
technologies that are privacy-compliant and
The following principles, of a general
privacy-enhancing should be used.
nature, should be considered for any
eGovernment services to be set up at a
•
SUBSIDIARITY
pan-European level:
The guidance provided by the European
- Accessibility
Interoperability Framework is concerned with the
pan-European level of the services. In line with
the principle of subsidiarity, the guidance does not
- Multilingualism
interfere with the internal workings of administra-
tions and EU Institutions. It will be up to each
- Security
Member State and EU Institution to take the
necessary steps to ensure interoperability at a
- Privacy
pan-European level.
- Subsidiarity
•
USE OF OPEN STANDARDS
- Use of Open Standards
To attain interoperability in the context of
pan-European eGovernment services, guidance
- Assess the benefits of Open Source
needs to focus on open standards17.
Software
The following are the minimal characteristics
that a specification and its attendant documents
must have in order to be considered an open
- Use of Multilateral Solutions
standard:
- The standard is adopted and will be
maintained by a not-for-profit organisation,
and its ongoing development occurs on the
basis of an open decision-making procedure
15 Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
available to all interested parties (consensus
of 12 July 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the
protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector
or majority decision etc.).
(Directive on privacy and electronic communications)
-
The standard has been published and the
16
Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of
24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the
standard specification document is available
processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data
either freely or at a nominal charge. It must
17 The term 'standard' is here used in its broadest sense: it includes
be permissible to all to copy, distribute and
all specifications, having gone through a standardisation process,
use it for no fee or at a nominal fee.
which is compliant with the principles outlined above.
The Directive 98/34/EC, which lays down a procedure for the
- The intellectual property - i.e. patents
provision of information in the field of technical standards and
possibly present - of (parts of) the standard
regulations, defines a standard as a technical specification approved by
is made irrevocably available on a royalty-
a recognised international, European, or national standardisation body.
All standard-related definitions will be analysed in 2005 in the frame-
free basis.
work of the review of the Directive 98/34/EC.
9
EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORK FOR PAN-EUROPEAN eGOVERNMENT SERVICES
FIGURE 1: USE OF MULTILATERAL SOLUTIONS
Bilateral Solutions
Multilateral Solutions
• ASSESS THE BENEFITS OF OPEN SOURCE
other hand, if each of the interoperating partners
SOFTWARE
adopts the same set of agreements for interoper-
ability solutions, each of them can reap the benefits
Open Source Software (OSS) tends to use
of a single solution that is developed once and
and help define open standards and publicly
fits the needs of all.
available specifications. OSS products are, by
their nature, publicly available specifications,
and the availability of their source code
promotes open, democratic debate around the
specifications, making them both more robust
and interoperable. As such, OSS corresponds
to the objectives of this Framework and should
be assessed and considered favourably
alongside proprietary alternatives.
•
USE OF MULTILATERAL SOLUTIONS
In a multi-actor environment, one way to achieve
interoperability is to consider different solutions
according to the exchange partner one has to
communicate with, leading to bi-lateral solutions
and agreement. The net effect (and disadvantage)
of such an approach is that it requires as many
communications as there are external partners,
resulting in less efficiency and higher costs. On the
10
INTRODUCTION
1.4
Context and governance
The following figure provides an overview of the
in the public institutions as well as the business
main aspects, actors and the working context of
sector delivering eGovernment services.
the European Interoperability Framework.
The Interoperability Framework remains a work-
•
The context: The Interoperability Framework
in-progress for the time being. It will be improved
forms part of a set of documents and studies
and developed along with the building of pan-
destined to support the implementation of pan-
European eGovernment services and in response
European eGovernment services. Whereas
to the challenges of the evolving of new technolo-
the EIF is intended to give an outline and set
gies. The Framework will be subject to a continuous
general principles for pan-European cooperation,
consultation process with Member States and
the IDA(BC) Architecture Guidelines - and
other stakeholders, which will produce an update
other documents foreseen in the IDA(BC)
at least once a year.
Work Programme - aim at practical guidance
and the building of common standards and
The maintenance of the EIF and related papers
infrastructures needed for the implementation
is going to be a long-term task. Institutional support
of interoperability.
and well-defined workflows are needed in order to
guarantee the consistent development of the
•
Actors and partners: IDABC, Member States,
Framework. In recognition of this need the IDABC
EU Institutions and other stakeholders (such as
Programme intends to implement the organisational
citizen organizations) have been actively involved
infrastructure (“management entity”). This infra-
in the development of the Framework and
structure will be the subject of a pilot study and
Guidelines and will continue to be in the future.
discussed in a separate document. In the meantime,
maintenance of the EIF will be conducted by the
•
Target groups: IT-community members working
IDABC Programme.
FIGURE 2: CONTEXT AND ACTORS
development and maintenance
IDABC
Member
Other
Management
States
stakeholders
Entity
eEurope 2005
INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORK:
Semantic Interoperability Guidelines
Architecture Guidelines
IDABC
Infrastructure for PEGS
Programme
Other documents
political impulse
EU
Member State
Others
Institutions
Administrations
target groups
11
THE FRAMEWORK: THE BASICS OF PAN-EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY
2.
THE FRAMEWORK:
THE BASICS OF PAN-EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY
2.1.
Scope
2.1.1. Interaction types
In the most general form of interoperability, the fol-
Institution/Agency and one or more administra-
lowing three interaction types that cover most of
tions of Member States.
the current trans-border eGovernment services
can be defined (see figure 3):
The first interaction type (see figure 4) comprises
those government eServices that are provided to
•
Direct interaction between citizens or enterprises
citizens or enterprises at national level, but that may
of one particular Member State with adminis-
also be of interest to citizens or enterprises located in
trations of other Member States and/or
other countries - on account of requirements such as
European institutions.
freedom of movement of people and goods.
•
The exchange of data between administrations
Case 1
of different Member States in order to resolve
cases that citizens or enterprises may raise
A web-based job search service provided by a
with the administration of their own country.
labour agency based in a European region can be
used by job seekers to find job vacancies and to
•
The exchange of data between various
submit a CV summary or by employers to post
EU Institutions/Agencies or between an EU
a job vacancy or search for suitable CVs.
FIGURE 3: COMPLEX INTERACTIONS
Member State A
Member State B
A2B
A2B
Businesses
Businesses
A2B
Citizens
A2C
A2C
Citizens
A2C
Administration
Administration
Administration
B
A
A
A2A
A2A
A2A
A2A
European Administrations
A2A: administration to administration - A2B: administration to business - A2C: administration to citizen
13
EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORK FOR PAN-EUROPEAN eGOVERNMENT SERVICES
The supporting system features a service to alert
At a pan-European level, this interaction type requires
an applicant via e-mail when opportunities arise,
interoperability and the exchange of information
or an employer when a suitable CV is available.
between administrations in different Member States.
Designed to serve a national community, this
service is in fact of interest to the wider EU
Case 2
community, i.e. to any enterprise or any individual
wishing to settle in that region.
An employee with a long record of working in
different Member States is retiring and needs to
To reach its potential EU-wide audience, this
apply for a pension. To do so, the employee uses a
sample service needs to fulfil a wider set of
web service provided by the local social security
requirements than a service that is designed for
agency. In order to address the request submitted
national requirements only. This implies that:
by the employee, the local social security agency
needs to connect with all agencies (in each of the
•
The service needs to be available in a language
countries in which the employee has paid pension
that can be understood by potential users who
funds) to collect the data needed for the calculation
may be residing in any one of the Member States.
of the employee's pension scheme.
FIGURE 4: INTERACTION WITHIN AND ACROSS BORDERS
Member State A
Member State B
A2B
Businesses
Businesses
A2B
Citizens
A2C
Citizens
A2C
Administration
•
Rules for defining a CV or job vacancy record
The requirements imposed by this case include:
should be formulated in a manner that is
equally acceptable for all Member States.
•
The user needs to be identified and their
identification then needs to be accepted/
The second interaction type (see figure 5) takes
recognised by all administrations involved.
the simple interaction scenario a step further
because it involves processes in which multiple
•
To allow the matching of data, a high degree
organisations play a role. In a typical example, a
of standardisation is required in terms of
citizen or an enterprise accesses a government
the relevant data structures and the semantic
eService to receive information, to submit informa-
components.
tion (e.g. an application) or to perform a fully-fledged
administrative transaction that triggers a complex
•
Agreements must be made between the
process involving multiple authorities.
different administrations regarding the authen-
14
THE FRAMEWORK: THE BASICS OF PAN-EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY
tication of the sending and the receiving party,
This case involves the regular collection, process-
the accountability of the data transmitted and
ing and delivery of large amounts of data from and
received, the appropriate security levels and
to administrations located anywhere in the
the procedures and mechanisms to be used in
European Union. In addition to the pan-European
this respect.
dimension, high levels of reliability and security
are of crucial importance. The requirements
•
Agreements for data exchange with adminis-
imposed by this case therefore include:
trations other than the social security agencies
(e.g. tax departments) must also be made.
• To allow the matching of data, a high degree of
FIGURE 5: CROSS-BORDER INTERACTION BETWEEN ADMINISTRATIONS
Member State A
Member State B
Citizens
A2C
Admin
Admin
Admin
Admin
Admin
Admin
A
B
C
A
B
C
A2A
A2A
The third interaction type (see figure 6) concerns
standardisation is required in terms of different
the case of the sectoral networks of administrations
national statistical data dictionaries.
(such as the ones dealt with by the IDA(BC)
Programme), where a legal basis requires that the
•
Agreements must be made between the
Member State administrations collect, exchange,
Member States and Eurostat regarding the
and share data together and with EU Institutions
authentication for the sending and the receiving
and Agencies.
party, the accountability of the data transmitted
and received, the appropriate security levels,
Case 3
and the procedures and mechanisms to be
used in this respect.
National statistical agencies in each of the
Member States must submit statistical data to
•
The service needs to be available in a
Eurostat on a regular basis. Eurostat processes
language that can be understood by potential
the data and then makes it available to its
users, who may be residing in any one of the
customers, which include a large number of
Member States.
Member State administrations.
15
EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORK FOR PAN-EUROPEAN eGOVERNMENT SERVICES
FIGURE 6: INTERACTION BETWEEN NATIONAL AND EUROPEAN ADMINISTRATIONS
Member State A
Member State B
Member State C
Administration
Administration
Administration
European Administrations
Customers
2.1.2. Dimensions of Interoperability
Three aspects of interoperability need to be
prerequisite for the front-end multilingual
considered:
delivery of services to the user.
•
ORGANISATIONAL INTEROPERABILITY
•
TECHNICAL INTEROPERABILITY
This aspect of interoperability is concerned
This aspect of interoperability covers the technical
with defining business goals, modelling
issues of linking computer systems and services.
business processes and bringing about the
It includes key aspects such as open interfaces,
collaboration of administrations that wish to
interconnection services, data integration and
exchange information and may have different
middleware, data presentation and exchange,
internal structures and processes. Moreover,
accessibility and security services.
organisational interoperability aims at
addressing the requirements of the user
community by making services available,
RECOMMENDATION 3:
easily identifiable, accessible and user-oriented.
Setting-up eGovernment services at a pan-
•
SEMANTIC INTEROPERABILITY
European level requires the consideration of
interoperability issues with regard to organi-
This aspect of interoperability is concerned
sational, semantic and technical viewpoints.
with ensuring that the precise meaning of
exchanged information is understandable by
any other application that was not initially
developed for this purpose. Semantic interop-
erability enables systems to combine received
information with other information resources
and to process it in a meaningful manner.
Semantic interoperability is therefore a
16
THE FRAMEWORK: THE BASICS OF PAN-EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY
2.2.
Key interoperability areas
PUBLIC SERVICES FOR CITIZENS
(BENCHMARKED AT NATIONAL LEVEL)
1 Income taxes: declaration, notification of assessment
2.2.1. Organisational interoperability
2 Job search services by labour offices
To bring public administrations closer to citizens
3 Social security contributions (3 out of the following 4)
and enterprises, Member States make use of “life
• Unemployment benefits
events” for citizens (e.g. getting married) and
• Child allowances
“business episodes” (e.g. founding a company)
• Medical costs (reimbursement or direct settlement)
for enterprises. In doing so, citizens and enterpris-
• Student grants
es can remain focused on their needs instead of
4 Personal documents (passport and driving licence)
having to deal with the specific functional organi-
sation of the public sector; the service delivery is
5
Car registration (new, used and imported cars)
customer-oriented, transparent, and it follows the
6 Application for building permission
so-called one-stop shop approach.
7 Declaration to the police (e.g. in case of theft)
Each life event or business episode is then asso-
8 Public libraries (availability of catalogues, search tools)
ciated with the relevant actions and interactions
with and between the public administrations.
9 Certificates (birth, marriage): request and delivery
In the context of eEurope, this translates
10 Enrolment in higher education / university
into defining eGovernment services available to
citizens and enterprises and the subsequent
11 Announcement of moving (change of address)
business processes that have to be performed by
12 Health related services (e.g. interactive advice on
the public administrations.
the availability of services in different hospitals;
appointments for hospitals)
Member States have agreed on a common list of
twenty public services (12 for citizens and 8
for enterprises) for which the online sophistication
PUBLIC SERVICES FOR BUSINESSES
is being benchmarked at national level18.
(BENCHMARKED AT NATIONAL LEVEL)
Such a list does not yet exist for eGovernment
services to be provided at pan-European level,
1 Social contribution for employees
but comparable information on this topic is
2 Corporation tax: declaration, notification
expected to result from of an ongoing IDA study19.
3 VAT: declaration, notification
4 Registration of a new company
eGovernment services hide the level of complexi-
ty lying behind the service offered to the citizen
5
Submission of data to statistical offices
and enterprises. Depending on the way public
6
Customs declarations
administrations are organised, a given eGovernment
7 Environment-related permits (including reporting)
service may imply either a single process or sev-
eral business processes to be performed in a
8 Public
procurement
given sequence between different administra-
tions. This is true at both national level and pan-
18
The European Commission has published it on(http://europa.eu.
European level, which is the concern of the EIF.
i n t / i n f o r m a t i o n _ s o c i e t y / e e u r o p e / 2 0 0 2 / a c t i o n _ p l a n / p d f /
eGovernment services provided in a pan-
basicpublicservices.pdf)
European context will rely upon the interaction
19
Survey of stakeholder requirements for pan-European eGovernment
between public administrations from different
services.
Member States and EU Institutions.
17
EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORK FOR PAN-EUROPEAN eGOVERNMENT SERVICES
For example, if a citizen of Member State A mar-
The following figure (see figure 7) provides an
ries a citizen of Member State B, this should trig-
illustration of the concept of BII in the case of a
ger an event 'marriage / change of civil status' in
request addressed to one administration (Member
the Member State where the marriage occurs.
State A), which implies information to come from
Processing the event will result in the change
another Member State as well (Member State B).
of the citizens' civil status being recorded in
From an organisational point of view, such a request
various administrative systems of this Member
is allowed when the administrations involved have
State. For example, getting married may alter one's
agreed in advance on
taxation status, entitlement to social welfare, etc.
•
Which pan-European eGovernment services
While automatic modification of status would be
they contribute to,
achieved within a Member State if the participat-
ing administrative systems (e.g. taxation, social
•
Which business processes are involved, and
welfare) implement their national interoperability
framework, change of its citizen's civil status would
•
Which administrations will provide the BII
not be registered in another Member State's infor-
functionality to interconnect the 'national'
mation systems unless the respective national
business processes which might be completely
administrative systems interoperate.
different (from organisational, semantic and
technical points of view).
RECOMMENDATION 4
(ORGANISATIONAL):
RECOMMENDATION 5
(ORGANISATIONAL):
The requirements for pan-European eGovern-
ment services should be jointly determined by
Public administrations that consider setting up
the participating administrations via a demand-
eGovernment services with a pan-European
driven approach20. This should lead to the
dimension should analyse the related business
identification and prioritisation of services to
processes and actors to be involved. They
be provided at pan-European level21.
should agree on the necessary Business
Interoperability Interfaces (BII) through which
The subsidiarity principle enforces decentralised
their business processes will be able to interop-
responsibility. Decentralised responsibility involves
erate at pan-European level and the definition of
the capability for each partner concerned to organ-
common BII standards should be studied.
ise its business processes in a way best suited to its
practices at national level. Consequently, it is unre-
alistic to believe that administrations from different
Member States will be able to harmonise their busi-
ness processes because of pan-European require-
20
The recent Communication “Public Services for Europe's Future:
ments. Indeed, steps and processes that are inter-
the Role of eGovernment” (SEC(2003) 1038) recognised the
nal to a particular Member State can remain
importance of a demand-driven approach.
(http://europa.eu.int/information_society/eeurope/2005/all_about/
unchanged provided that “entry and exit points” to
egovernment/index_en.htm)
these processes are made transparent to and
21
interoperable with the other Member States
Demand can be determined from the views of citizens and
enterprises, e.g. in co-operation with Eurobarometer (http://europa.
involved. The key to organisational interoperability
eu.int/comm/public_opinion), with Citizen Signpost Service
is therefore to identify and document those
(http://europa.eu.int/citizensrights/signpost/front_end/signpost
_en.htm) et al., and also from the investigation of the practical
“business interoperability interfaces” (BII) through
problems that occur when citizens and enterprises try to relocate or
which the administrations from different Member
trade across Europe's borders, e.g. in cooperation with SOLVIT
( h t t p : / / e u r o p a . e u . i n t / c o m m / i n t e r n a l _ m a r k e t / s o l v i t / i n d e x
States will be able to interoperate at pan-European
_fr.htm) and the Euro Info Centres (http://europa.eu.int/comm/
level for a given eGovernment service.
enterprise/networks/eic/eic.html).
18
THE FRAMEWORK: THE BASICS OF PAN-EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY
FIGURE 7: BUSINESS INTEROPERABILITY INTERFACES
Member State A
Member State B
Business
Query
Process
Result
Interoperability
Process
A
Interfaces
Business
Business
Result
Result
Result
Interoperability
=
B
Interfaces
A + B
In addition, the cooperating public administrations
2.2.2. Semantic interoperability
have to consider the contributions and commit-
ment they require from each other in order to pro-
To move from simply presenting information to
vide an acceptable level of quality and security to
where computer programmes can exchange it,
the customer. To address these requirements with
combine it with other information resources and
confidence, public administrations will need to
subsequently process it in a meaningful manner,
enter into some sort of agreement that gives
requires agreement on a wide variety of issues
assurance to all parties (e.g. service level
that relate to the context within which the informa-
agreements on timely delivery, on quality, on data
tion is created and used. This is the subject of
protection, on security measures, etc.).
semantic interoperability. It entails agreement on,
for example, ways to discover, represent and give
a context to information. This will allow automated
tools to share and process information, even
RECOMMENDATION 6
when they have been designed independently.
(ORGANISATIONAL):
The objective is not only to allow information
resources to be linked up but also to allow infor-
Where the provision of a pan-European
mation to be automatically understandable, and,
eGovernment service requires contribution
consequently, reusable by computer applications
from several public administrations across
that were not involved in its creation22.
Europe, the respective expectations should
be formalised, for example by means of
22
In eGovernment this would, for example, allow a computer application
in one Member State administration to access an information resource
service level agreements. Such agreements
of another Member State administration to validate the taxation status
should at least be considered between the
of an enterprise from that Member State or to check the eligibility for
social welfare of a citizen from another Member State. It could do this
different business interoperability interfaces
with the same ease as it could check the taxation status of nationally
(BII) concerned (at pan-European level).
registered enterprises or the eligibility of its own citizens, without any
In addition, a common security policy should
foreknowledge of the way the information is created or used by the
other national administration. Similarly, the technical and semantic
be agreed upon.
interoperability of geographic information, for example, would enhance
trans-border intra-agency cooperation, environmental monitoring and
the coordination of disaster relief.
19
EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORK FOR PAN-EUROPEAN eGOVERNMENT SERVICES
In the context of the 2005 target of eGovernment
context of current technologies and market develop-
services, semantic interoperability concerns the
ments this mark-up language is XML. However,
need to agree on common definitions and under-
XML does not, and cannot by itself, guarantee or
standing for the pieces of data that will need to be
deliver semantic interoperability. This is achieved
exchanged on a pan-European level.
through initiatives to develop common semantics on
the basis of XML. The subsequent introduction of
Solving semantic interoperability is an activity to be
XML schemas and related artefacts (e.g. metadata,
done at the sectoral level, i.e. within a specific
ontologies, etc.) then make it possible to integrate
eGovernment service, taking into account the life
services that were developed with different vocabu-
event or business episode it serves. However, it is
laries and with different perspectives on the data.
most likely that a common set of data items (the
core eGovernment data elements such as basic
national identifiers of enterprises, citizens and
administrations) may need to be identified at a pan-
RECOMMENDATION 8 (SEMANTIC):
European level. This will require the implementation
of organisational as well as technical infrastructures.
When considering semantic interoperability, due
account should be taken of linguistic traces of
the specific legal vocabularies used in delivering
services. In the European Union's legal and
RECOMMENDATION 7 (SEMANTIC):
social framework, there is a presumption of lin-
guistic equivalence in directives and regulations
For each eGovernment service considered at
that are approved as part of the legislative
a pan-European level, the data elements to be
process. This implies that vocabulary used in
exchanged should be made interoperable by
European law subsequently finds itself used in
requiring
the delivery of eGovernment services on the
national level. This may require pan-European
•
The responsible administrations to publish
harmonisation.
information on the corresponding data
elements involved at national level.
•
The responsible administrations to draft
proposals for and agree on the data and
RECOMMENDATION 9 (SEMANTIC):
the related data dictionaries required at
pan-European level. This work should be
Initiatives at pan-European level to develop
performed on the basis of core eGovernment
common semantics on the basis of XML should
data elements common to all pan-European
be performed in a coordinated way and should
eGovernment services. The sector-specific
consider cooperation with the existing standard-
eGovernment data elements should then
isation bodies. In particular, the XML vocabular-
be defined and agreed upon.
ies should be developed whilst taking into
•
The responsible administrations to draft
account the agreed core/specific eGovernment
proposals for and agree on multilateral
data elements. Specific European schemas and
mapping tables between the various national
definitions should be made available to all pan-
and pan-European data elements.
European stakeholders through common infra-
structures 23.
An essential requirement for the exchange of infor-
mation is a single language that enables the
description of the meaning and structure of the
23
The IDA Work Programme includes a feasibility study to investigate the
underlying data, i.e. a mark-up language. In the
functionalities and resources needed.
20
THE FRAMEWORK: THE BASICS OF PAN-EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY
2.2.3. Technical interoperability
Internet-based services, including government
The most common way to delivering eServices to
eServices are available in a myriad of forms and
citizens is to set up a portal in front of the govern-
appearances and offer a variety of interaction types,
ment applications, although mobile phones, PDAs
ranging from simple websites to interactive ways of
etc. are also becoming increasingly important.
doing business. In the context of eGovernment
The portal handles the communication with the
services, a commonly used classification of these
users (user identification and authentication,
interaction types distinguishes the following sophis-
presentation of a coherent view of the multitude of
tication levels:
government services involved, provision/collec-
tion of data to/from the user, communication with
•
Stage 1: Online services only provide information.
the government applications, etc.).
The consumer can read this information online
or download it.
Additional portal components include forms
servers and distributed content management sys-
• Stage 2: Forms are available online. These
tems. The communication between the portal and
can be downloaded and returned by post, fax
the applications, or between the application them-
or e-mail.
selves, is then provided by specific middleware
components which ensure the interoperability
• Stage 3: Individual transactions between an
between the diverse systems. See for example
administration and an enterprise or citizen are
some middleware solutions considered in
possible. Forms can be completed online and
Sweden31 and Germany32, where Stage 3 / Stage
orders can be placed and paid for.
4 services are dealt with. In the context of pan-
European eGovernment services, this means
•
Stage 4: Multiple transactions are possible,
connecting applications which belong to different
services are integrated and transactions
administrations and which are located in different
between administrations and enterprises and
Member States. The following figure considers the
citizens are fully automated.
most complex interaction type (Stage 4) that
encompasses the other models.
Although each of these levels describes
eServices, the most challenging requirements for
electronic interoperability are at the fourth level.
Stage 1 and Stage 2 mainly concern the interac-
24 EURES - European-wide job search portal:
tion of the eGovernment service with the user
(http://europa.eu.int/eures)
(front-office) where there is no automated elec-
25 PLOTEUS, training opportunities database:
tronic processing of the forms performed, whilst
(http://europa.eu.int/ploteus)
Stage 3 and especially Stage 4 involve background
26 COWEBS - the social security portal for migrant workers:
electronic processing of the information provided
(http://europa.eu.int/idabc/en/document/1438)
and possibly electronic interactions with external
27 SOLVIT solving administrative obstacles in cross-border
systems from other administrations and/or from
procedures: (http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/solvit)
enterprises (back-office interoperability).
28 TRIS 98/34 information site concerning national technical regulations :
(http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/tris/index_en.htm)
The main focus of Stage 1 / Stage 2 services is
29 SIMAP - systeme d'information pour les marches publics :
the provision of information to citizens and enter-
(http://simap.eu.int/FR/pub/src/welcome.htm)
prises. Examples of such eGovernment services
30 Your Europe: (http://europa.eu.int/public-services/)
at EU level include EURES24, PLOTEUS25,
COWEBS26, SOLVIT27, TRIS28, SIMAP29, and the
31 SHS: (http://www.statskontoret.se/shs/pdf/1-1documentation.pdf)
Your Europe portal30 that provides information on
32 OSCI: (http://www.osci.de/)
cross-border public services in Europe.
21
EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORK FOR PAN-EUROPEAN eGOVERNMENT SERVICES
FIGURE 8: COMPLEX INTERACTION THROUGH A PORTAL
Citizens
Portal
Government
Government
Network
Application
Application
Interoperable
middleware
Member State A
Member State B
Another way to enable communication between
enterprises and public administrations is to direct-
RECOMMENDATION 11 (TECHNICAL):
ly interconnect their respective applications with
adequate middleware components. For example,
At back-office level, technical interoperability
a statistical application in an enterprise which
aspects should be considered for the following
automatically sends the required statistics to the
fields:
National Statistics Institute, or an enterprise
accounting system which sends tax declarations
- Data integration and middleware
to the Finance Administration. Once again, this
concerns back-office interoperability.
- XML-based standards
- EDI-based standards
RECOMMENDATION 10 (TECHNICAL):
- Web Services
At front-office level, technical interoperability
- Distributed Application Architecture
aspects should be considered for the following
fields:
- Interconnection services
- Data presentation and exchange
- File and message transfer protocols
- Accessibility - Interface design principles
- Message transport and security
- Multi-channel access
- Message store services
- Character sets
- Mailbox access
- Collective authoring
- Directory and domain name services
- File type and document formats
- Network services
- File compression
22
THE FRAMEWORK: THE BASICS OF PAN-EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY
FIGURE 9 : INTERACTION FROM MIDDLEWARE TO MIDDLEWARE
Business
Back-Office Application
Government
Government
Network
Application
Application
Interoperable
middleware
Member State A
Member State B
the key technical aspects and showed a large
RECOMMENDATION 12 (TECHNICAL):
degree of conformity in the technical choices that
the countries have made at national level.
Security aspects to be considered concern
all layers:
There is a commonality of standards for transport
(e.g. networking LAN/WAN) and for presentation
- Security services
(e.g. file / hypertext / message transfer / character
- General security services - PKI
sets) of information. There is also a high degree of
commonality in standards for domain naming, web
- Web service security
browsers and viewers. This is because the national
eGIFs, in effect, implement Internet standards at
- Firewalls
these levels. The use of the XML family of standards
is recommended in national eGIFs for data integra-
- Protection against viruses, worms, Trojan
horses and e-mail bombs
tion. This is usually supplemented with recommen-
dations for supporting standards such as UML or
RDF for data modelling, XSLT for data transforma-
Indeed, it is only with the recent development and
tion, Dublin Core (possibly with national extensions)
ubiquity of 'Internet-type' technologies, based on
for metadata, etc. Some Member States also make
universally agreed open standards and specifica-
reference to the interoperability of Web Services.
tions, that it has been possible to achieve a high
degree of technical interoperability. The Internet
These results provide for a very positive and
itself is a good example of this, where computers
favourable technical ground to the establishment of
and information resources all over the world can
interoperable pan-European eGovernment services.
link up, present data in a universally readable for-
The technical solutions adopted for such services
mat and exchange e-mails by simply respecting
will need to respect the capability of each partner
protocols such as TCP/IP, HTTP and S/MIME.
concerned to organise their data processing systems
and networks in the way that is best suited to their
A comparative analysis of the standards and spec-
practices (i.e. technological approach, legal frame-
ifications mentioned in the national interoperability
frameworks (eGIF) of France33, Germany34 and
33 (http://www.adae.pm.gouv.fr)
the United Kingdom35 was performed before this
34 (http://www.kbst.bund.de)
framework was drafted. The comparison considered
35 (http://www.govtalk.gov.uk)
23
EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORK FOR PAN-EUROPEAN eGOVERNMENT SERVICES
work, principles of management, etc.). Technical
When the open source software approach is fol-
interoperability should then be achieved on the basis
lowed, it is conceivable that a local administration
of common guidelines that will enable the adoption of
translates particular components and makes them
technical solutions that work on a multilateral basis.
available again to the community at large. The
coordination of efforts at a pan-European level
Multilingualism is a well-known characteristic of
should stimulate and support these activities.
Europe and a demanding aspect to be taken into
account when designing technical solutions for
pan-European eGovernment services.
RECOMMENDATION 13 (TECHNICAL):
RECOMMENDATION 16
(TECHNICAL - MULTILINGUALISM):
Member State administrations and EU
Institutions and Agencies should develop and
use common guidelines for the technical
For the Pan-European services provided via
interoperability of pan-European networks,
portals, the top-level EU portal interface
applications and services in the context
should be fully multilingual, the second-level
of eGovernment. The IDA(BC) guidelines36
pages (introductory texts and the descriptions
should constitute the basis for such
of links) should be offered in the official lan-
guidelines, and be updated accordingly, also
guages and the external links and related
taking into account relevant results and
pages on the national websites should be
guidelines coming from the Community
available in at least one other language (for
research and technological development
example English) in addition to the national
programmes and other Community pro-
language(s).
grammes such as IST, eTen, and eContent.
RECOMMENDATION 14 (TECHNICAL):
RECOMMENDATION 17
(TECHNICAL - MULTILINGUALISM):
The common guidelines should be based on
recognised open standards.
For other cases machine translation software
may be offered to yield a rough translation
of the contents of a website into the desired
language37.
RECOMMENDATION 15
(TECHNICAL - MULTILINGUALISM):
As concerns the submission of requests via
e-mail or front offices, there should be facilities
36
(http://europa.eu.int/idabc/en/document/2317)
for citizens and enterprises to submit requests
in their own language when possible. An alter-
37
Even though this translation would not be perfect and may contain
native is to submit requests only in a limited
logical and grammatical errors, its result would at least give some
impression of the contents of the site and could thus offer support in
set of languages at EU level (e.g. 3 languages
the decision of whether or not to request or produce a professional
such as English, French and German).
translation.
24
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NATIONAL INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORKS
3.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NATIONAL
INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORKS
3.1.
High-level policy issues
High-level policy issues can be stated in terms of
•
The level of technology in the country;
objectives. These objectives are to be realised by
making use of opportunities provided by techno-
•
Economic disparities between regions;
logical developments. Objectives may focus on
improving:
•
Socio-economic disparities between
groups of citizens;
•
Effectiveness: eGovernment will not be limited
to the provision of standard administration
•
Cultural and language differences;
services by electronic means; it will also allow
the delivery of entirely new services.
•
Different legal systems that may hinder
integration.
•
Efficiency: Improved access to information and
cost reduction by integrating local, regional
If these obstacles are not addressed, they may
and national administrations.
even have a cumulative effect. If advances
in technology are not matched by developments
•
Flexibility: Multi-channel access to information
in other areas, the digital divide will widen,
and services for every citizen and enterprise,
thereby excluding groups from accessing the
24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
services. On the other hand, seen from the
perspective of the service provider, if an eService
•
Transparency: Ease of finding and using services,
is based on technology choices that exceed the
thus allowing citizens and enterprises better
skills of the intended target groups, the potential
access to and participation in administrative
benefits of the service may not be reaped.
matters and political issues.
A clever solution that works well in one country
may exceed the capabilities of citizens and enter-
All these objectives may have a European
prises in another country.
dimension. National interoperability frameworks
should pay attention to this dimension if there is a
need for cross-border exchange of information.
3.2.
Scope
The results may influence how other issues are
addressed. Entirely new services may be required
In order to define clear policies, it is important to
that are primarily aimed at citizens and enterpris-
have a clear view of:
es of other countries. These services may require
different channels to provide them and they may
•
The target groups of the national interoperability
need to be offered in different languages.
framework (only government administrations
or also enterprises from the private sector
When stating the objectives, attention should be
which provide public services).
paid to the realities of the country. These realities
provide information on the obstacles that have to
•
Whether the target groups must adhere to the
be overcome in implementing the policy. Areas
interoperability framework of their country or
that must be considered are:
they are merely “invited” to do so.
25
EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORK FOR PAN-EUROPEAN eGOVERNMENT SERVICES
3.3. Business requirements for
3.4.
General approach
eGovernment services
When implementing a national interoperability
framework the emphasis is obviously on “interop-
If an eService is to contribute to the implementa-
erability”. Standardisation in technology and
tion of the high-level policy, it should adhere to
harmonisation in legislation are just two ways to
generic business requirements for eGovernment
achieve this.
services. In this context, the following priority
requirements can be stated.
Other recommendations are:
•
eServices are made known to users and users
•
Use open standards.
are aware of the benefits of using the services.
•
Incorporate existing standards in a larger context.
•
eServices can be located easily.
•
Stimulate re-use of proven standards.
•
eServices must be accessible to all members
of the intended target groups. This may imply a
•
Redesign administrative processes and make
differentiation between services that are
the best use of the available technology.
used anonymously and services that require
This is also an opportunity to make services
identification. Accessibility also includes aware-
more user-centred.
ness of the needs of disabled and elderly
persons.
•
Keep administrative systems independent of
proprietary technology.
•
eServices should be user-centred.
They should be comprehensive, correct, readily
•
Coordinate and manage the eGovernment ini-
available, and easy to understand in terms of
tiative.
language and structure.
•
Centrally agreed XML schemas may be
•
eServices should add value.
provided free of charge throughout the public
A service that is merely “paper on glass”
sector. This form of re-use reduces cost and
does not reap the full benefits of the available
the need to develop separate mechanisms for
information technology. Where applicable a
interchanging data.
service should be integrated with other services.
•
Keep track of developments in the wider
•
The provision of eServices should be safe,
community. For instance, changes in privacy
confidential and in no way harm the privacy of
legislation may impose requirements to the
either party.
provision of some eServices.
•
The design of eGovernment applications
• Reduce the amount of data to be collected by
should comply with the existing legal data
using well-defined data dictionaries and data
protection requirements and, where available,
structures.
make use of technologies that are privacy-
compliant and privacy-enhancing.
•
Ensure information security by preventing
unauthorised access to systems and, in
the case of highly confidential information,
securing each record (or even each component)
individually.
•
Enable wide access (user-friendly interfaces,
access for the disabled, foreign language
support, etc.).
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