A Review Of Interoperability Standards And Initiatives In Electronic Government

Being important at organizational, process and semantic levels, interoperability became a key characteristic of the new electronic government systems and services, over the last decade. As a crucial prerequisite for automated process execution leading to “one-stop” e-Government services, interoperability has been systematically prescribed, since the dawn of the 21st century: Standardization frameworks, that included guidelines ranging from simple statements to well defined international Web-Service standards started to appear at National and Cross-Country levels, powered by governments, the European Union or the United Nations. In parallel, most international software, hardware and service vendors created their own strategies for achieving the goal of open, collaborative, loosely coupled systems and components. The paper presents the main milestones in this fascinating quest that shaped electronic government during the last 10 years, describing National Frameworks, key Pan-European projects, international standardization and main industrial and research achievements. Moreover, the paper describes the next steps needed to achieve interoperability at technical, semantic, organizational, legal or policy level – leading to the transformation of administrative processes and the provision of low-cost, high-quality services to citizens and businesses

Enabling Semantic Interoperability in e-Government: A System-based Methodological Framework for XML Schema Management at National Level

Articulating semantic interoperability in e-Government remains in question as long as the international standardization efforts do not reach a consensus on how to semantically annotate and exchange data, but merely focus on the syntactic aspects by publishing sets of XML Schemas. As one-stop governmental services at national and cross-county level become an imperative, the need for standardized data definitions, codification of existing unstructured information and a framework for managing governmental data in a unified way emerges. Effectively applied to the Greek e-Government National Interoperability Framework, this paper proposes a methodology for designing semantically enriched XML Schemas with which homogenized governmental information complies, based on the UN/CEFACT Core Components Technical Specification (CCTS). A discussion around a prospective architecture for managing large sets of XML Schemas is also motivated in order to recognize the necessary components and the key issues that need to be tackled when designing a Governmental Schema Registry

Social Analytics in an Enterprise Context: From Manufacturing to Software Development

Although customers become more and more vocal in expressing their experiences, demands and needs in various social networks, companies of any size typically fail to effectively gain insights from such social data and to eventually catch the market realm. This paper introduces the Anlzer analytics engine that aims at leveraging the "social" data deluge to help companies in their quest for deeper understanding of their products' perceptions as well as of the emerging trends in order to early embed them into their product design phase. The proposed approach brings together polarity detection and trend analysis techniques as presented in the architecture and demonstrated through a simple walkthrough in the Anlzer solution. The Anlzer implementation is by design domain-independent and is being tested in the furniture domain at the moment, yet it brings significant added value to software design and development, as well, through its experimentation playground that may provide indirect feedback on future software features while monitoring the reactions to existing releases

From Understanding to Use and Compete: A translational Platform for Business Transformation

This article discusses a translational cycle and a translational platform which have been designed in the context of the FutureEnterprise project, a European Commission funded support action. One of the main strategic axes of the FutureEnterprise project is related to a specific focus on translational research activities, aiming to bridge academic and industrial research with Internet-based entrepreneurship and digital business innovation. The term ‘translational research’ appeared in Pubmed illustrates, for the first time around 1993 to identify the “translational gaps’’, hindering the transformation of discoveries in the life sciences into improvements having societal profit from basic research. As for the management research, translational issues have been pointed out as relevant and critical factors within Academy of Management (AOM) research community, identifying two types of translational challenges for an effective impact of management research on practice: a “lost in translation” (fail to find the right way to transfer research results in the practitioners language, understanding, and needs) and “lost before translation” (fail to identify an appropriate and systematic translation process as the one leading from “bench to bedside” in life sciences ). The contribution presented in this article aims to face the challenges of ‘translational research’ in the context of technology management and innovation from a design science stance, thus identifying key constructs further developed through a translational platform which represents the resulting IT artifact (existing MOOC) from a “tool view”

Envisioning Digital Europe 2030: Scenarios for ICT in Future Governance and Policy Modelling

The report Envisioning Digital Europe 2030 is the result of research conducted by the Information Society Unit of IPTS as part of the CROSSROAD Project - A Participative Roadmap on ICT research on Electronic Governance and Policy Modelling (www.crossroad-eu.net ). After outlining the purpose and scope of the report and the methodological approach followed, the report presents the results of a systematic analysis of societal, policy and research trends in the governance and policy modelling domain in Europe. These analyses are considered central for understanding and roadmapping future research on ICT for governance and policy modelling. The study further illustrates the scenario design framework, analysing current and future challenges in ICT for governance and policy modelling, and identifying the key impact dimensions to be considered. It then presents the scenarios developed at the horizon 2030, including the illustrative storyboards representative of each scenario and the prospective opportunities and risks identified for each of them. The scenarios developed are internally consistent views of what the European governance and policy making system could have become by 2030 and of what the resulting implications for citizens, business and public services would be. Finally, the report draws conclusions and presents the proposed shared vision for Digital Europe 2030, offering also a summary of the main elements to be considered as an input for the future development of the research roadmap on ICT for governance and policy modelling.JRC.DDG.J.4-Information Societ

European (energy) data exchange reference architecture 3.0

This is the third version of Data Exchange Reference Architecture – DERA 3.0. BRIDGE report on energy data exchange reference architecture aims at contributing to the discussion and practical steps towards truly interoperable and business process agnostic data exchange arrangements on European scale both inside energy domain and across different domains.DERA 3.0Recommendations related to the implementation of DERA:A. Leverage Smart Grid Architecture Model (SGAM) usage by completing it with data governance requirements, specifically from end-customer perspective, and map it to the reference architectures of other sectors (similar to the RAMI4.0 for industry – Reference Architecture Model Industrie 4.0; and CREATE-IoT 3D RAM for health – Reference Architecture Model of CREATE-IoT project), incl. for basic interoperability vocabulary with non-energy sectors.B. Facilitate European strategy, regulation (harmonisation of national regulations) and practical tools for cross-sector exchange of any type of both private data and public data, e.g. through reference models for data space, common data governance and data interoperability implementing acts.C. Ensure cooperation between appropriate associations, countries and sector representatives to work on cross-sector and cross-border data management by establishing European data cooperation agency. This involves ongoing empowering/restructuring of the Data Management WG of the BRIDGE Initiative to engage other sectors and extend cooperation with projects that are not EU-funded and with European Standardisation Organisations (CEN-CENELEC-ETSI).D. Harmonise the development, content and accessibility of data exchange business use cases for cross-sector domain through BRIDGE use case repository. Track tools that identify common features on use cases, e.g. interfaces between sectors, and enable the alignment with any potential peer repositories for other domains. Also, the use case repository must rely on the HEMRM with additional roles created by some projects or roles coming from other associations (related to another sector than the electricity/energy sector).E. Use BRIDGE use case repository for aligning the role selection. Harmonise data roles across electricity and other energy domains by developing HERM – Harmonised Energy Role Model and ensure access to model files. Look for consistency with other domains outside energy based on this HERM – cross-sectoral roles. Harmonised EnergyData EndpointsData SpaceConnectorData ProcessingStandard CommunicationProtocols& FormatsData HarmonizationData PersistanceVocabularyProviderCredentialManagerIdentityManagerMonitoring& OrchestrationData DiscoveryData IndexerLocal AI/ML ServicesDigital TwinsMarketplace BackendStandard CommunicationProtocols& FormatsMarketplace FrontendFederatedUse Cases and Business needsLocal Use Cases and Business needsEnergy RegulationEU Re-gulationActorsBusinessFunctionInformationComp.CommsNon-personal dataSecurity/ResilienceUserAcceptanceSovereigntyOpen SourceInteroperabilityLocalFederatedInteroperabilityTrustData valueGovernance9DATA MANAGEMENT WORKING GROUPEuropean (energy) data exchange reference architecture 3.0Role Model shall have clear implications and connections with data (space) roles such as data provider/consumer, service provider etc.F. Define and harmonise functional data processes for cross-sector domain, using common vocabulary, template and repository for respective use cases’ descriptions. Harmonisation of functional data processes for cross-sector data ecosystems including Vocabulary provider, Federated catalogue, Data quality, Data accounting processes, Clearing process (audit, logging, etc.) and Data tracking and provenance.G. Define and maintain a common reference semantic data model, and ensure access to its model files facilitating cross-sector data exchange, by leveraging existing data models like Common Information Model (CIM) of International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and ontologies like Smart Appliances Reference Ontology (SAREF).H. Develop cross-sector data models and profiles, with specific focus on private data exchange. Enable open access to model files whenever possible.I. Ensure protocol agnostic approach to cross-sector data exchange by selecting standardised and open ones.J. Ensure data format agnostic approach to cross-sector data exchange. The work done by projects like TDX-ASSIST and EU-SysFlex (using IEC CIM), and PLATOON (using SAREF) must be shared and made known to consolidate the approach in order to reach semantic interoperability. Metadata must also be taken into account.K. Promote business process agnostic DEPs (Data Exchange Platforms) and make these interoperable by developing APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) which enable for data providers and data users easy connection to any European DEP but also create the possibility whereby connecting to one DEP ensures data exchange with any other stakeholder in Europe. DEPs shall explore the integration of data space connectors towards their connectivity with other DEPs including cross-sector ones.L. Develop universal data applications which can serve any domain. Develop open data driven services that promote also cross-sector integration collectively available in application repositories.Possible next steps (“sub-actions”) for 2023/2024:➢ Release BRIDGE Federated Service Catalogue tool and associated process.➢ Release DERA interactive visualisation tool.➢ Follow up the implementation of DERA 3.0 in BRIDGE projects (mapping to DERA)➢ Update recommendations to comply with DERA 3.0.➢ Develop / enhance the “data role model”

A Comparative Analysis of National Interoperability Frameworks

Despite current advancements in online provision of eGovernment services, interoperability issues at national and crosscountry level that will facilitate fully integrated, both vertically and horizontally, one-stop, electronic services still remain unsolved. In this context, eGovernment Interoperability Frameworks try to continually extend their scope and to outline the essential prerequisites for joined-up and web-enabled e-government in order to effectively second the seamless exchange of information and the deployment of interoperable systems in the public sector. This paper presents the national interoperability frameworks that have been released by 9 countries (Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, New Zealand, United Kingdom and United States of America) and have reached a certain degree of maturity. A comparative analysis among their contents is conducted in order to indicate the similarities and differences in their philosophy and implementation and to provide a set of recommendations for any interesting party embarking to design or update an Interoperability Framework

Towards a Framework for B2B Integration Readiness Assessment and Guided Support of the SMEs

Abstract. In today's world with companies operating in a global business environment. Most enterprises, and especially the SMEs, lack the necessary business culture, technical and non-technical infrastructure and economic flexibility in order to efficiently adjust to the environment of a B2B integration framework. This paper proposes an Enterprise Integration Assessment Framework (EIAF) and its support software system that aims to aid enterprises in adopting a multienterprise (B2B) integration approach by evaluating its situational status and by estimating the expected integration impact based on the evaluation results