CAMSS: Common Assessment Method for Standards and Specifications
CAMSS, an initiative of the European Commission's IDABC programme, aims to initiate, support and coordinate the collaboration between volunteer Member States in defining a “Common Assessment Method for Standards and Specifications” and to share the assessment study results for the development of eGovernment services.
Last update: November 2009
Member States are currenlty organising the assessment of standards and specifications, e.g. within the context of their National Interoperability Frameworks. Sharing information and knowledge on this process, aligning the national processes and re-using best practices will speed up the assessment processes and reduce their cost throughout European Public Administrations.
The CAMSS project is currently in Phase 2, launched in early January 2009 and with the duration of one year. This phase will deliver the first overall description of CAMSS in general and in specific a description of the process and the criteria to be used when assessing standards and specifications. The current draft of CAMSS can be found at epractice.
A CAMSS Member State Expert Group has been formed with the role to identify and define a set of criteria for the Common Assessment Method of Standards and Specifications.
It will then be at the convenience of the MemberStates and the European Commission on how to use the process and the criteria, and to proceed with their own interpretations / recommendations / regulations in using the assessment study results.
During Phase 2 a number of assessment studies are identified, conducted and shared.
The first phase of CAMSS project came to and end in early January, 2009. During phase 1, the IDABC Programme facilitated the definition of common assessment guidelines sharing experiences through the:
provision of collaborative working / editing / discussion tools;
collection / analysis and elaboration of workable versions of Member State contributions;
collection and analysis of valuable input from similar experiences around the world.
The project report of the CAMSS phase 1 that has been subject to consultation, is available:
CAMSS Phase 1 project report
[228 Kb]
The proposal for the CAMSS that has been subject to consultation, is available:
CAMSS proposal for comments
[87 Kb]
IDABC has received comments on the content of CAMSS from:
Download here the summary of consultations. This document will constitute a valuable input for the completion of CAMSS
The anticipated outcome is an IDABC registry, accordingly updated, containing methods and aspects used as a reference by the Member States and the Commission, either in whole or in part, aiming to create re-usable and comparable interoperability ICT investigations, with improved quality and reduced time and resources.
The elaboration and use of the CAMSS by the Member States will lead to:
a more efficient use of public funds via sharing and re-use among eGovernment projects;
avoiding duplication of effort. Results will be re-used and best practices shared; this will lead to defining guidelines at a faster pace and lower cost, as well as to cross-border transparency;
The CAMSS is an initiative from the Member States, with the aim to enable interoperability through sharing expertise and best practices in the use of standards and specifications for software in eGovernment.
The use of the CAMSS by the Member States also allows for transparency in the choice of eGovernment solutions and standards.
Not only a guide for assessing and selecting standards and specifications, a reference when building an architecture, the CAMSS can furthermore explain these choices.
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CAMSS Phase 1 project report