Version 1.1 of CEF eID Sample Implementation
We are happy to announce the release of the version 1.1 of the sample implementation of CEF eID.
In this updated version, performance under stress conditions has been increased, by notably focusing on eIDAS compliance and removing remaining legacy features that are outside the scope of eIDAS conditions.
This release contains the following improvements:
Definition of an abstraction and clear conformity of light Request/Response (in the module EIDAS-Light-Commons). These light objects (SAML agnostic) are designed to be used in the eIDAS-Node (SP to Connector) and also in the country specific modules (Proxy Service to IDP);
Definition of an abstraction and a clear conformity for the country-specific modules (in the module EIDAS-SpecificCommunicationDefinition). With this abstraction, the dependency with the SAML Engine is no longer needed in the country specific modules;
Improvements to the SAML Engine for complete independence and to able to be configured separately from the eIDAS-Node (metadata configuration, white list of signature and encryption algorithms);
Definition of an attribute registry used by the SAML Engine to provide clear definition, conformity of the attributes supported (configuration based) and enforcing validation;
Full coverage of the transliteration at the attribute and attribute registry level; and
Hardening to ensure immutability when necessary on the classes used in the SAML Engine (builder pattern).
Special announcement for eID users: starting with the eIDAS-node v1.1, eID will release all future versions of the eIDAS sample implementation on the CEF Digital 2018 Portal, issues with this and all future releases will be managed via the CEF Digital 2018 Portal.
Background and useful info
The eIDAS Regulation is a milestone to provide a predictable regulatory environment to enable secure and seamless electronic interactions between businesses, citizens and public authorities. It aims to increase the effectiveness of public and private online services, eBusiness and electronic commerce in the EU.
Additional information:
- Information on CEF eID is available on the CEF Digital 2018 Portal.
- The CEF Regulation is available here.
- Information on electronic identification and trust services is available here.
Key CEF eDelivery Service Offerings Online
We are happy to announce that the content and descriptions of several key CEF eDelivery service offerings have been updated on the CEF Digital 2018 Portal. The CEF eDelivery Building Block helps public administrations to exchange electronic data and documents with other public administrations, businesses and citizens, in an interoperable, secure, reliable and trusted way.
You can follow this link to see the CEF eDelivery service offering, including the following information:
CEF eDelivery Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
The CEF eDelivery Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) service enables issuance and management of the digital certificates used in the CEF eDelivery components to ensure confidentiality, integrity and non-repudiation of the data moving across systems. This service is provided to policy domains interested in creating a trust circle for information exchange using the technical specifications and components of CEF eDelivery.
More information about this service is available in the service offering description of CEF eDelivery PKI.
CEF eDelivery Conformance Testing
CEF eDelivery offers a Conformance Testing service to software and service providers to verify that an implementation of the CEF eDelivery Access Point specifications - a software package either commercial or Open Source - conforms to the specifications of the CEF eDelivery Access Point.
The CEF eDelivery Team provides ready-to-use test cases, a testing platform, and supports the users of the CEF eDelivery Conformance Testing service during the testing process.
More information about this service is available in the service offering description of CEF eDelivery Conformance Testing.
CEF eDelivery Connectivity Testing
CEF eDelivery offers a Connectivity Testing service to software and service providers to test if a newly installed AS4 Access Point, conformant with the CEF eDelivery specifications, can successfully communicate with the sample AS4 Access Point hosted by the European Commission.
The CEF Support Team facilitates the Connectivity Testing by making available a sample AS4 Access Point in a cloud environment, as well as providing guidelines and support during the testing process.
More information about this service is available in the service offering description of CEF eDelivery Connectivity Testing.
CEF eDelivery Training and Deployment
CEF eDelivery offers Training sessions and Deployment support of the CEF eDelivery Components (Access Point, Service Metadata Locator and Service Metadata Publisher) to Public Administrations.
The CEF eDelivery Training and Deployment service is a well-balanced combination of information about the technical specifications, components and sample implementations of CEF eDelivery as well as information about how to deploy them.
More information about this service is available in the service offering description of CEF eDelivery Training and Deployment.
Assistance is available via dedicated CEF eDelivery Support, reachable via:
- cef-edelivery-support@ec.europa.eu
- +32 2 299 09 09
- CEF Digital 2018 Support
CEF eID Presented at the FIDO Alliance
On 9 May 2016, the European Commission Directorate General for Informatics (DIGIT) presented CEF eID at the FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance in Berlin, Germany.
CEF eID helps public administrations and private online service providers to easily extend the use of their online services to citizens from other EU Member States. The CEF eID solution can assist compliance with eIDAS Regulation, which ensures legal interoperability by providing a clear regulatory framework.
The CEF eID service offering provides the eIDAS-Node software, conformance testing, technical support and training and an eIDAS compliant set of technical specifications (which Member States can use if they are providing their own implementation). CEF eID undertakes the task of general coordination of the eID activities in the Member States, in order to ensure maximal interoperability of the eID core service platform across borders and advise in order to support the eIDAS compliance in the Member States, from a legal to technical point of view.
You can find all the information you need to start (re)using CEF eID on the CEF Digital 2018 portal.
The FIDO Alliance is a 501(c)6 non-profit organization nominally formed in July 2012 to address the lack of interoperability among strong authentication devices as well as the problems users face with creating and remembering multiple usernames and passwords
EESPA General Assembly 2016
In order to anticipate the legal obligation on EU Member States to comply with the 2014 Directive on eInvoicing, which requires all public administrations and entities within the EU to be able to receive and pay eInvoices from the end of 2018, CEF Digital 2018 presented on eInvoicing at the general assembly meeting of the Electronic E-invoicing Service Providers' Association on 19 May in Tallinn, Estonia.
This presentation started with a background on the origins of the CEF programme and the global policy it supports, the Digital Single Market, before providing an update on the status of eInvoicing at EC level and the associated actions taken to support public administrations' compliance with the Directive. In order to ensure that eInvoicing is as successful as possible, service providers were strongly encouraged to take advantage of these initiatives, such as the development of the Match-making website (MMWS), the goal of which is to "facilitate and accelerate compliance with the EU Directive 2014/55/EU by assisting Public Administrations in identifying and choosing an eInvoicing solution" depending on their differing levels of eInvoicing maturity.
Several participants at the meeting were extremely interested by the Match-making website (MMWS) and declared their interest to contribute to its development. Please contact the CEF Building Blocks team for more information or to be involved.
- CEF eInvoicing Service Offering
- 2014/55EU Directive on eInvoicing
- Match-making website (MMWS)
- Digital Single Market (DG CNECT)
CEF Digital 2018 Presented at the Agency for Administrative Modernisation
On 19 May 2016, the European Commission Directorate General for Informatics (DIGIT) presented the CEF building blocks at an event organised by the Agência para a Modernização Administrativa IP (AMA) (Agency for Administrative Modernisation) and Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, IP (FCT) (Foundation for Science and Technology), in Lisbon, Portugal.
The event consisted of representatives from both the public and private sectors, including municipalities, government ministries, as well as consulting and IT companies. Participants were especially interested in the provision of grant funding for the uptake of CEF eDelivery, both those who have previously submitted Calls for Proposals, and those looking to submit an application for the first time.
The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) supports trans- European networks and infrastructures in the sectors of transport, telecommunications and energy. The CEF building blocks (eDelivery, eID, eInvoicing, eSignature and eTranslation) offer basic capabilities that can be (re)-used in any European project to facilitate the delivery of digital public services across borders. The uptake of the CEF building blocks is supported by grant funding and the CEF service offerings, including Technical specifications, Software, Managed, Testing and Supporting services as well as Onboarding services.
In 2016 the European Commission has made an indicative budget of EUR 70 million available through grants, to improve the interoperability and interconnectivity of the European digital service ecosystem. The Calls for Proposals are administered by the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA). Calls for Proposals for CEF eDelivery, eID and eSignature are open until 15 September 2016. See the INEA website for an overview of all Calls for Proposals in 2016.
The event coincided with the launch of the SIMPLEX+ programme of the Portuguese government, seeking to facilitate the relationship between citizens, businesses and government. The launch of SIMPLEX+ included a speech from Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, itself marking the one-year anniversary of the European Commission's Better Regulation Agenda.
On the CEF Digital 2018 website, you can find all the information you need on the service offering of each CEF building block and understand how you can begin your journey to adopting one or more CEF building blocks:
- CEF Digital 2018
- CEF Telecom Calls for Proposals (INEA)
- European Commission Directorate General for Informatics (DIGIT)
- European Commission Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content & Technology (DG CONNECT)
Updated version of Domibus (3.1.1), Out Now
Please note that today (3rd June 2016) an updated version of Domibus (3.1.1) has been released containing a fix for the re-try mechanism.
Although this update is not critical, we do recommend the implementation of this update.
In addition to the re-try mechanism fix, Domibus v3.1.1 contains the same benefits and functionalities as 3.1, see the launch communication for more information.
CEF Telecom Call 2 virtual Info Day, 3 June 2016
Up to EUR 70 million is foreseen from the 2016 CEF Telecom Work Programme for grants managed by INEA in the area of Generic Services. The grants under CEF Telecom will help European public administrations and businesses to hook up to the core platforms of the digital services that are the object of the calls (see list below). The Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) is therefore hold a virtual info day dedicated to the calls.
The 2016 CEF Telecom call 2 virtual Info Day will take place on Friday 3 June 2016 and will cover four priorities of the 2016 CEF Telecom Calls:
- Date & time: Friday 3 June 2016, 10:00 - 13:15
- Location: this Info Day will be virtual only
Webstreaming
The event will be web streamed live and the recording will be available for two years. No prior registration is needed.
The link to the event is https://webcast.ec.europa.eu/cef-telecom-virtual-info-day-call-2 Please connect on Friday 3 June from 10:00 to 13:15.
Q&A
The Info Day also offers the opportunity to ask questions to Commission and Agency staff members pertaining to the calls via email to INEA-CEF-Telecoms-Infoday@ec.europa.eu. Questions received during the event are answered immediately, but written replies will be available on the FAQ page of the Calls.
The event will be live tweeted with the hashtag #CEFTelecomDay. Follow @inea_eu in order to receive all up-to-date news relating to this event.