What Services and Support is Available for CEF eDelivery Adopters?
The exchange of electronic data and documents among public administrations, businesses and citizens, in an interoperable, secure, reliable and trusted way is essential for the Digital Single Market. CEF eDelivery is the building block of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) enabling different sectors to create a secure message exchange infrastructures on top of the internet.
There is a range of services and support available to those wishing to reuse CEF eDelivery and set-up an Access Point, consisting of Conformance Testing, Training & Development, a dedicated Service Desk and software, in addition to grant funding.
This article will walk you through the following key areas
eDelivery Conformance Testing
CEF eDelivery Conformance Testing service verifies that an implementation of the CEF eDelivery Access Point and Service Metadata Publisher (SMP) specifications, a software package either commercial or Open Source, conforms to the specifications of the CEF eDelivery Access Point.
The following specifications are tested within the scope of this service:
CEF eDelivery provides ready to use test cases, a testing platform, and supports the users of the CEF eDelivery Conformance Testing service during the entire testing process.
The Conformance testing services is aimed at Software Providers and Service Providers.
CEF eDelivery Training and Deployment
CEF eDelivery offers Training Sessions and Deployment Support for the CEF eDelivery Components (Access Point, Service Metadata Locator (SML) and SMP) to Public Administrations.
During the training sessions, Public Administrations can learn about the technical specifications underpinning the components of CEF eDelivery, the services offered by the European Commission and its sample implementations.
CEF eDelivery can also assist with the Deployment of CEF eDelivery components in Public Administrations through interactive deployment sessions (however, Public Administrations remain responsible and accountable and responsible for installing CEF eDelivery components).
The CEF eDelivery team conducts Demo Sessions of CEF eDelivery where it showcases the sending and receiving of messages using the AS4 protocol according to the e-SENS implementation guidelines.
CEF eDelivery Service Desk
The Service Desk provides user support on the overall CEF eDelivery service offering. It is the Single Point of Contact (SPOC) to address questions, incidents, requests and changes reported by the users.
Visit the CEF eDelivery services page for more information
Software
Third-party software vendors offer the e-SENS AS4 Profile (commercial or open-source). Each software vendor also provides different added-value services from integration to the support of day-to-day operations. For safeguarding interoperability, CEF eDelivery encourages implementers to consult the list of software products that have passed the conformance tests by the European Commission of the eSENS AS4 profile, available here.
Domibus is the Open Source project of the AS4 Access Point maintained by the European Commission.
Grants
Grant funding is available to help you adopt CEF eDelivery in your own organisation, covering up to 75% of the costs of implementation.
The funding is available for public and private entities can apply in order to:
- Deploy access points and/or operate access points for one year;
- Deploy Service Metadata Publishers and/or operate Service Metadata Publishers for one year;
- Upgrade data exchange solutions (Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS), Open-Source Software (OSS) and other) Access Point Software;
The CEF eDelivery Access Point implements a standardised message exchange protocol that ensures interoperable, secure and reliable data exchange.
- For detailed breakdowns of the benefits of this service and intended users of this service visit the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) or visit CEF Digital 2018 and check out the INEA Virtual Info Day on 28 February 2017!
Published! CEF eDelivery FIWARE Lab Guidance Paper
CEF eDelivery is happy to announce the publication of the CEF eDelivery FIWARE Lab guidance paper.
As part of the CEF eDelivery "Training and Deployment" services, the guidance paper provides some "hands-on experience" of implementing CEF eDelivery.
As explained in the guide, it is possible to quickly install the Access Point sample software on a FIWARE platform for demonstration purposes. This, simple, first-hand experience will show two eDelivery Access Points exchanging messages. This publication follows the collaboration agreement between the two initiatives started last year (etc.)
CEF eDelivery helps public administrations to exchange electronic data and documents with other public administrations, businesses and citizens, in an interoperable, secure, reliable and trusted way. Through the use of this building block, every participant becomes a node in the network using standard transport protocols and security policies.
For more information on how CEF eDelivery is #ConnectingEurope, visit CEF Digital 2018 now!
Funding for CEF eDelivery Included in BRIS Call for Proposals
The European Commission is happy to note that under the now-open Call for Proposals BRIS (CEF-TC-2017-1), grant funding is available to support the adoption of CEF eDelivery.
The 2017 CEF Telecom Business Registers Interconnection System (BRIS) call makes an indicative €2 million of funding available for proposals in this area.
CEF eDelivery helps public administrations to exchange electronic data and documents with other public administrations, businesses and citizens, in an interoperable, secure, reliable and trusted way. Through the use of this building block, every participant becomes a node in the network using standard transport protocols and security policies.
The priority outcomes of this call for proposals support the Member States to meet the following main objectives:
- Enable business registers to implement and support the requirements, the data model and the standard messages coming from BRIS, which may involve the upgrade of existing business registers.
- Promote testing activities to ensure that transition to a fully operational mode is successful.
- For the purpose of document delivery, to either directly deploy the eDelivery Building Block (see section 3.3 of the Work Programme), or use eDelivery through a service provider.
Visit the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) for all the information you need to apply!
For more information on how CEF eDelivery is #ConnectingEurope, visit CEF Digital 2018 now!
The European Commission & FIWARE Supporting a European Data Economy!
The FIWARE Foundation has warmly welcomed the European Commission's initiative on the free flow of data and support the principles laid out in the Communication, notably on minimising the lock-in effects and promoting the use of open APIs for reliable identification and exchange of data.
We invite you to read their press release:
FIWARE and CEF Digital 2018 recently announced a collaboration agreement. Both are collaborating to accelerate the testing of secure message exchange in different sectors. A first CEF building block – eDelivery – will become integrated as Generic Enabler of the FIWARE Platform, allowing developers, service providers and experimenters to deploy and run it on the FIWARE Lab, and to download and deploy it from the FIWARE Catalogue. CEF makes available up to EUR 300 million in grants until 2020. These grants are used for digital enablement projects, many of which use CEF eDelivery.
The FIWARE team, in partnership with the FIWARE Foundation, is organising an Open Day to be held in Brussels on 7 March 2017 in the European Commission's Charlemagne building.
CEF Digital 2018 is the main EU programme supporting the establishment of trans-European digital infrastructures following the Digital Single Market strategy. Visit CEF Digital 2018 for more!
EESSI AS4.NET Successfully Passes e-SENS AS4 Conformance Testing
CEF eDelivery is pleased to announce that EESSI AS4.NET successfully passed e-SENS AS4 conformance testing.
Customers interested in a .NET based solution can now choose from both the open source EESSI AS4.NET solution and the commercial RSSBus solution (supporting .NET and Java).
Other implementations (.NET, Java and Perl based) are currently undergoing conformance testing or are planning to start so more news can be expected soon.
For more information, visit CEF Digital 2018, the list of conformant vendors or the CEF eDelivery conformance testing page.
FIWARE Open Day - 7 March 2017
As part of the ongoing collaboration between CEF eDelivery and FIWARE, we are happy to announce the FIWARE Open Day to be held in Brussels on 7 March 2017.
The FIWARE team, in partnership with the FIWARE Foundation, is organising an Open Day to be held in Brussels on 7 March 2017 in the European Commission's Charlemagne building.
The half-day event will mark the beginning of the go-to-market for FIWARE. It will offer a good opportunity to debate with stakeholders about the future of the FIWARE ecosystem based on the key achievements of the Future Internet Public-Private Partnership and its 5-year unique journey creating a new ecosystem for growth, business and jobs in Europe.
The key achievements of the FI-PPP include the setting up of the FIWARE Open Source Foundation in Berlin, a growing FIWARE ecosystem and close integration of the PPP outcomes to national growth and innovation plans such as the Industry 4.0.
Furthermore, the Open Day will be a unique occasion to explore the opportunities offered by open, standardised APIs for the development of the Digital Single Market and the Agri-food, Smart Cities and Industry sectors, among others.
For more information and registration, please visit the event website and feel free to share this event with your colleagues and stakeholders who might be interested!
For more information on the CEF building blocks and how the European Commission and Member States are working to Connect Europe digitally, visit CEF Digital 2018.
Follow FIWARE on Twitter @FIware
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Grant Funding for CEF eSignature Available Now!
Don't miss the 2017-1 CEF Telecom calls virtual Info Day on Tuesday 28 February 2017
Supported by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the Call for Proposals (CEF-TC-2017-1) provides grant funding of up to €7 million to support the adoption of eID and eSignature in Europe. CEF funding is provided to help you adopt CEF eSignature in your organisation, covering up to 75%* of the costs of implementation. There's still time to apply, but be careful not to wait too long, as applications close on 18 May 2017.
The eSignature building block helps public administrations and businesses accelerate the adoption of electronic signatures. The deployment of solutions based on CEF eSignature in a Member State facilitates the mutual recognition and cross-border interoperability of electronic signatures. This means that public administrations, businesses and citizens can trust and use electronic signatures that are legally valid and structured in EU interoperable formats, a key enabler of the Digital Single Market.
Who can apply?
It's important to keep in mind that only those proposals submitted by one of the following types of applicants are eligible:
- One or more Member States;
- With the agreement of the Member State(s) or EEA countr(y)ies concerned, international organisations, joint undertakings, 5 public or private undertakings or bodies established in Member States.
For more detailed information (i.e. if you are from a candidate or third country etc.), be sure you read the call text thoroughly!
What is the funding for?
As stated in the call text, funding under the Connecting Europe Facility in the area of eSignature is to:
"Uptake and use of eSignature by developing systems for both Member States and the private sector (which provide solutions to the public sector bodies) relying on the eSignature building block (SD-DSS)";
For eSignature, solution providers that are implementing advanced eSignatures will be supported to rely on the DSS library".
What is the process?
* Find related documents here.
** To help you find consortium partners, we have created a LinkedIn group, here.
Please note: Applicants who already received CEF funding under previous eID & eSignature calls (2014-3/2015-2/2016-2) and who plan to apply again under this call must clearly explain in part D of the application form of their proposal (notably section 1 and Q2.1) how their proposed action(s) will differ from those action(s) funded under the previous call(s).
Grant Funding for CEF eID Available Now!
Supported by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the Call for Proposals (CEF-TC-2017-1) provides grant funding of up to €7 million to support the adoption of eID and eSignature in Europe. CEF funding is provided to help you adopt CEF eID in your organisation, covering up to 75%* of the costs of implementation. There's still time to apply, but be careful not to wait too long, as applications close on 18 May 2017.
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 provides a predictable regulatory environment to enable secure and seamless electronic interactions between businesses, citizens and public authorities.
Who can apply?
It's important to keep in mind that only those proposals submitted by one of the following types of applicants are eligible:
- One or more Member States;
- With the agreement of the Member State(s) or EEA countr(y)ies concerned, international organisations, joint undertakings, or public or private undertakings or bodies established in Member States.
For more detailed information (i.e. if you are from a candidate or third country etc.), be sure you read the call text thoroughly!
What is the funding for?
For CEF eID, the funded activities aim to enhance the deployment of eIDAS compliant nodes and support services that will provide the most potential for cross-border use. Grant funding also supports millions of Erasmus+ students thanks to the development of an eIDAS-enabled Erasmus Student eCard. The eCard allows for the secure exchange of information between participating institutions and student access to services in hosting countries.
European funding will support proposals that address one or more of the following activities:
- eID integration: integration of eID in an existing e-service/system/online platform to enable private and public sector entities (including local administrations) to support nationally issued eIDs issued from any Member State. This can include funding to support to Member States in enabling attributes, mandates and authorities to be associated with electronic identities for cross-border use through the eIDAS node, thus enhancing the service provided to the citizen;
- eIDAS node: set up eIDAS node compliant with the latest version of eIDAS technical specifications and its operation for one year by Member States which do not yet have their eIDAS nodes ready and did not benefit from funding under 2014 eID call for the connection of the national eID infrastructure to the core platform. A maximum co-financing of €100,000 per Member State will be available under the call to include the set up of the eIDAS node and one year of its operation;
- eIDAS enabled Erasmus Student eCard: support the use of nationally issued eID for students' authentication across borders by promoting the uptake and use of eID amongst public and private sector entities. In addition, the objective is to support the integration of eID in existing e-service/system/online platforms in higher education sectors (e.g. such as universities) to facilitate the mobility of students in the European Union;
What is the process?
* Find related documents here.
** To help you find consortium partners, we have created a LinkedIn group, here.
Please note: Applicants who already received CEF funding under previous eID & eSignature calls (2014-3/2015-2/2016-2) and who plan to apply again under this call must clearly explain in part D of the application form of their proposal (notably section 1 and Q2.1) how their proposed action(s) will differ from those action(s) funded under the previous call(s).
New Italian eID used by over 1 million
In just under a year, Italy’s new eID solution has reached the 1 million user milestone, reports the Agency for the Digitalisation of the Public Sector (Agenzia per l'Italia Digitale, AGID).
SPID, the Public System for Digital Identity Management for citizens and businesses (Sistema Pubblico per la gestione dell'Identità Digitale di cittadini e imprese), was launched in March 2016. Its implementation by central government services, municipalities, universities and other public sector organisation has been growing steadily, AGID reported in January.
Two popular projects are actively promoting the use of SPID, AGID writes. The first is 18App, which offered those who turned 18 in 2016 EUR 500 to spend on cinema, concerts, cultural events, books, museums, monuments and parks, theatre and dance. The second is Carta del Docente, which offers the same amount to teachers, to spend on educational resources such as books, courses and tickets to museums and theatres.
In December, the city of Rome implemented SPID, allowing it to be used for its online services. In January, the Ministry of Education implemented SPID, to be used for the online registration of primary and secondary school children.
More information:
Blogpost by European Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip: A milestone towards establishing eID and trust services in Europe
To see the original post in the #Ansipblogs, follow this link!
Reinforcing trust and confidence in the online world is a fundamental part of the EU's strategy to build a Digital Single Market (DSM) in Europe.
So is helping companies – anyone, in fact - who wants to use online services.
This is one of the major building blocks for achieving trusted cross-border digital transactions, in both the private and public sectors.
It is the aim of eIDAS, the EU regulation providing a stable legal environment beyond an EU country's borders for electronic identification and trust services that can be applied across Europe.
Today (20 February 2017), Germany took a big step forward in this area. It became the first EU country to pre-notify the European Commission of the online ID function of its national identity card and electronic residence permit.
While that may sound somewhat bureaucratic, it is actually very significant.
The idea of eIDAS is not to align national eID systems around the EU's member countries. It is to enable their mutual recognition.
Today's move represents the first step towards moving Europe from a patchwork of national online markets to an integrated DSM - where commercial and public services can flow easily and seamlessly across borders.
I now hope that other countries will follow Germany's encouraging example.
Procedurally, this pre-notification will be followed by actual notification – and then, following the eIDAS timetable, all other EU countries must recognise the notified eID scheme for public services.
And, the sooner that they do this, the quicker it will help Europeans – people and companies as well as the public sector – to access and use online services conveniently, reliably and responsibly, everywhere in Europe. You can read more about e-identification here.
Another blog soon.
Adoption of CEF eDelivery AS4 is Accelerating!
CEF eDelivery brings new market opportunities for service providers interested in offering pan-European Electronic Registered Delivery Services and for software vendors interested in providing messaging middleware compatible with the requirements set in Regulation (EU) N°910/2014 (commonly known as the 'eIDAS Regulation').
Currently, a growing number of AS4 solution providers realize the benefits of implementing the specifications of the CEF eDelivery building block and becoming part of the eDelivery community.
The eDelivery building block of the Connecting Europe Facility helps public administrations and businesses (indirectly citizens) to participate in Messaging Infrastructures which facilitate the delivery of electronic data and official documents such as eInvoices or eClaims. The use of an Access Point conformant with the e-SENS Profile of the AS4 Message Protocol enables heterogeneous systems to interact with each other in a secure, reliable and trusted way.
It's important to note that this message protocol is not owned, created or controlled by the public sector. Quite the opposite, CEF uses a profile of the ebMS3 and AS4 technical specifications of OASIS, a non-profit consortium that promotes industry consensus for the global information society. This profile is available for free to the ICT industry on the CEF Digital 2018 website. Moreover, there are several types of grants available for implementing the protocol in new or existing software solutions. In addition to make grants available, the European Commission provides a set of services to support its implementation and mitigate any risks. These services are detailed in the eDelivery Services hub on the CEF Digital 2018 website.
One of these services is the Conformance Testing Service where the CEF eDelivery Team provides ready to use test cases, a testing platform, and supports the users of the service during their entire conformance testing process.
Since the conformance testing service went live in Q2 2016, a growing number of AS4 solution providers have taken advantage of the services and support offered by the CEF eDelivery team to demonstrate conformance to the specifications of the CEF eDelivery building block and become part of the eDelivery community.
This is good news for all stakeholders on either the demand or the supply side.
On the demand side, the numerous public administrations and businesses that are planning to participate to initiatives that reuse the CEF eDelivery building block, can choose to partner up with solution providers that cover a wide spectrum in the IT landscape:
- Ranging from SMEs to multinationals,
- Implementing their solution on different technology platforms such as Java, .NET and Perl,
- Providing open source, commercial and mixed licensing options,
- Geographically spread (Europe, US, Africa),
- Offering value added services such as consultancy, backend integration solutions, on premise support or different hosting options,
On the supply side, the solutions providers that are becoming part of the eDelivery community can benefit from:
- Sharing experiences with other solution providers,
- Promoting themselves to users in existing and upcoming European wide projects,
- Participating to interoperability testing and load testing campaigns,
- Making the most of the available grants to even further expand their service offering,
So now is the time to take action and contribute to the uptake of the Digital Single Market!
Live Webinar: "eID under eIDAS: compliance, state of play and technology"
Join us a two-hour live Webinar followed by an Q&A session exploring the CEF eID Building Block.CEF Digital 2018 invites you for a two-hour live Webinar followed by an interactive Q&A session, exploring the CEF eID building block, supported by the Digital Programme of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
By attending this session, you will understand the meaning of being eIDAS compliant, receive an update from the Member States on the status of eIDAS electronic identification (eID), and discover some use cases as well as key technological developments in the field of eID.
The key objective of the session will be to explore potential collaboration between the public and private sectors in regard to eIDAS eID. The webinar will be open to all stakeholders but it will be particularly relevant for the following actors: eIDAS member State representatives, EU policy makers, identity providers, attribute providers and service providers.
By attending this webinar you will learn about:
- The meaning of being eIDAS compliant;
- The eID eIDAS status in the Member States;
- Concrete examples and use cases by identity and service providers;
- Key technological trends impacting electronic identification;
- Potential collaboration and synergies between different stakeholders.
For more information about the webinar and to register, please visit our dedicated page:
Please note that registrations will be open until Friday 24 February 2017.
We also welcome you to express interest in giving a presentation during the webinar, or to provide ideas on a topic of discussion. You can find out more details on how to do this on the registration page.
Do not hesitate to share this link with any person who might be interested in participating in the webinar.
Connection details will be shared at a later stage following registration confirmations.
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.
Just Adopted - CEF Telecom Work Programme 2017 & Grants Virtual InfoDay!
Today the European Commission has adopted the CEF Telecom Work Programme 2017 (Annex to the Commission Implementing Decision), which outlines the general objectives, priorities and expected impacts of the actions that will be supported in the field of Digital Service Infrastructures – including the CEF building blocks!
The CEF Telecom Work Programme 2017 provides indicative planning for calls for proposals for grant funding, provided by the Connecting Europe Facility
The 2017 CEF Telecom calls for proposals will provide support for activities related to all the building blocks of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF):
| Call | Call Open | Deadline for Submissions |
|---|---|---|
CEF-TC-2017-1 eID & eSignature | To be confirmed | 18 May 2017 |
CEF-TC-2017-2 eDelivery | 4 May 2017 | 21 September 2017 |
CEF-TC-2017-3 eInvoicing | 28 June 2017 | 28 November 2017 |
CEF-TC-2017-3 eTranslation | 28 June 2017 | 28 November 2017 |
2017 CEF Telecom call virtual Info Day - 28 February
The Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) will organise a Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Telecom virtual Info Day on Tuesday 28 February 2017 to outline the four priorities of the first 2017 CEF Telecom call of 2017.
The Virtual Info Day will present the funding opportunities for:
- CEF eID
- CEF eSignature
The event will also explain the policy context of the calls. It will give information about the evaluation process and will provide valuable tips & tricks on writing a good proposal.
Interested stakeholders are advised to already mark the date and time in their agendas and to regularly monitor the event page and @inea_eu or the hahstag #CEFTelecomDay on Twitter for updates. The webstreaming links as well as the procedure for the Q&A sessions will be published at a later stage.
Midterm Evaluation – the Connecting Europe Facility, 27 February 2017
31 January 2017
Are you directly involved at the design, management or implementation level (including as beneficiaries) of the Connecting Europe Facility?
Under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), CEF Digital 2018 has supported the creation and delivery of interoperable, secure, cross-border digital services in Europe.
As a programme involving citizens, businesses, Member State administrations and EU Institutions, the real success of CEF Digital 2018 is due to the level of engagement from our stakeholders throughout Europe, and beyond (see our 2016 wrap-up).
Therefore we kindly ask those stakeholders involved at the design, management or implementation level (including as beneficiaries) to take part in the CEF Midterm Evaluation.
The questionnaires are in English only and operated with the support of the services of the European Commission, in particular in regards to the technical launch and management online but responses can be submitted in any EU official language. In addition, respondents can also submit position papers to a dedicated mailbox: CEF-Public-Consultation@ec.europa.eu
Key Objectives of the Evaluation
The objectives of the mid-term evaluation are to report on the progress in achieving the objectives of the programme, the efficiency of the use of resources, and its European added value (European added value being the additional value created by European actions compared to those of individual Member States).
Considering the short operating timeframe of the CEF, this mid-term evaluation will focus mostly on whether the necessary conditions are in place to allow the programme meet is strategy and achieve its objectives. The evaluation will therefore be on the CEF as a delivery instrument rather than evaluate the actual achievement of policy objectives.
Consultation period
The consultation until 27 February 2017.
The approximate time needed for answering is 10 minutes for the general survey and 40 minutes for the targeted stakeholder survey.
Target groups
Public authorities, Member State authorities, private organisations, non-governmental organisations, consultancies, other relevant stakeholders, including citizens (inside and outside the EU), academics, think tanks, NGOs, industry business, public authorities, private sector bodies and professionals
Background Information and further links
For a breakdown of the objectives, overview of the Connecting Europe Facility, confidentiality clauses, reference documents and other additional information, please visit the Public Consultation Page (N.B. this is hosted on the European Commission's Mobility & Transport page, as the lead service on the consultation).
For more information about the mid-term evaluation, see the roadmap.
Received contributions will be published on line. Please read the specific privacy statement attached to this consultation for information on how your personal data and contribution will be dealt with. Non-registered organisation responses (see 'Important notice' below) will be published separately and counted as individual contributions.
Thank you!
Your participation in this Midterm Evaluation helps the European Commission and its stakeholders in achieving the programmes objectives, ensure the efficient use of resources, and evaluate the European added value