CEF Building Blocks presented to EURAXESS network
©Pixabay
On 24 October 2018, the European Commission presented the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Building Blocks to national representatives of the EURAXESS network.
EURAXESS - Researchers in Motion is a unique pan-European initiative delivering information and support services to professional researchers. Backed by the European Union and its Member States, it supports researcher mobility and career development, while enhancing scientific collaboration between Europe and the world.
Through CEF, the European Commission supports reusable digital building blocks that help public and private sector teams deliver digital services faster and comply with regulation.
Joao Rodrigues Frade presents the CEF Building Block
Both the Commission and Member State representatives in the EURAXESS network are exploring how the CEF Building Blocks can support research mobility, in the areas of authentication, data exchange and breaking down language barriers.
Discover how you can benefit from the CEF Building Blocks.
eInvoicing: EMSFEI met in Brussels this week
The European Multi-Stakeholder Forum on eInvoicing (EMSFEI) convened from Tuesday 23 October to Wednesday 24 October in Brussels, Belgium.
The EMSFEI brings together stakeholders from national eInvoicing forums, from both public sector and industry. In addition, the expert group provides an insightful view on the latest policy developments in eInvoicing for the benefit of public administrations, business and citizens.
This event highlighted the importance of the services provided through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) eInvoicing building block to further adopt new eInvoicing solutions to comply with the European standard by 18 April 2019, the legal deadline.
Representatives of the European Commission and European Committee for Standardization (CEN) informed EMSFEI members about the agreement on the use of the eInvoicing standard.
This agreement enables the use of the standard by all public and private sector entities, including the use in derivative applications (i.e. Software and other applications that incorporate ideas, concepts or text from the standard). This agreement will remain valid for the duration of the current version of the European standard (the agreement remains valid for 5 years for EN 16931-1: 2017 and 3 years for TS 16931-2: 2017).
Furthermore, EMSFEI participants provided status updates of the implementation of B2G eInvoicing in their Member States in an informal "Tour de Table" setting. Throughout the event members of the forum discussed VAT alignment, code lists, alignment of activities between the Expert Group on eProcurement and EMSFEI. The members were able to share their concerns and best practices in this setting to actively and successfully work towards the deadline next year.
This meeting was also an opportunity to launch the next round of EMSFEI sub groups.
The upcoming focus groups will concentrate on:
New technologies and impact on eInvoicing;
Implementation and peer-to-peer learning;
Standardisation beyond the eInvoicing standard.
Providing a platform for EMSFEI stakeholders to meet and share their best practice cases with one another was again received with great enthusiasm from attending members.
Financed by CEF, the eInvoicing building block promotes the uptake and accelerated use of eInvoicing respecting Directive 2014/55/EU and the European standard on eInvoicing of the 18 April 2019 deadline..
Are you interested to find out more about eInvoicing?
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CEF at the Trust Services Forum
On 23 and 24 October 2018, the European Commission presented an update of the Connecting Europe Facility building blocks at the fourth Trust Services Forum in Berlin, Germany.
This forum, organised by the European Union Agency for Network and Information System (ENISA), focused on the major issues related to Trust Services across Europe, including:
- Trust Services in the proposed regulatory framework for certification
- eIDAS compliant audits
- Latest developments in the framework surrounding trust service providers, including standards, implementing acts and technical guidelines
- Implementation and operational issues of Qualified Trust Services
- Strategies to promote the adoption of Qualified Trust Services
Anders Gjoen, DG CNCT, presented the CEF Building Blocks, focusing on eDelivery and eSignature, and the services CEF offers to help public authorities on their digitalisation journey to realise a Digital Single Market in Europe.
This event was well attended. Our presence and presentation on the latest updates on the eIDAS regulation and the CEF programme was well received."
Anders Gjoen
DG CNCT
the European Commision
Following the forum, the Bundesdruckerei/D-TRUST, in cooperation with TÜViT held the tenth CA-Day on the subject of "TSP Compliance Info Day on eIDAS, ETSI and CA/B-Forum Requirements".
The Trust Services Forum was a great platform for the European Commission to share how CEF contributes to the ongoing digitalisation journey of public authorities across Europe.
Learn more about the CEF building blocks
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TOOP: The Once-Only Principle
The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) building blocks have been identified as key enablers of the Once Only Principle in practice. CEF supports multiple digital infrastructure projects which contribute to improvements in the daily lives of Europeans through digital inclusion, the connectivity and interoperability of European digital services, and the development of a Digital Single Market. Read the Connecting Europe Success Story to see how CEF eDelivery, eID and eSignature support the once-only principle.
On 1 January 2017, the European Commission launched the “Once-Only” Principle (TOOP) project. The “Once-Only” principle in the context of the public sector means that citizens and businesses supply diverse data only once to a public administration.
The TOOP project is funded under Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and coordinated by the Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia). The project explores and demonstrates the “once-only” principle on a cross-border scale with the aim to reduce the administrative burden of businesses and public administrations. The project is part of the EU eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020 and will contribute towards the creation of a Digital Single Market.
Below you will find the press release of the TOOP project, highlighting key takeaways of the event.
Internet of Things (IoT) World Congress 2018
On 16 – 18 October 2018, the European Commission presented the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Building Blocks at the Internet of Things (IoT) World Congress 2018. The event gathered over 16,000 visitors from start-ups, entrepreneurs, small and large businesses and other stakeholders from all over the world.
The CEF Building Blocks participated under the auspices of the FIWARE Foundation. FIWARE is an independent Open Community committed “to build an open sustainable ecosystem around public, royalty-free and implementation-driven software platform standards that will ease the development of new Smart Applications in multiple sectors”. The FIWARE-developed Context Broker recently became a Building Block of the CEF programme.
The development of IoT has meant a significant disruption in the recent years, transforming the daily lives of individuals and revolutionising how companies run their businesses. Internet of Things, combined with information processing and Big Data services on the Cloud, is going to enable a new breed of innovative Smart Digital Services. However, nothing can be smart without being context-aware in the first place.
Implementation of Smart Digital Services largely rely on the management of Context Information, about the entities that are relevant to understanding what is happening around us, by different systems and solutions that are able to share relevant data in a common language:
“in order to enable the interoperability of solutions, it’s necessary to have a semantic interoperability of the data” –explains Sergio García, Technology Specialist and Smart City Solutions Leader in Industrial IoT Area, at Telefónica I+D.
The current lack of ICT platform standards to manage such information means an obstacle for the development of Smart Digital Services. Without open standards those services cannot be developed effectively due to lack of interoperability.
Simple and powerful set of APIs that are public and royalty free
Providing a simple and powerful set of APIs that are public and royalty free, FIWARE is supporting the development of Smart Applications managing context information, so the Context Broker developed by FIWARE is a vital step forward in harnessing the value of IoT. The adoption of FIWARE as a provider for a CEF Building Blocks has emphasised the intention of the community and its core members to push the adoption of standards and technologies as essential tools for the cost effective development of IoT based services and solutions. Aiming to ease that process, FIWARE currently offers both open-source technical resources –like the Context Broker – as well as common standards to follow.
The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) supports multiple digital infrastructure projects which contribute to improvements in the daily lives of Europeans through digital inclusion, the connectivity and interoperability of European digital services, and the development of a Digital Single Market.
Why Your Public Administration Should Start Using Electronic Signature Software
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Public Administrations have started to warm up to the idea of making their signature-related workflows entirely digital using secure electronic signatures. By receiving the endorsement of legal validity thanks to the eIDAS Regulation, more and more entities are adopting e-signing solutions in their work. This does not come as a surprise considering the value of electronic signatures:
The European Commission, through Connecting Europe Facility's (CEF) eSignature building block, maintains sample software compliant with the eIDAS Regulation. The Digital Signature Services (DSS) is an open-source library that can be integrated into your signing solution. It supports the creation and validation of advanced and qualified electronic signatures and seals. The deployment of solutions based on the DSS facilitates the mutual recognition and cross-border interoperability of e-signatures among the EU Member States. This means that public administrations and businesses can trust and use e-signatures that are valid and structured in EU-interoperable formats. Additionally, IT specialists can also check the compliance of their existing e-signing solution against the ETSI formats listed in Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/150617.
Public administrations are challenged to minimise costs, offer quality services and maintain compliance all the time. In addition, they are expected to be on the forefront in leading by example in a digital-by-default era. CEF Building Blocks are there to help government bodies address these unique paperwork-related needs and challenges. With it, public administrations can become more efficient, ultimately freeing up resources to offer more and better services.
CEF eInvoicing and eDelivery presented at the Exchange Summit in Berlin
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The European Commission presented policy updates on the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) eInvoicing and eDelivery building blocks at The Exchange Summit in Berlin held on 8 and 9 October 2018.
The Exchange Summit, open to stakeholders from both the private and public sectors, is the world’s largest eInvoicing, Purchase to Pay, eProcurement, Supply Chain Finance and AR/AP event. This summit promoted how eInvoicing accelerates digitalisation and provides compelling examples of successful eInvoicing implementation stories from around the world. The platform provided an excellent opportunity for the European Commission to address a large attendance interested in learning about the latest evolutions in the eInvoicing market and to prepare for the approaching legal deadline for eInvoicing in public procurement, on 18 April 2019.
Isabel Maria da Rosa, European Commission, DG GROW, highlighted how CEF eInvoicing and eDelivery services help public entities adopt the European standard on electronic invoicing. In particular, Ms da Rosa presented a detailed overview on the status of the implementation of B2G eInvoicing in the context of the eInvoicing Directive (Directive 2014/55/EU) within EU Member States.
“It was a pleasure to attend the Exchange Summit to share important insights from Member States' experience implementing the European standard on electronic invoicing in Berlin. It was a privilege to highlight the key terms of the agreement on licensing that was negotiated between the European Commission and CEN to the present audience.
The European Commission is proud to guarantee unlimited and free access to the standard for implementation solutions considered by any entity. Based on these positive conditions for all entities, we hope that the eInvoicing implementation will evolve fast to ensure that the April 2019 deadline is met.”
Isabel Maria da Rosa
Team Leader Innovative and eProcurement Unit
DG GROW, European Commission
Throughout the event a number of key stakeholders from the Member States including Italy, the Netherlands and Germany provided insights on their current implementation of the eInvoicing standard. The audience also had a chance to look into the future of eProcurement and eInvoicing through the latest technological innovations, including:
- Blockchain for financial factoring of eInvoices in Chile;
- Real-time monitoring and accounting of eInvoicing in Europe;
- Implementation of mandatory eInvoicing and PEPPOL governance in Singapore.
The European Commission is prepared to assist Member States to implement the European Standards on electronic invoicing by the Directive deadline on 18 April 2019.
Are you interested to find out more about CEF eInvoicing?
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Join us at the upcoming eInvoicing event on 4 December 2018
On Tuesday 4 December 2018, the European Commission will be organising a final event on the CEF eInvoicing services available to public administrations, to enable them to comply with Directive 2014/55/EU on electronic invoicing in public procurement ahead of the legal deadline for the European Standard on eInvoicing on 18 April 2019 ( extendable by one year for certain actors).
This event aims to demonstrates how eInvoicing can help build a successful Digital Single Market, that benefits both the public and private sectors and generates efficient and interoperable cross-border services and other benefits to citizens and businesses. Moreover, the event will grant struggling Member States with a last opportunity to learn from the technical and practical experiences of other European countries, which have successfully implemented the provisions of the eInvoicing directive.
Attend the event!
Participation is warmly advised to everyone interested in eInvoicing, to discuss B2G eInvoicing implementation from a policy and technical perspective. Especially policy makers, public entities and IT managers from service providers developing eInvoicing solutions in Member States are invited to join. This event will also address the broader policy context linking eInvoicing with the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
Are you interested to find out more about CEF eInvoicing?
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CEF eDelivery and eInvoicing workshop at the Danish Business Authority
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What does digital invoicing and infrastructure of the future look like?
That was the question the Danish Business Authority, a part of the Danish Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, addressed at the CEF Building Block information session for private and public entities in Copenhagen, Denmark on 11 October 2018.
Two representatives from the European Commission travelled to Copenhagen to present the CEF Building Blocks and to share what services the Commission offers to the Member States to realize the Digital Single Market.
Joao Rodrigues Frade, Ole Ellerbæk Madsen and Maarten Daniels
Joao Rodrigues Frade, Head of sector digital Building Blocks at the European Commission, presented CEF and the two Building Blocks eDelivery and eInvoicing to the attendees.
While presenting the eDelivery AS4 profile, Joao focused on the similarities with the PEPPOL AS4 profile and the benefits of using AS4.
“I’m delighted to have been invited to this event to share how CEF Building Blocks help public and private entities deliver digital services faster. They are built on open source standards and specifications, enabling anyone to use them. “
Joao Rodrigues Frade
While Maarten Daniels, on the other hand, presented the CEF services, including the Conformance Testing offered by CEF eInvoicing and eDelivery. He demonstrated how the services can benefit public and private entities.
The CEF eInvoicing Conformance testing service allows users to check the compliance of their eInvoicing solution against the standard in a specific syntax: ISO/IEC 19845:2015 (UBL 2.1) or UN/CEFAC CII.
On the other hand, The CEF eDelivery Conformance Testing service verifies the developed and or implemented software package conforms to the relevant CEF eDelivery specifications.
CEF eDelivery testing allows services and software providers to verify that a CEF eDelivery Access Point and SMP specifications implementation conform to the relevant CEF eDelivery specifications.
Maarten further highlighted the benefits of developing and using solutions conformant to CEF eDelivery specifications, from both vendors and clients’ perspective, such as getting additional quality assurance and increased interoperability with other implementations.
Are you interested to find out more about CEF eInvoicing and eDelivery?
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CEF Context Broker Presented at the European Week of Regions and Cities
On 9 October 2018, experts from the FIWARE Foundation presented the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Context Broker during the European Week of Regions and Cities.
The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Context Broker Building Block enables organisations (including but not limited to public administrations) to manage and share data in real-time describing, “what is currently happening” within their organisations, in the real world they manage or where they run their daily business processes. Thus, for example, Smart Cities can share information about what is happening in streets (e.g., traffic status, quality of air data, available parking slots or location). This information describing what is currently happening is referred as “context information”.
The CEF Context Broker is composed by two major software components developed by FIWARE: the Orion Context Broker component which implements the core Context Broker functionality itself and the Cygnus component which complements Orion.
If you are registered for the European Week of Regions and Cities, you have the opportunity of seeing the presentation again on 10 October 2918 at 14.00, stand 19.3 (Digital Services for Regions and Cities) in the exhibition hall.
You can download the slides from the presentation below.
The European Week of Regions and Cities is an annual four-day event during which cities and regions showcase their capacity to create growth and jobs, implement European Union cohesion policy, and prove the importance of the local and regional level for good European governance. The European Commission presented the CEF building blocks at the Digital Services for Regions and Cities stand.
The FIWARE Community is an independent Open Community whose members are committed to materialise the FIWARE mission, which is “to build an open sustainable ecosystem around public, royalty-free and implementation-driven software platform standards that will ease the development of new Smart Applications in multiple sectors”
CEF supports multiple digital infrastructure projects, which contribute to improvements in the daily lives of Europeans through digital inclusion, the connectivity and interoperability of European digital services, and the development of a Digital Single Market.
The eInvoicing community shares user experiences at CEF webinar
CEF eInvoicing held a webinar on 'Learn from other countries' eInvoicing implementations' on Thursday, 4 October 2018. The webinar was a follow-up on the eInvoicing event held in Brussels on 29 May 2018.
During the webinar three countries, the Netherlands, Scotland and Norway, presented their national approach to promote and support the implementation of Directive 2015/55/EU. Throughout the webinar participants were able to learn about each implementation approach and ask questions. Hearing other Member States' eInvoicing implementation journey and how reusing CEF eInvoicing services can simplify their journey to implement eInvoicing is meant to inspire fellow Member States to implement eInvoicing. In addition, the webinar reinforced that the CEF eInvoicing community is a source of information and place to exchange expertise and experience on how to implement the Directive successfully.
With 195 days remaining until the eInvoicing deadline on 18 April, 2018, the eInvoicing community is working closely together to implement the Directive across Europe to realize the Digital Single Market.
Read Scotland's Success Story
Read the Dutch Success Story
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The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) supports multiple digital infrastructure projects which contribute to improvements in the daily lives of Europeans through digital inclusion, the connectivity and interoperability of European digital services, and the development of a Digital Single Market.