For 2020, this action has, among others, the objective of developing relevant legal, organisational and technical artefacts trialled through an extension and combination of the CEF eDelivery building block with blockchain based transactions’ log and a REST-based profile (a.k.a. APIs approach), that support new patterns of data access by request and data sharing.

The work related to the REST-based profile will take as input the JRC study on APIs4DGov that analysed the API technological landscape and  its standards and technical specifications for general purpose use. This aims to support the definition of stable APIs for digital government services, avoiding the need to develop ad hoc solutions and helping stakeholders in the identification and selection of such solutions.

The scope of the ISA² action will be to develop the following:

• A set of guidelines and specifications for establishing interoperable REST-based APIs for service invocation and publication of both open and protected data. Sample library implementation for API’s as well as software supporting central/core services such as service catalogues and service discovery could be also in scope.
• Extension of eDelivery with other building blocks and innovative technical approaches such as blockchain and APIs. Should the pilots be successful, the CEF eDelivery building block will be enriched with a REST-based profile and a blockchain-based log of transactions. Every element will be modular so that it can be used in combination with the existing AS4-profile (of eDelivery) or on its own.

Please do not hesitate to contact us at CEF-BUILDING-BLOCKS@ec.europa.eu for more information.

The CEF building blocks provide basic services which can be reused to enable more complex digital public services offered to citizens, businesses and public administration. They provide reusable tools and services helping to underpin the Digital Single Market, that aims to remove digital regulatory barriers, contributing as much as EUR 415 billion per year to the European economy. The CEF Digital Portal is the home of the CEF building blocks (eDelivery, eID, eInvoicing, eSignature and eTranslation). It is the one-stop-shop for information about the building blocks. The portal provides access to tools, services and software that can be used in any European project to facilitate the delivery of digital public services across borders.

The CEF eDelivery building block helps public administrations and businesses (and indirectly citizens) to participate in eDelivery Messaging Infrastructures which facilitate organisation-to-organisation messaging by enabling their systems to interact with each other in a secure, reliable and trusted way. The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital Programme, is currently promoting the adoption of common standards in the eDelivery Messaging Infrastructures in different policy domains (Business Registers, eJustice, eProcurement, etc.).