Welcome and introduction

5 mins

Dietmar Gattwinkel, DG CNECT H4

Dietmar Gattwinkel welcomed the participants and introduced the agenda for the session and the new ISA² action Working group page (main page can be accessed here).

REST APIs track:

• Scoping document – presentation and discussion
• Use case: Data Management Interface
• Timeline and next steps

60 mins

Maarten Daniels, Bogdan Dumitriu and Vlad Veduta, DIGIT D3

• Bogdan Dumitriu presented the REST APIs track and the project scoping document. Cf. slides.
• The first draft of the project scoping document was presented during the meeting. This will be followed by the collection of stakeholders’ feedback by end of July. Further changes will then be made in order to address the feedback and to enrich the document, with the aim to have a final version before the meeting in September.
• The scope of the project could potentially be interpreted in many different ways, hence the need to clearly specify it from the beginning.
• Maarten Daniels presented the use case on Data Management Interface, clarifying that the purpose of implementing the use case would be to test the profile and not to make the profile applicable exclusively to this use case.
• Bogdan Dumitriu presented the timeline and the deadlines for the REST APIs track of the project.
• Martin Volcker commented that he now believes the project is going in the right direction and asked for clarification on how SML and SMP would be included in the scope. Bogdan answered that SML and SMP could be one possible future application of the profile, i.e. how to update a central metadata repository as a component that is part of a larger architecture. Martin stressed that it could be that the ISA² programme is already working on something similar since it will be an important question in the future, i.e. a central metadata repository. Monica clarified that it this is being addressed in the API4IPS “Strategy essentials for the public sector” study.
• Jose Antonio Eusamio inquired about the added value of working on a REST profile. Sven Rasmussen argued that this profile aims to address the situations where the recipients are unknown (e.g. in lookup configuration) and APIs are better suited for lightweight platforms that are not able to carry out an eDelivery implementation. He stressed that the ongoing work is very positive and that a standardised common profile would indeed limit thechoices that can be made by a project, but would bring added value in terms of interoperability. He reminded the WG that the need to have a REST profile was supported by a large number of Member States during the ISA² Committee meeting..
• Philip Helger indicated that HTTP2 might be an option for streaming, which has options for parallel data exchange and compression on transport level.
• Erik Hagen informed that Norway has been working on reference architectures for similar configurations and asked whether any coordination or cooperation with Member States was planned. Bogdan explained that the idea of the bilateral meetings planned to happen in the first half of September is precisely to collaborate with the stakeholders and collect their input.

Break (10 mins)

Blockchain track:

• Presentation and discussion on blockchain features to implement (i.e. metadata to store for statistics and querying capabilities)

45 mins

Bogdan Dumitriu and Vlad Veduta, DIGIT D3

• Slides presented by Bogdan.
• With regard to the collection of data for statistics, there was a question on which parts of the AS4 message would be in scope (e.g. SOAP header, payload, or UserMessage). Bogdan clarified that only a subset of metadata would be considered for collection. Additionally, the collection (or not) of data for statistics would be the choice of the specific domain or Access Point. It would not be made mandatory or configured to be enabled by default. The principle would be to allow every domain to define the subset of the data that they want to record.
• In answer to a question regarding the overhead implied by using the EBSI ledger instead of generating a timestamp from the AS4 node server, Bogdan explained that, because of the delay due to the way the ledger operates, the notarisation would be done asynchronously and that therefore there would be no noticeable overhead. Furthermore, the feature of notarisation would be disabled by default and available as an option for the domains or Access Points that want to use it.
• Jose Antonio Eusamio asked what the added value of EBSI would be. Bogdan clarified that EBSI was a concrete service providing a blockchain. Considering that one of the aims of the project is to conduct a pilot integration between CEF eDelivery and blockchain, selecting a blockchain implementation that was itself a CEF building block would explore natural synergies.
• Bogdan further informed that the next objective related to this work track was to prepare draft functional specifications elaborating how Domibus could integrate with EBSI for the September meeting.

APIs for Innovative Public Sector (API4 IPS):

• Updates and scoping

• Monica Posada and Lorenzino Vaccari presented the latest updates, scoping and timeline of the API4IPS study, and a description of the API framework for governments (cf. slides). As an example of future consultation with the Working Group Lorenzino presented the API framework online self-assessment tool and asked the participants to fill in the questionnaire for proposal 6 (Harmonise platform and ecosystems assets)  and to provide There was one comment by Philip Helger related to the use of too government centric terminology. Lorenzino clarified that the framework has been designed and created for governmental institutions and that its concept could be extended to other types of organisations, too. As requested during the workshop, the tool has been updated to fill it anonymously. The tool is available for comments and tests till the 10^th of July to the whole working group. The tool will be then publicly announced and released, together with the publication of JRC report on the API framework. 
• Dietmar Gattwinkel wrapped up the discussion and thanked the participation of the attendees.