How the Building Blocks can improve migrant integration

Six projects funded under the Horizon 2020 programme, MIICT, REBUILD, NADINE, MICADO, EASYRIGHTS and WELCOME, are tackling the challenge of how to better integrate migrants in European societies using ICT solutions. In October 2020, they organised, in cooperation with the European Commission, Joint Migration Policy Roundtables to try and answer this question.

The result was a whitepaper giving strategic input to help shape the future of migration policy in the EU, focusing on ICT-enabled solutions. Broadly speaking, digitalisation of public services related to migration will improve the effectiveness and accessibility of such services, easing the integration of migrants into their host societies. But what particular challenges do migrants face, and how can digital solutions help?

Below, we take a look at some of the whitepaper's recommendations and how the European Commission can help, as well as some hypothetical areas in which the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Building Blocks could help address the issues raised in this whitepaper.

A new approach to migrant integration

The whitepaper gives practical recommendations on how the development and improvement of digital services for migrant integration should be approached, and the role the Commission can play.

• Encourage national governments to accelerate innovation and digital transformation in the public sector;

• Understand the lives and circumstances of different migrants and refugees to create services that are tailored and nuanced rather than 'one-size-fits-all';

• Involve multiple stakeholders, including migrants, public authorities and local NGOs, along every step of the way, from co-creation of prototypes to testing and validation: this will identify the specific problems faced by all parties involved in migrant integration, and facilitate the sharing of best practices for ICT-based support of migrants.

For more details of the whitepaper's recommendations to help strengthen the EU's digital government policy in the area of migration, read this article. You can find the full whitepaper at the bottom of this page.

How the Building Blocks can help

Let's take a closer look at some specific issues the whitepaper raises in the area of digital services for migrant integration, and how ready-to-use, open digital solutions like the Building Blocks could help.

Ensuring the cross-border interoperability of different digital platforms for migrants, and in general accelerating the digitalisation of public administrations to improve efficiency, access and outreach of public services. 

The Building Blocks are open and reusable digital solutions that can used in any cross-border, European digital project. Based on international standards, they ensure that different digital infrastructures can intercommunicate seamlessly across sectors and borders, for a truly connected Europe. This is of particular importance when it comes to digitalised administrative processes for migrants, where data may need to be transferred between parties from various countries and sectors. As open, ready-to-use solutions, the Building Blocks are ideal for cooperation among various stakeholders in the migration sector - you can use their sample software or build a service from scratch based on their standards, all while being able to adapt the digital solution to the specific needs of migrants, or integrate them into an existing service to make it fully compliant and interoperable.

The Building Blocks are already accelerating the digital transformation of public administrations in a variety of European projects cutting across many sectors. They can be leveraged individually, or in combination, to achieve similar results in the area of migrant integration, and are available regardless of sector, be it legal, health, housing, employment and many others.

The promotion of Self-Sovereign Digital Identity, which will help address issues of trust around personal data, a key issue for migrants. 

Everybody is concerned about the security and protection of their personal data, and having control over their own identity, whether they are dealing with private service providers or Public Administrations. Being able to trust that your personal data is being handled in a responsible, secure way is particularly important for migrants, who are already in a more vulnerable position. Security, trust and compliance with the relevant data protection laws are at the heart of the Building Blocks.

The eID and eSignature Building Blocks are underpinned by the eIDAS Regulation 910/2014, which provides for the mutual recognition of national eID schemes and electronic signatures across Europe. They make it possible for people to securely access services across borders by using their digital identity and signing documents electronically.

eDelivery allows for the reliable exchange of information via a secure exchange channel, while eArchiving ensures the secure and transparent storage of information over the short-, medium- and long-term. Its open and international standards ensure interoperability, so stored data can be reused and exchanged between systems, in compliance with all relevant data laws. 

The creation and use of open APIs to ease the sharing of open data.

One of the major challenges faced when trying to improve migrant integration is the availability and aggregation of relevant data in one place. The whitepaper mentions a frequent lack of coordination between different authorities, and that real-time monitoring of diverse data through visually intuitive and accessible dashboards could be a solution. 

The Context Broker is an open-source API that can gather data from various sources, organise this data and display it on a visual dashboard in real-time for actionable insights. This could not only help coordinate integration efforts and improve the accessibility of information for migrants, but also inform policy-making by helping analyse the performance of different administrative procedures in real-time.

Migrants need access to information in various languages.

The eTranslation Building Block can translate to and from all 24 official EU languages and more, such as Russian, Mandarin, Turkish, and now Japanese. eTranslation can be fully integrated into a website or digital platform, allowing for the automated translation of content. 

One-size-fits-all solutions are not suitable when it comes to platforms helping migrants integrate, as the variety of different migrants' backgrounds is so diverse. The modularity and flexibility of digital solutions is therefore key. 

All of the Building Blocks are built for interoperability, scalability and can be used in isolation or combination. This makes them ideal for the agile design of new systems or services that can be adapted in a modular fashion to the ever-changing needs of migrants from various backgrounds.

Learn more about the Building Blocks