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<h1><span class="heading-subtitle">Onboarding playbook</span>The Once - Only<br>Technical System<br>Onboarding Playbook</h1>
<p class="lead">The OOTS Onboarding Playbook is here to help you integrate smoothly into the system by providing you with the flow of activities in the form of a check-list with expandable sections containing further information. Each activity/ step is presented with a brief description and links to documentation necessary to understand what is required for its completion.</p>
<p class="lead mb-0">Both the Onboarding Playbook and the Toolkit are based on the work generated by the OOTS subgroups and committees within its organisational structure.</p>

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<h2>Who is the OOTS Onboarding Playbook for?</h2>
<p class="lead">This Playbook is aimed at four main OOTS actors: National Coordinators; Intermediary Platforms; Evidence Requesters and Evidence Providers.</p>

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<h3 class="h5">National Coordinators</h3>
<p>The members of the organisation or service providers leading or contributing to the central implementation of the OOTS in a country that belongs to the EU or EEA.</p>
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<p><a class="btn ghost-negative" href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/sites/display/OOTS/steps+National+Coordinators"><span>Discover relevant steps</span><span class="ico-cta-forward"></span></a></p>
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<h3 class="h5">Intermediary platform</h3>
<p>An intermediary platform is a technical solution through which evidence providers or evidence requesters connect to OOTS. It abstracts competent authorities from the technical complexity of the system by providing an interface that is easy to integrate with data sources and procedure portals.</p>
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<p><a class="btn ghost-negative" href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/sites/display/OOTS/steps+Intermediary+platform"><span>Discover relevant steps</span><span class="ico-cta-forward"></span></a></p>
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<h3 class="h5">Evidence requester</h3>
<p>A competent authority responsible for one or more of the procedures covered by the OOTS. It is the authority at which the user wishes to complete a procedure which requires the user to submit one or more pieces of supporting evidence.</p>
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<p><a class="btn ghost-negative" href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/sites/display/OOTS/steps+Evidence+Requester"><span>Discover relevant steps</span><span class="ico-cta-forward"></span></a></p>
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<h3 class="h5">Evidence provider</h3>
<p>A competent authority that lawfully issues evidence for any of the procedures covered by OOTS. The different Member States (MS) may name different evidence providers for the same procedure, as the type and format of the evidence may differ from MS to MS.</p>
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<p><a class="btn ghost-negative" href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/sites/display/OOTS/steps+Evidence+Provider"><span>Discover relevant steps</span><span class="ico-cta-forward"></span></a></p>
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<h2 class="h3">Key information to consider before you start</h2>

<p>The information contained in this Playbook is structured according to the actors via tabs. You can find the tab that corresponds with your role and follow the steps presented there.</p>

<p>The Once Only Technical System (OOTS) enables the sharing of information between public administrations across borders between EU countries. It is cross-sectorial and can be expanded beyond the current scope of life events set out in the Single Digital Gateway Regulation (SDGR). It puts into practice the Once-Only Principle, which states that citizens should not be forced to provide information to authorities if another authority already holds that information in electronic format.</p>

<h3>What are the key benefits of joining the OOTS?</h3>
<ul class="list-checked">
<li>
<p><strong>Saving time and effort</strong></p>
<p>Citizens and SMEs will be able to retrieve and exchange official documents online from any EU public authority. They will no longer need to manually search for and upload documents for each administrative procedure they complete.</p>
</li>

<li>
<p><strong>Simplified Business Operations</strong></p>
<p>It will be much easier to conduct business in another EU country as official documents needed for admin procedures can be directly located, retrieved, verified and submitted entirely online. </p>
</li>

<li>
<p><strong>Contributing to the EU Digital Transformation</strong></p>
<p>By securely connecting authentic sources of public authorities with eGov portals, the system supports the EU's digital transformation goals, including efficiency, reduced red tape, and improved digital experiences for citizens and businesses.</p>
</li>

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<p><a class="btn ghost" href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/sites/display/DIGITAL/Once+Only+Technical+System"><span>Learn more about OOTS</span><span class="ico-cta-forward"></span></a></p>

<p>When you become part of the OOTS, you will need to comply with a minimum service level that has to be guaranteed by the different components involved. Thereby, it is important to understand the responsibilities shared among Member States and European Commission.</p>
<p><a class="btn ghost" target="_blank" href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/wikis/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=674496726"><span>Understand shared responsibilities</span><span class="sr-only">(opens in a new tab)</span><span class="ico-external"></span></a></p>

<p>Please refer to the MS Readiness Study 2020/21 for a tool that can provide guidance and assist you in improving your cost estimation assessment. It is important to note that this report should be seen as relevant to the moment it was published and that, based on recent information, some teams report higher and lower actual costs.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" class="link download" href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/wikis/pages/viewpage.action?spaceKey=SDGOO&title=OOTS+Onboarding+Playbook&preview=/690489051/704512280/OOTS_Cost_Estimation_Summary(draft).pdf"><span>OOTS_Cost_Estimation_Summary(draft).pdf</span><span class="ico-download"></span></a></p>

<p><a class="btn ghost" target="_blank" href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/wikis/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=341181757"><span>Cost estimation toolkits - MS Readiness Study (2020/21)</span><span class="sr-only">(opens in a new tab)</span><span class="ico-external"></span></a></p>

<p><strong>What</strong>: Art.14 of the SDGR establishes the need for a Technical system for the cross-border automated exchange of evidence and application of the ‘Once-Only’ principle.</p>
<p><strong>Who:</strong> Member States: SDG Coordination group and European Commission: GROW/CNECT/DIGIT</p>
<p><strong>By when:</strong> December 2023</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32018R1724&from=EN" class="link external"><span>Single Digital Gateway Regulation (EU) 2018/1724</span><span class="sr-only">(opens in a new tab)</span><span class="ico-external"></span></a></a></p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=PI_COM:C(2022)5628&from=EN" class="link external"><span>Implementation Act C(2022)5628</span><span class="sr-only">(opens in a new tab)</span><span class="ico-external"></span></a></a></p>

<p>The OOTS technical support team can be contacted via the dedicated 

<a target="_blank" href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/tracker/plugins/servlet/desk/portal/15/create/292" class="link external"><span>OOTS Service desk</span><span class="sr-only">(opens in a new tab)</span><span class="ico-external"></span></a></a>

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<p>In order to access the Support Desk site, it is necessary to log in with an EU Login account. Additionally, the support team can be contacted via email: <a href="mailto:EC-OOTS-SUPPORT@ec.europa.eu">EC-OOTS-SUPPORT@ec.europa.eu</a></p>

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<h3 class="h5">Start the onboarding process</h3>
<p class="p-opacity">Open the  playbook and start navigating through the section that corresponds to your role.</p>
<p><a class="btn primary-negative" href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/sites/display/OOTS/steps+National+Coordinators"><span>Go to the Onboarding Playbook</span><span class="ico-cta-forward"></span></a></p>
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<h2>Onboarding Toolkit</h2>
<p class="lead">This Playbook is accompanied by the OOTS Onboarding Toolkit, where you can find the guidelines and specifications. Links to corresponding sections of the Toolkit can be found in the Playbook where activities/steps require further detailed technical guidance for their completion.</p>
<p class="toolkit-cta"><a class="btn ghost" href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/sites/display/OOTS/Onboarding+Toolkit"><span>Discover the Onboarding Toolkit</span><span class="ico-cta-forward"></span></a></p>

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<h2>Any questions?</h2>
<p class="lead">Do you have any questions? Don’t hesitate to contact us!</p>
<p class="question-cta"><a class="btn ghost" href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/sites/display/OOTS/Service+Desk"><span>Contact the Service Desk</span><span class="ico-cta-forward"></span></a></p>