Empowering eDelivery: A closer look at conformance testing with the Interoperability Test Bed
Welcome to a journey of digital integration where the Interoperability Test Bed (ITB) plays a pivotal role in supporting eDelivery.
The primary task of the eDelivery conformance testing service, now based on the ITB platform, is to make sure that diverse software products and services enabling the use of eDelivery follow the right rules. By doing so, this collaboration paves the way for secure and efficient electronic document and data exchanges, facilitating the smooth flow of information within the digital realm.
In this article, we'll explore the concept of conformance testing and how the ITB is helping eDelivery provide it in a way that is not only efficient but also user friendly.
Conformance testing with the ITB
In the world of digital integration, where information flows seamlessly between diverse systems, one concept stands out as the guardian of interoperability: conformance testing. This essential process ensures that IT systems, those intricate pieces of software and hardware, dance to the same tune, adhering to specific requirements and predefined specifications. And in the context of eDelivery, it plays a crucial role in shaping the landscape of secure and efficient electronic document and data exchanges.
Conformance testing is then like the quality control for IT systems. It is a fundamental process in the world of digital communication. And the ITB, developed by the European Commission's DIGIT, is the instrument that facilitates conformance testing for eDelivery components. It ensures that the diverse eDelivery components follow the right rules.
Conformance testing in eDelivery
The flawless exchange of information is crucial for the citizens, businesses and public administrations.
eDelivery is a framework designed to foster interoperability among heterogeneous digital systems. At its core, eDelivery is a set of specifications that individuals and organisations can use to develop software products or services. Conformance testing ensures that those third-party offerings, whether in the form of software or services, are compliant with the specs and, thus, can communicate in a standardised way.
In essence, conformance testing in eDelivery is meant to provide assurance to the prospective users of products or services that the offering has passed a set of standardised tests and should be capable of communicating correctly with other similar products or services.
In a broader context of digital services, conformance testing stands as an indispensable element within the eDelivery service offering. It resides under the operations services umbrella, specifically falling within the ambit of testing services.
For a visual representation of where conformance testing fits within the eDelivery structure, look at the diagram below:
Development for eDelivery
In its latest releases – 1.19.0, 1.20.0 and 1.21.0 – the ITB software introduced several features in response to the needs of the eDelivery conformance testing service.
A first group of features addressed test suite and test case management: version management of individual test cases, shared test suites across multiple specifications and flexible test cases. These allow great simplification both to the solution owners, who are only required to run shared tests once and have the result relevant to all specifications, and to the eDelivery development team, who can more flexibly manage the lifecycle of the different tests implemented in the platform and label them, depending on the needs, as mandatory, optional or disabled.
A second group of features had to do with management of specifications. With eDelivery preparing to launch some tens of specifications over time, it was important from the beginning to be able to group them and order them in a meaningful way. Support for both features was swiftly implemented by the ITB team.
The ITB was also improved to simplify the process for presenting the documentation of eDelivery test cases to users and for producing fully redesigned PDF test reports, including additional data relevant to eDelivery conformance testing.
The most recent upgrade brought support for conformance snapshots (allowing eDelivery to version its conformance testing service and display products in separate categories depending on which version of the service they were tested with), conformance badges (allowing eDelivery to show in a live way each vendor’s conformance status) and customised conformance certificates (allowing eDelivery to tailor them to its needs).
The collaboration between the two teams was excellent and is set to continue in the same vein. Several further improvements are being explored now and we are sure they will eventually make the life of the users of the ITB platform and of the eDelivery conformance testing service even better.
eDelivery’s Test Bed instance is available at https://as4conftest.edelivery.tech.ec.europa.eu/itb/.
Bogdan Dumitriu, the project officer in charge of eDelivery, said that
The decision to switch from the in-house conformance testing platform that was used to provide the service between 2016-2023 over to ITB proved a great one. The richness of features, user documentation and onboarding support that the eDelivery team received for free from ITB was excellent to begin with. The ensuing collaboration, the willingness to add additional features and the speed with which they were implemented were impressive. With the migration now close to complete, we are finally able to focus all our energy on what matters: designing and writing tests. ITB takes care of the rest.
Coming soon: a new presentation for AS4 conformant solutions
An exciting result of the move of eDelivery’s conformance testing service to ITB is on the horizon as well. eDelivery is going to release a new page showcasing its AS4 conformant solutions. Here is a glimpse into what it will offer:
- Display of conformance service version. Much in the same way as Euro NCAP changes its rating approach every few years, the eDelivery conformance service will also evolve over time, providing ever-stronger coverage of the eDelivery specifications. In the new presentations, it will be possible to see which version each solution was tested with.
- Version information. For software products, the version of the tested products will be displayed, providing a clear understanding of the product’s evolution.
- Additional links for each solution. In addition to the link to each solution’s web site, additional links will be tracked, in particular to the support offering of the solution.
Stay tuned for the latest updates on eDelivery services by checking the Building Block's X and web page. For more information, do not hesitate to register for personalised news or contact us via our portal or by e-mail: EC-EDELIVERY-SUPPORT@ec.europa.eu.
The eDelivery Building Block
eDelivery is a building block that provides technical specifications and standards, installable software and ancillary services to allow projects to create a network of nodes for secure digital data exchange.
Sources: Visual 1: Adobe Stock #113453008. Visuals 2 & 3: eDelivery team.