A platform to test IT systems, services and products

2016.25 Interoperability Test Bed (ITB)

When is this action of interest to you?

You are a European public administration or a potential vendor wishing to integrate your IT solution into an existing trans-European IT system.

What is this action about?

ITB (Interoperability Test Bed) will provide a platform for hosting reference implementations of cross-border services. It will enable Member States’ public administrations and their potential vendors to test existing national systems as well as individual services or products, against a neutral, reliable and responsive reference test environment.

The test bed shall be cross-border, cross-application and shall foster the uptake of cross-border services developed by research projects and pilots. In addition, research projects can benefit from an additional test.

What are the objectives?

To test the technical integration of IT systems in national infrastructures
To foster the take- up of cross-border services developed by research projects and pilots
To secure the continuous operation of building blocks for cross-border services for further testing and development

The ITB addresses all relevant aspects of a test environment:

Organizational aspects: for secure and efficient operations and for cross-border, cross-sector applications
Technical aspects: provision of an interoperability test-bed.
Business aspects provision of business models for sustainability

What are the benefits?

Easier and faster integration of national solutions
Easier reuse of building blocks for cross-border services

What has been achieved?

Extending the test bed’s user base, exceeding expectations.
Implementation of conformance testing for the EIRA, which has contributed in further using the test bed for activities on the TES Action.
The validation service for Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) being the result of a recommendation from the contractors involved with the ESPD.
Validators for XML and RDF have been implemented, and can be reused.
Implementation of extensive documentation, supporting services and new features, enriching the test bed’s capabilities and improving its branding and perception.

What are the next steps?

Continued support for the test bed’s current users and on-boarding of new user communities, including Core Vocabulary conformance testing and conformance testing for the Flemish OSLO standards; identification of potential new users from the TES cartography
Extension of the EIRA conformance testing; potentially other Reference Architectures
Improved features for test implementers, including a validator for GITB TDL test suites
Maintenance of the test bed software, including security improvements
Continuation of the operational support and improvement of the processes
Integration with EU-Login is in the process of being implemented. Once this is achieved, the ITB can serve as the primary interoperability and conformance testing solution for cross-border services offered by the European Commission