Interfaces, standards, information and data are enablers of interoperability and improve quality because they extend operational use as well as saving money and time. This makes it a major contributor to the development of a digital single market in the EU. Some EU standards and specifications also exist in the DIFs and should be applied more widely. For example, the INSPIRE Directive sets out interoperability standards for addresses, cadastres, roads and many other data topics of relevance to many public administrations. These existing standards and specifications can and should be used more widely beyond the domain for which they were originally developed.
Covered by:
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Reuse and share solutions and cooperate in the development of joint solutions when implementing European public service. |
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| Recommendation 7 | Reuse and share information and data when implementing European public services, unless certain privacy or confidentiality restrictions apply. |
Legal Initiatives
| Legal initiative | Description | Recommendation |
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Status: In force and transposed |
The directive promotes the use of open data and lays down the legal framework for the reuse of public-sector information such as geographical, land registry, statistical or legal information held by public-sector bodies or public undertakings, and of publicly funded research data. Public-sector bodies and public undertakings must make their documents available in any pre-existing format or language and, where appropriate, by electronic means in formats that are open, machine readable, accessible, findable and reusable, complete with their metadata. | Recommendation 7 |
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Status: In force and transposed |
The INSPIRE Directive lays down general rules setting up an infrastructure for spatial information in Europe for the purposes of European Union (EU) environmental policies and for policies or activities which may have an impact on the environment. The European infrastructure builds on that of spatial information that is established and operated by EU countries. |
Recommendation 7 |
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Status: Legislative Proposal |
This Proposal aims at creating a legislative framework for the governance of common European data spaces. It proposes measures: - to unlock more publicly held data for research serving the common good; - to support voluntary data sharing by citizens (‘data altruism’); and - to set up an EU-level governance structure to prioritise standardisation needs and improve data interoperability. |
Recommendation 7 |
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Status: In force |
This regulation aims to improve checks at the EU’s external borders, allow for better detection of security threats and identity fraud, and help in preventing and combating illegal immigration. | |
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Status: In force |
It aims to to improve checks at the EU’s external borders, allow for better detection of security threats and identity fraud, and help in preventing and combating illegal immigration. |
Open standards and specifications
| Standards and Specifications | Relevant Recommendations | Corresponding Solutions |
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Description: The DCAT Application Profile for data portals in Europe (DCAT-AP) is a specification based on the Data Catalogue Vocabulary (DCAT) developed by W3C. This application profile is a specification for metadata records to meet the specific application needs of data portals in Europe while providing semantic interoperability with other applications on the basis of reuse of established controlled vocabularies (e.g. EuroVoc) and mappings to existing metadata vocabularies |
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Name: Core Public Service Vocabulary (CPSV) Description: The Core Public Service Vocabulary Application Profile is a data model that has been developed in the context of a Working Group for describing public services. The main focus of the CPSV-AP version 1.00 was the description of public services and business events on the Points of Single Contact which each Member State had to implement in the context of the Services Directive (2006/123/EC). |
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Name: ADMS-AP Description: The Asset Description Metadata Schema (ADMS) is a specification used to describe reusable solutions, such as data models and specifications, reference data and open source software. It was created with the help of a working group of experts. On 1 August 2013, W3C published ADMS as a W3C Working Group note. |
Recommendation 6 |  |
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Name: BregDCAT-AP -RoR Description: The Registry of Registers is a solution dedicated to an application profile of DCAT-AP for base registries, namely, BRegDCAT-AP, aiming to provide a standard data model / specification for base registries access and interconnection. |
Recommendation 6 |  |
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Name: Core Vocabularies Description: Core Vocabularies are simplified, reusable, and extensible data models that capture the fundamental characteristics of an entity, such as a person or a public organisation, in a context-neutral manner. |
Recommendation 6 |  |
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Name: Core Public Service Vocabulary (CPSV-AP) Description: The Core Public Service Vocabulary Application Profile is a data model that has been developed in the context of a Working Group for describing public services. |
Recommendation 6 | 
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Name: Core Standards and Specifications Vocabulary (CSSV) Description: The CSSV is the vocabulary used for the information exchange related to standards and specifications amongst software solutions, as well as, it is the key element for the development of the new release of the EIRA Library of Interoperability Specifications (ELIS). |
Recommendation 6 | 
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Name: Core Assessments Vocabulary (CAV) Description: The Core Assessment Vocabulary represents and defines what an “Assessment” of “assets” is and how to perform the assessment based on “Criteria”. It is a domain-agnostic vocabulary, meaning that it can be used to assess any type of assets. |
Recommendation 6 |  |
Best practice examples
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Concrete example/good practice |
Summary |
| The implementation of the Czech central interoperability governance mechanism |
This good practice illustrates the implementation by the Czech Republic of the EIF underlying Principle 1 on subsidiarity and proportionality at the national level. The good practice includes the implementation of a legislative framework in areas of public ICT systems and services where interoperability is a must. Also, the government implemented a central governance body with a legally supported mandate, the Chief architect of eGovernment office, that ensures interoperability by focusing on the use of shared government ICT services, reuse of solutions, as well as compliance with the national architecture plan, eGovernment principles and public services ICT strategy. |
Solutions supporting the implementation of Principle 4
| Solution | Description | Associated Recommendations |
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The Asset Description Metadata Schema (ADMS) is a specification used to describe reusable solutions, such as data models and specifications, reference data and open source software. It was created with the help of a working group of experts. On 1 August 2013, W3C published ADMS as a W3C Working Group note. | Recommendation 6 |
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The CAMSS Assessments Library is a catalogue of the assessments produced through the use of the CAMSS Tools. Each assessment constitutes a CAMSS solution and is fully reusable. | Recommendation 7 |
Cartography of Reusable Solutions |
ABR Catalogue of Solutions is aiming to provide you information on more than 120 solutions from the European Union (EU) institutions, MS and other countries to inspire you in your work and to re-use suitable solutions. Type of solution: Common framework |
Recommendation 6 |
CarTool |
The Cartography Tool (CarTool©) brings together high-level support for the EIRA© as a plug-in for the popular ArchiMate® modelling tool Archi®. It includes both editing features, to model solutions using the EIRA©, and querying functionalities to query an EIRA©-based Cartography of solutions. CAMSS Team | Recommendation 6 |
CEF Big Data Test Infrastructure |
Big data test infrastructure (BDTI) helps public administrations improve the experience of the citizen, make government more efficient and boost business and the wider economy through big data. Big data is high-volume, high-velocity and high-variety information that requires new forms of processing to enable enhanced decision-making, insight discovery and process optimisation. | |
CIRCABC |
CIRCABC (Communication and Information Resource Centre for Administrations, Businesses and Citizens) is an open-source, web-based application which enables geographically spread collaborative groups to share information and resources in private workspaces.V | |
Context Broker |
CEF Context Broker is an API that can integrate data from multiple systems, creating a holistic view of information. By providing the layer that describes each type of data, the Context Broker makes it possible to create an interface that makes it easy for anyone to view and interpret big data. Using the Context Broker, organisations can monitor their metrics in real time through live updates. You can share the context information you choose with third parties, enabling process improvements and innovation across the whole data value chain. |
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Core Assessments Vocabulary (CAV) |
The Core Assessment Vocabulary represents and defines what an “Assessment” of “assets” is and how to perform the assessment based on “Criteria”. It is a domain-agnostic vocabulary, meaning that it can be used to assess any type of assets. | Recommendation 6 |
Core Public Service Vocabulary Application Profile (CPSV-AP) |
The Core Public Service Vocabulary Application Profile is a data model that has been developed in the context of a Working Group for describing public services. The main focus of the CPSV-AP version 1.00 was the description of public services and business events on the Points of Single Contact which each Member State had to implement in the context of the Services Directive (2006/123/EC). |
Recommendation 6 |
Core Standards and Specifications Vocabulary (CSSV) |
The CSSV is the vocabulary used for the information exchange related to standards and specifications amongst software solutions, as well as, it is the key element for the development of the new release of the EIRA Library of Interoperability Specifications (ELIS). | Recommendation 6 |
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Core Vocabularies are simplified, reusable, and extensible data models that capture the fundamental characteristics of an entity, such as a person or a public organisation, in a context-neutral manner. | Recommendation 6 |
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The European Parliament Crypto tool Software offers an open source software that enables to exchange files different parties in a secure manner. | Recommendation 7 |
Data models |
The use of CISE specifications and data models, helps to ensure that public administrations are taking into account relevant EU recommendations on standards and specifications in the maritime domain and are seeking to make the approach consistent across borders. Type of solution: Common frameworks; Semantic assets |
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The DCAT Application Profile for data portals in Europe (DCAT-AP) is a specification based on the Data Catalogue Vocabulary (DCAT) developed by W3C. This application profile is a specification for metadata records to meet the specific application needs of data portals in Europe while providing semantic interoperability with other applications on the basis of reuse of established controlled vocabularies (e.g. EuroVoc) and mappings to existing metadata vocabularies | |
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eArchiving provides the core specifications, software, training and knowledge to help data creators, software developers and digital archives tackle the challenge of short, medium and long-term data management and reuse in a sustainable, authentic, cost-efficient, manageable and interoperable way. eArchiving technical specifications are ideal for migrating long-term valuable data between generations of information systems, transferring data to dedicated long-term repositories (i.e. digital archives), or preserving and reusing data over extended (and shorter) periods of time and generations of software systems. |
Recommendation 7 |
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e-Certis is a free online tool mapping documents requested in public procurement procedures across borders. The system identifies and links certificates necessary as proof of compliance with tender criteria in various areas of administrative verification (e.g. tax, social security obligations, criminal records, etc.). This helps bring clarity to the cross-border bidding process. Information provided by e-Certis is inserted by National public entities in charge and regularly updated. The e-Certis service is linked with the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD), which is a single self-declaration form of a bidder's eligibility in public procurement. e-Certis and the ESPD significantly reduce the effort needed for submission of a tender offer and facilitate bidding across borders. |
Recommendation 7 |
eDelivery |
The eDelivery Building Block helps public administrations to exchange data and documents via AS4 Access Points, based on the AS4 messaging protocol. This allows different parties to exchange electronic data and documents across sectors and borders through a secure eDelivery message exchange network. By connecting to an AS4 Access Point, a public administration can exchange electronic data and documents with any organisation connected to another Access Point in the network. The eDelivery Building Block also helps upgrade exisiting solutions so they can connect to eDelivery messaging networks through an Access Point. | Recommendation 6 |
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The eID Building Block allows public administrations and private service providers to easily extend the use of their online services to citizens from other Member States, in line with the eIDAS Regulation. | Recommendation 7 |
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The CEF eInvoicing Building Block aims to promote the successful uptake of electronic invoicing in Europe, respecting the European standard on electronic invoicing and Directive 2014/55/EU on electronic invoicing in public procurement. This is relevant for both public and private entities established in the EU, as well as in participating EEA countries. |
Recommendation 7 |
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The European Interoperability Reference Architecture (EIRA©) is an architecture content metamodel defining the most salient architectural building blocks (ABBs) needed to build interoperable e-Government systems. The EIRA© provides a common terminology that can be used by people working for public administrations in various architecture and system development tasks. The EIRA© was created and is being maintained in the context of Action 2016.32 of the ISA² Programme. The EIRA uses (and extends) the ArchiMate language as a modelling notation and uses service orientation as an architectural style. | Recommendation 6 |
EIRA Library of Interoperability Specifications |
he DCAT Application Profile for data portals in Europe (DCAT-AP) is a specification based on the Data Catalogue Vocabulary (DCAT) developed by W3C. This application profile is a specification for metadata records to meet the specific application needs of data portals in Europe while providing semantic interoperability with other applications on the basis of reuse of established controlled vocabularies (e.g. EuroVoc) and mappings to existing metadata vocabularies | Recommendation 6 |
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The European Interoperability Cartography (EIC), as defined by the Decision (EU) 2015/2240 is a “repository of interoperability solutions for European public administrations provided by Union institutions and Member States, presented in a common format and complying with specific re-usability and interoperability criteria that can be represented on the EIRA”. The Decision (EU) 2015/2240 further states that “interoperability solutions and updates shall, where appropriate, be included in the EIC and be made available for re-use by European public administrations”. | Recommendation 6 |
European Union
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The European Union Location Framework (EULF) Blueprint is a framework of recommendations and related guidance for publishing and using location information and applying interoperability principles in digital government. The EULF Blueprint was initially developed through the EULF project in the ISA programme. The content has been updated extensively through the European Location Interoperability Solutions for e-Government (ELISE) project, which is part of the ISA2 programme. | |
Generic technical specification for the interoperability of powers and mandates |
The main objective is to create a shared European data model about representation powers and mandates, which allows powers/mandates information originated in the information systems of one country to be directly processed automatically by the information systems in other country. The data model will be tested in real life through pilots with some MS and the technical specification will be put forward to the CEF eID Operational Management Board for endorsement and proposed to be incorporated in the CEF eID sample implementation and extension of the CEF eID technical specifications. | |
IMAPS solution v1.2 |
IMAPS is a user-friendly online questionnaire, designed as a self-assessment tool to assist public service owners to evaluate key interoperability aspects of their digital public service. Not only can IMAPS be used to assess the interoperability of any public service – from open data portals, and e-voting platforms, to public procurement services, and much more – it is applicable to services at all levels of government (international, national, regional and local). |
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This is the source code for Joinup (https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/). Joinup is a collaborative platform created by the European Commission and funded by the European Union via the Interoperability solutions for public administrations, businesses and citizens (ISA²) Programme. It offers several services that aim to help e-Government professionals share their experience with each other. We also hope to support them to find, choose, re-use, develop and implement interoperability solutions. |
Recommendation 6 |
Knowledge Sharing Modules on Sharing and Reuse Framework for IT Solutions |
he ISA² programme has produced 3 knowledge sharing modules that provide additional information to the recommendations and guidelines of the Sharing and Reuse Framework for IT Solutions and present examples of best practises within Member States. The modules are aimed at public administrations, policymakers, central body representatives and IT service providers. They can be used freely as self-instruction material or training material for group information sessions or workshops for public administrations on sharing and reuse of IT solutions in different areas. | |
LEOS software components (under EUPL) |
LEOS is designed to help those involved in draſting legislation, which is usually part of a complex process, by facilitating efficient online collaboration. Comments, suggestions, version control, co-edition, everything is there. Regarding the structure, that is where we aim to be as restrictive as possible and this is not because we are conservative, but because this helps the draſters follow the rules and avoid mistakes. Content is stored in an XML format, currently Akoma Ntoso V3. | Recommendation 6 |
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LIMAPS v1.0.0 |
This is the Beta version of the Legal Interoperability Maturity Assessment of a Public Service (LIMAPS) survey. This Beta version of the LIMAPS Survey has been released on the 21 April 2020 on Joinup. It is a user-friendly online questionnaire, designed as a self-assessment tool to assist public service owners to evaluate key legal interoperability aspects of their digital public service. The current Beta version of LIMAPS (LIMAPS v1.0.0 Beta) is available at the EU survey portal: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/limaps-beta. |
Recommendation 7 |
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OIMAPS solution v1.00 |
This is the Beta version of the Organisational Interoperability Maturity Assessment of a Public Service (LIMAPS) survey. This Beta version of the OIMAPS Survey has been released on the 21 April 2020 on Joinup. It is a user-friendly online questionnaire, designed as a self-assessment tool to assist public service owners to evaluate key organisational interoperability aspects of their digital public service. The current Beta version of OIMAPS (OIMAPS v1.0.0 Beta) is available at the EU survey portal: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/oimaps-beta. |
Recommendation 7 |
Multi-tenant version of the ESS Service Catalogue |
The SERV project aims at creating the conditions for sharing statistical services and supporting their integration in statistical production processes at national, ESS and Commission level. It implements governance structure to enable sharing of services (e.g. service certification procedures), to choose at ESS level on how to make a service available, contributes to standardising the description of business needs by implementing the CSPA standard from UNECE ModernStats initiaitive. |
Recommendation 6 |
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This public multilingual knowledge management infrastructure will support e-commerce solutions, such as machine translation, localisation and multilingual search, by creating interoperable multilingual classifications and terminologies that will be easily reusable by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and public administrations. SMEs are currently at a disadvantage compared to big companies due to the high cost of providing multilingual services. | Recommendation 7 |
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In the context of European Citizens' Initiatives (ECI), the Online Collection software (OCS) is a tool for online data collection. OCS enables citizens to support a given initiative and organizers to manage its operations. The tool also streamlines both data collection and its verification by the National Authorities. OCS respects the Regulation (EU) No 211/2011 and Regulation (EU) No 1179/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Within ISA action 1.12, the European Commission contributes to its development with the aim to provide a generic tool available to all initiative organizers. OCS is made available under a EUPL license. |
Recommendation 7 |
Operational test bed service & Test Bed Installation Package |
The Interoperability Test Bed is a service offered by the European Commission’s DIGIT to facilitate the conformance testing of IT systems. The Test Bed is itself a software system that can be both downloaded and installed locally, but also reused through a shared online installation operated by DIGIT. It offers an intuitive web user interface that allows administrators to define their project’s overall testing setup as well as users to connect and run tests. | Recommendation 6 |
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The catalogue is a collection of visualisation tools, trainings and re-usable visualisations for all levels of data visualisation expertise, from beginner to expert. | Recommendation 7 |
PMKI platform (final system) |
PMKI is a ISA2 pilot project aiming to:
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Recommendation 6 |
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Re3gistry provides a central access point that allows labels and descriptions for reference codes to be easily looked up by humans, or retrieved by machines. It supports organisations in managing and updating reference codes in a consistent way, so that all versions of a code remain traceable and properly documented, and do not change or disappear over time. | Recommendation 7 |
Registry of Registers |
The Registry of Registers is a solution dedicated to an application profile of DCAT-AP for base registries, namely, BRegDCAT-AP, aiming to provide a standard data model / specification for base registries access and interconnection. | Recommendation 6 |
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Ref2Link automates the detection of references and generates hyperlinks based on dynamic and customisable rules. You can use Ref2Link as a standalone tool or as a building block in IT systems such as LEOS. Ref2Link supports out-of-the-box multilingual detection of EU legal instruments. It enforces the European Legislation Identifier and European Case Law Identifier standards and other references if needed. National public administrations may adapt the default detection rules to meet their own specific requirements. The code will be made available under the free European Union Public Licence (EUPL). |
Recommendation 7 |
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The presented architecture is based on the analysis about the exchange of e-Documents in 16 selected Member States, available here. Please use this report as a supporting document for the presented reference architecture and as a source of detailed information about the solutions used in the analysed Member States. | Recommendation 7 |
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SIMAPS solution v1.0.0 |
This is v1.0.0 of the Semantic Interoperability Maturity Assessment of a Public Service (SIMAPS) survey. This version of the SIMAPS survey has been released on the 02 July 2020 on Joinup. It is a user-friendly online questionnaire, designed as a self-assessment tool to assist public service owners to evaluate key semantic interoperability aspects of their digital public service. The current version of SIMAPS (SIMAPS v1.0.0) is available at the EU survey portal: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/SIMAPS_v_1_0_0 The release is composed of the following elements:
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Recommendation 7 |
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The “ESS Enterprise Architecture Reference Framework”, abbreviated ESS EARF denotes a set of documents containing a number of key artefacts, which can be used at various stages in projects as well as in the overall governance of the realisation of Vision 2020. The ESS EARF is the result of the collective and iterative work of the DIME/ITDG Task Force on ESS EA which ran from April 2014 till August 2015. | Recommendation 7 |
TES Cartography v3.0.0 |
A Trans-European solution is an operational Interoperable European Solution (IES) owned by the European Commission or other bodies (in some cases co-funded by MSs) in support to the implementation and advancement of EU policies. An Interoperable European Solution (IES) is an ICT interoperability solution, developed or used by Public Administrations that facilitates the delivery of electronic Public Services by supporting business capabilities involving cross-border exchange of information between Public Administrations and Public Administrations (or Citizens or Businesses) in support to the implementation and advancement of EU, national or local Public Policies. | Recommendation 6 |
The Sharing and Reuse Framework for IT Solutions (SRF) |
Developed in the context of European Union ISA programme, the Sharing and Reuse Framework for IT Solutions addresses EU, national, regional and local public administrations that aim at reducing costs, increasing their efficiency and fostering interoperability by reusing, sharing or jointly developing IT solutions that meet common requirements. | |
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TIMAPS solution v1.0.0 |
This is the Beta version of the Technical Interoperability Maturity Assessment of a Public Service (TIMAPS) survey. This Beta version of the TIMAPS survey has been released on the 02 July 2020 on Joinup. It is a user-friendly online questionnaire, designed as a self-assessment tool to assist public service owners to evaluate key technical interoperability aspects of their digital public service. The current Beta version of TIMAPS (TIMAPS v1.0.0 Beta) is available at the EU survey portal: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/timaps-beta This release is composed of the following elements:
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Recommendation 7 |
VocBench3 |
VocBench provides a solution to centralise the management of controlled vocabularies and metadata used by your public administration to support interoperability. | Recommendation 6 |
 OpenPM² |
PM² is a Project Management Methodology developed and supported by the European Commission. Its purpose is to enable project teams to manage their projects effectively and deliver solutions and benefits to their organisations and stakeholders. PM² is a light and easy to implement methodology suitable for any type of project. PM² has been custom developed to fit the specific needs, culture and constraints of EU Institutions, but also incorporates elements from globally accepted best practices, standards and methodologies | Recommendation 6 |
