Interview with Dr. Karmen Kern Pipan, Head of Data Management Department, and Tadej Gabrijel, Head of Electronic Services Development Department of Ministry of Public Administration, Republic of Slovenia Karmen Kern Pipan and Tadej Gabrijel have used IMAPS for assessing one digital public service provided by the Slovenian Ministry of Public Administration. How did you learn about IMAPS? In the past, we had heard of IMAPS as one of the solutions developed by the ISA² programme for interoperability issues. This was however the first time that we used IMAPS in practice. How did you use IMAPS…

Natalia Aristimuno Perez, Head of Interoperability Unit, DG DIGIT, shares her experience from the past year and views on the future of interoperability. 2020, what a year! Everyone in the Interoperability unit went through many challenges, both on professional and personal level. From having virtual meetings to online coffees and even an online Christmas party, we have lived the full digital and interoperable experience. From crisis to digital transformation The outbreak and spread of the virus disrupted the work of public administrations, universities and offices, including ours. Due to…

Interview with Cristina Cosma, Isa von Kalben and Ruben Narzul, programme managers of the Interoperability Unit of DG DIGIT. The European Commission is currently evaluating the ISA² programme and the European Interoperability Framework to present a reinforced public sector interoperability policy. We have talked to three programme managers of the Interoperability Unit to learn more about the public consultation and shaping the new policy in a multidisciplinary team. Isa von Kalben has a background in law, Cristina Cosma specialises in IT and the expertise of Ruben Narzul lies in political…

Interview with Vicky Margariti (Head of e-Government and Interoperability department – NIFO National Representative at the General Secretariat of Digital Governance and Simplification of Administrative Processes, Ministry of Digital Governance); Nikos Vasilakis (Head of Unit, Strategic Planning & Coordination Directorate for Digital Governance) and Iraklis Varlamis (responsible for the development of the National Register of Procedures Diavlos). As part of the ISA² Programme, the Catalogue of Services Action has been created to enhance the interoperability of electronic portals and catalogues…

The Legal Interoperability team of the European Commission is on the mission to raise awareness, promote and share knowledge on digital-ready policies and the support of new technologies in policy activities and build the Better Regulation for Smoother Implementation (BLSI) community around those topics. Virtual breakfasts are one of the main forums for this community to discuss and share innovative ideas. As part of the June edition, the team explored the ethical implications of these new approaches and technologies and gathered fresh ideas. More specifically, as part of this June virtual…

Interview with Cristina Marco, Rafael Santisteban and Manuel Mata from Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències (CACSA) - Generalitat Valenciana, Spain. Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias (CACSA) has used our IMAPS solution to evaluate existing digital public services and the design of the “Sede Electrónica de CACSA”, an authentication portal and a catalogue of digital public services of CACSA. CACSA is a public company of the Generalitat Valenciana, which manages a cultural facility, a set of iconic architecture buildings that combine scientific and cultural dissemination with entertainment in…

Semantic technologies boost the value of data by making it computer-friendly. They allow data to be accessed, linked, and automatically analysed by IT systems, thereby paving way for smart IT applications and artificial intelligence. The EU institutions, agencies and bodies are invited to reuse the existing semantic assets and to benefit from a powerful semantic tool, VocBench, developed with the funding support of the ISA² programme of the European Commission and managed by the Publications Office of the European Union. How can semantic technologies help you? Imagine you want to classify…

The first ever EU Open Data Days, launched in March 2021, are gathering steam. This unique event will take place fully online from 23 to 25 November and is now opening for the registration of participants. Book your place soon! The EU Open Data Days are free and open for everyone to attend. Setting out with the aim of ‘shaping our digital future with open data’, the EU Open Data Days will highlight the benefits of open data, its visualisation and its reuse for the EU public sector, citizens and businesses. The event’s rich programme is designed to benefit a broad audience, including experts…

From 20-22 April 2021, the DigitALL Public conference offered a unique virtual platform to learn how interoperability solutions and Building Blocks have – and will continue to – power Europe’s digital transformation. We heard inspiring interventions, testimonials and received insights from more than 200 speakers in 56 dedicated sessions. More than 1500 digital enthusiasts connected from 33 countries, clearly demonstrating the interest in the question of how Building Blocks and interoperability solutions can make our lives better. The recordings of the main stage sessions are now available.…

ISA² supported the development of digital solutions and promoted public sector interoperability between 2016 and 2020. This independent Study supports the final evaluation of the programme and helps inform future measures in the field of interoperability, particularly the implementation of the Digital Europe Programme. The Study was performed between September 2020 and June 2021 and considered seven evaluation criteria: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, EU added value, utility and sustainability. The analysis is based on primary data collected from 102 stakeholders who replied…

EU Datathon 2021 started in March with the call to data enthusiasts worldwide to propose ideas for applications using open data from the portal data.europa.eu. The preselection jury had 96 app ideas to select from, coming from all over Europe and beyond. Since June, nine shortlisted teams have been working hard to turn their app ideas into fully functional applications. The final pitch of each team will happen on 25 November, during the EU Open Data Days. The teams compete in three thematic challenges: ‘A European Green Deal’, ‘An economy that works for people’ and ‘A Europe fit for the…

We are excited to announce that the data.europa academy is live! The official portal for European data launched a packed curriculum with free courses designed for the open data community to learn what open data is and how to work with it. Whether you are a data provider, policymaker, or data enthusiast, the data.europa academy will help you become more knowledgeable about open data, and use it to your advantage. The curriculum is structured along four themes: 1. Policy: Learn about the implementation of open data policies, strategies, open data governance, data protection, and privacy…