Five IT components for building e-government services involving ID, signatures, invoices, data exchange and machine translation are now available. The building blocks were developed and piloted by Member States in several large scale pilots.
The five highly reusable tools and services are intended to enable cross-border communication. The components can be implemented or used as a service in any IT solution.
The five building blocks are published by the European Commission's Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). The development was jointly financed by two EC programmes, the ICT Policy Support Programme (CIP) and the Interoperability Solutions for European Public Administrations (ISA) programmes.
Don't reinvent the wheel
The goal of the building blocks is to offer services which can be re-used in several sectors and in other more complex IT services. The reuse of building blocks will enable the provision of new digital public services to citizens, businesses and public administrations in a more cost-effective way. It facilitates cross-border transactions and allows interconnection of national networks. The ambition is to gradually build a European interoperability ecosystem in pursuit of the Digital Single Market.
The following building blocks are available in the online catalogue:
eID
You need to enable secure and cross-border access to your online services? The eID building block can help you implement authentication using national eIDs, complying with the EU regulation for electronic ID and trust services (eIDAS).
eSignature
You need to enable electronic signing of documents in your portal or automate the validation of e-signatures? The eSignature building block can help you enable the creation and verification of electronic signatures across the EU, complying with the EU regulation for electronic ID and trust services (eIDAS).
eInvoicing
You need to enable electronic invoicing in your administration in compliance with the new EU eInvoicing Directve? The eInvoicing building block will provide you with tools and services will help you align with the European Directive on eInvoicing in public procurement, 2014/55/EU.
eDelivery
You need to exchange documents or any data with more than one recipient without multiplying efforts in establishing multiple connections? The eDelivery building block helps you access an existing network or to set up your own digital transport infrastructure in your domain.
Automated Translation
You are setting up a multilingual solution and you need to guarantee the security and confidentiality of the translated information? The Automated translation building block will help you implement cross-border information exchange in your solution, which is secure and can be adapted to specific terminology.
More information:
Connecting Europe Facility (CEF)
ICT Policy Support Programme (CIP)
Interoperability Solutions for European Public Administrations (ISA)
buiding blocks catalogue
eIDAS
European Directive on eInvoicing in public procurement 2014/55/EU
CEF Telecom guidelines
CEF Regulation
Digital Service Infrastructure (DSI)
About CEF:
CEF is the common financing instrument of trans-European networks for the period 2014-2020. During this period, CEF will help to complete the European single market by making available 33.24 billion euro in the form of procurement, grants and innovative financial instruments. CEF will finance projects of common interest in three different sectors: transport, energy and telecommunications.
CEF telecommunications and the Digital Agenda
Within the telecommunications area, CEF is anchored to the Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth, which put digital infrastructures at the forefront with the Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE) initiative.
Legal aspects
The CEF Telecom guidelines cover the specific objectives and priorities as well as eligibility criteria for funding of broadband networks and digital service infrastructures. According to the CEF Regulation, the Commission must adopt, by means of implementing acts, annual work programmes for each sector.
Digital Service Infrastructures
The Digital Service Infrastructure (DSI) is the term used in CEF to describe EU-wide IT Systems that support the implementation of EU-wide policies. DSIs are composed of two distinct layers:
Core Service Platforms are the central hubs which enable trans-European connectivity
This part of a DSI is managed, implemented and operated by the Commission. In this case, funding is mostly done in the form of procurement;
Generic Services are the link between national infrastructures to the core service platforms
This part of a DSI is managed, implemented and operated by the Member States. In this case, funding is mostly done in the form of grants.
Building block DSIs
CEF finances two types of DSIs:
- Building block DSIs: DSIs that offer services which can be re-used in several sectors and in other more complex DSIs.
- Sector-specific DSIs: DSIs that offer services linked to a specific policy domain or sector.
Building block DSIs are given priority over sector-specific DSIs since they need to be in place from the outset to underpin the other services.