This section provides an overview of key information about interoperability for smart cities, which aim at capturing the most recent developments and trends in the field of digital public...
Smart citieseGovernment
Last update: 19/02/2024
European Interoperability Framework
WHAT IS IT?The European Interoperability Framework (EIF) is part of the Communication (COM(2017)134) from the European Commission adopted on 23 March 2017. The framework gives specific guidance on how...
CollaborationToolsStandardisation
Last update: 17/01/2024
Digital Policy Hub
The Digital Policy Hub is the main entry point to find useful information and resources on the state of play of digital public administration and related policies, including interoperability-related...
Smart citieseGovernment
Last update: 01/03/2024
The European Interoperability Framework in detail
Here below you can find the details of the European Interoperability Framework (EIF), which gives specific guidance on how to set up interoperable digital public services. The EIF provides 47...
CollaborationStandardisation
Last update: 10/04/2024
Assessing smart cities and communities' digital maturity
Conceptualising smart citiesWhile cities are universally recognised, the notion of a smart city remains unknown to many. The European Commission has shown an increasing interest in this idea and worked on a definition of what makes a city smart: it is “a place where traditional networks and services are made more efficient with the use of digital solutions for the benefit of its inhabitants and businesses”[1]. Following the launch of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities, the Commission followed up with several strategies and actions that have proven to be key for...
Smart citieseGovernment
Last update: 06/03/2024
Smart Cities Coffee Talk Highlights
A coffee talk on the new Guidance document on organisational and cultural interoperability, was held on Tuesday March 27th, 2024, with participants from different EU Member States and beyond. The Guidance document was published in the framework of the ‘Study on organisational and cultural interoperability issues arising in local administrations when establishing local, regional or national data spaces or local digital twins’ conducted by the Directorate General DIGIT and the Directorate General CONNECT of the European Commission. The coffee talk took the form of an informal exchange on the…
European PoliciesObservatories+2 topics
Last update: 13/02/2024
NIFO coffee talk on smart cities
We are happy to announce that the NIFO coffee talks are back! The aim of these coffee talks is to highlight recent developments and good practices related to interoperability and digital transformation of public administrations, as one of the main missions of the National Interoperability Framework Observatory. This 2024 edition of the NIFO coffee talks will take a closer look at interoperability from a local and regional perspective, in particular in the frame of local digital twins and data space projects. The discussion will be centered around a recently released Guidance document…
Digital-ready policymakingSmart citieseGovernment
Last update: 30/01/2024
Interoperable Europe Act proposal and NIFO
The legislative journey of the Interoperable Europe Act proposalOn 18 November 2023, the European Parliament and the presidency of the Council, held by Spain until December 2023, have reached a provisional agreement on the proposed legislation regarding measures on a high level of public sector interoperability across the EU, commonly known as the Interoperable Europe Act. The deal has come almost one year after the adoption of the proposal by the European Commission. The proposal follows Member States’ call to strengthen European interoperability cooperation and digital transformation more…
The establishment of data spaces and local digital twins appears to be particularly promising. This stems from the fact that, in the last decade, the number of smart city initiatives has increased significantly in Europe, with the main objective of enabling local, regional, and national public administrations to leverage data and innovative technologies to improve decision-making and citizens’ well-being. While on one hand, developing these projects could bring many benefits; on the other hand, public administrations can also face various challenges.Under the leadership of DG DIGIT and DG…
Smart cities
Last update: 25/07/2023
EIF and BDM Webinar key takeaways 27 June
On 27 June 2023, the National Interoperability Framework Observatory (NIFO) team held an online webinar gathering the National Contact Points of European countries, together with other stakeholders from both the public and private sectors to discuss the results of the 2022 editions of the European Interoperability Framework (EIF) and Berlin Declaration (BDM) Monitoring Mechanisms and hear from the experience of four EU countries in the fields of cross-border interoperability, empowerment, and digital literacy. The webinar was divided into two sessions, the first one being dedicated to the EIF…
CollaborationEuropean Policies
Last update: 28/08/2023
Berlin Declaration report 2023
In the context of the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the European Commission published the second progress report on the Berlin Declaration on Digital Society and Value-Based Digital Government. The declaration was signed on the 8th of December 2020 by all EU Member States. The document builds on the political commitments of the Tallinn Declaration on eGovernment and it takes the user-centricity principles that were formulated a step further by strengthening the pioneering role of public administrations in the value-based digital transformation. This second edition of...
CollaborationDigital-ready policymaking+3 topics
Last update: 28/02/2023
EIF and BDM results 2021
The results of the first monitoring exercise of the Berlin Declaration are finally out, providing an overview of the progress made by the Member States in implementing the 22 Policy Actions of the Declaration they had agreed on in December 2020. These Policy Actions are meant to foster the level of digitalisation of the public sector at both the national and EU level. In addition, this monitoring exercise also aims to identify and share the measures and initiatives put in place by each country to implement said Policy Actions. In addition, the results of the third monitoring exercise of the…