We are very pleased to share that the paper titled “Citizen-centric and trustworthy AI in the public sector: Cases of Finland and Hungary”, submitted under the National Interoperability Framework Observatory (NIFO) and co-authored by Claudia Oliveira (European Commission – DG DIGIT), Sara Talpo, Noémie Custers, Emilia Miscena and Edwige Malleville (Wavestone), has received the Best Short Paper Award at the 16th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV 2023). The paper The increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by the public sector could bring…

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…

Interoperable Europe, through the National Interoperability Framework Observatory (NIFO), is pleased to announce the publication of the 2023 edition of its State-of-play report on Digital Public Administration and Interoperability.What can be found in this report?The 2023 edition of the State-of-Play report on digital public administration and interoperability deep dives into three key policy areas which are at the heart of the current policy landscape:Interoperability and interoperable digital public services,Innovative use of technologies by the public sector,Data sharing in Europe.To do so…

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…

The 2023 edition of the Digital Public Administration factsheets and infographics is now live on Joinup! The Digital Public Administrations factsheets are published yearly as part of Interoperable Europe, the Commission’s initiative for a reinforced interoperability policy, under the National Interoperability Framework Observatory. They represent a main source of information on the digital transformation that EU public administrations are currently undergoing. They include an up-to-date and detailed overview of initiatives undertaken by 31 European countries (the EU27, as well as the countries…

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…

The Interoperable Europe Act proposal On 18 November 2022, the European Commission adopted the Interoperable Europe Act proposal and its accompanying Communication to strengthen cross-border interoperability and cooperation in the public sector across the EU. The proposal follows other political communications from the European Commission, such as the 2017 Tallinn Declaration on eGovernment, the conclusions of the European Council of 9 June 2020 on Shaping Europe’s Digital Future, and the 2020 Berlin Declaration on Digital Society and Value-Based Digital Government, which point out to the need…

A webinar on the European Interoperability Framework and its Monitoring Mechanism was held on Friday March 3rd, 2023, with more than 70 participants from different EU Member States, various European institutions, and from other countries. The webinar targeted those interested in NIFO's work, particularly public sector employees involved in DESI, eGovernment Benchmark, NIFO, and Berlin Declaration. The objective of this event was: To showcase various aspects and tools related to NIFO and its contribution to the EIF implementation; To illustrate a common model for observatories, allowing for…

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…

The European Interoperability Framework (EIF) provides guidance to public administrations, via a set of recommendations, on how to set up interoperable digital public services. The National Interoperability Framework Observatory (NIFO) that designed the EIF Toolbox is now providing the EIF Online Assistant. The EIF Online Assistant offers an interactive and intuitive interface for seeking open-source digital solutions that help align with the EIF. In the EIF Online Assistant’s interface you can choose filters to fine-tune the results of digital solutions. The filters follow EIF concepts, such…

The United Nations E-Government Survey 2022 is the 12th edition of the United Nations’ assessment of the digital government landscape across all 193 Member States. The E-Government Survey is informed by over two decades of longitudinal research, with a ranking of countries based on the United Nations E-Government Development Index (EGDI), a combination of primary data (collected and owned by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs) and secondary data from other UN agencies. This edition of the Survey includes data analysis in global and regional contexts, a study of local…

Interoperable Europe, through the National Interoperability Framework Observatory (NIFO), is pleased to announce the publication of the 2022 edition of its State-of-play report on Digital Public Administration and Interoperability. What can be found in this report? This new report provides a run-through of the latest digital initiatives aimed at further digitalising public administrations and ensure their interoperability put in place within 35 European countries, as well as at European and global level, between 2020 and 2022. In addition, the report provides an overview of the current state…