Research for eGovernment (R4eGov)

Acronym of the case:

R4eGov

Web address of the case:

http://www.r4egov.eu

Country of the case:

Pan european , EU Institutions

Posting Date:

19 February 2008

Last Edited Date:

19 March 2008

Author:

Athina Dalamanga (Unisys)

Interoperability | security | Workflow

Type of initiative

Project or service

Case Abstract

R4eGov is a project supported by the European Commission to help tackle one of the major challenges facing eGovernment in Europe today: the ever increasing mobility of people and transactions across and within national boundaries. Most eGovernment initiatives have been created as stand-alone applications, which now need to communicate with each other. The challenge of the R4eGov project is to make sure that communication is achieved: Without replacing any of the systems already in place; Without breaking any of the rules implemented in the Member States; Without compromising citizens' privacy; Without using a centralised system. Our vision is to contribute to shaping a better, more secure European Knowledge Society. The vision involves public administrations serving and simplifying the increasingly mobile lives of citizens with information exchange solutions, which bridge without blending, spanning the national spaces of difference through a system of interconnectable information gateways.

Description of the case

Domain

eGovernment

Topic

Sector

Crime, Justice and Law | Education, Science and Research | Customs | Other | Procurement

Start date - End date

March 2006 (Ongoing)

Date operational

March 2006

Target Users

Citizen | Administrative

Target Users Description

The results of the R4eGov project target mainly two groups:

1) Public administrations at Member State and EU-level who can benefit by the tools developed by the project regarding interoperability, security and workflows.

2) R4eGov results are targeted to researchers in the eGovernment area who could use our results. Based on the identification of those two target groups, R4eGov is currently setting up User Groups, which aim at enabling end-users to present their real-life problems and to identify areas in which R4eGov tools can be better exploitable so that our project's results can meet end-users' needs.

Scope

International

Status

Research

Language(s)

English

Policy Context and Legal Framework

R4eGov is financed by Framework Programme 6 (FP6) - the European Community Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration. FP6 is a collection of the actions at EU level to fund and promote research.

Out of the 4 project types financed by FP6, R4eGov is an "Integrated Project", which ultimately aims at delivering knowledge for new products, processes, services etc.
R4eGov is a research project that focuses on technological development; and contains demonstration and training.

Project Size and Implementation

Type of initiative

IT infrastructures and products

Overall Implementation approach

Partnerships between administration and/or private sector and/or non-profit sector

Technology choice

Proprietary technology | Standards-based technology | Mainly (or only) open standards | Open source software

Funding source

Public funding EU | Private sector

Project size

Implementation: Larger than €10,000,000

Yearly cost:

€1,000,000-5,000,000

Implementation and Management Approach

The R4eGov project is realised by a consortium of 20 partners in 7 EU Member States (Belgium, France, Italy, UK, Netherlands, Germany and Austria). The consortium includes:
- Authorities: Bundeskanzleramt der Republik Ã–sterreich, Bundesgerichtshof, Eurojust, Europol, Fedict, Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce de Paris, One NorthEast.
- Universities & "think tanks": Deutsches Forschungszentrum fÃ¼r kÃ¼nstliche Intelligenz GmbH (DFKI), EurÃ©com Institute, Max-Planck-Institute fÃ¼r Informatik, University of Hamburg, University of Koblenz, University of Leeds
- Experts: Infocert, Metadat, Karobas, Web Force
- Industrials: Unisys Belgium, SAP AG Labs, ThalÃ¨s Security Systems.

The project is managed by two distinct partners:
- Coordination by a public organisation interested in eGovernment for its own use: ONE NorthEast
- Technical management by a recognised leader in workflow systems: SAP AG Labs.

Technology solution

A general architecture is based on Web Services (WS) offering an enterprise service bus (ESB) hosting modular extensions. Message exchange is based on Simple Object Access Protocol in addition with several other WS-Enhancements such as security, transaction, reliable messaging, etc. Custom abstraction layers translate Workflow Management System (WfMS) interface towards the ESB written both for J2EE and Microsoft .Net frameworks, this to support both Windows and Java oriented clients. Web Services interfaces should bridge between any module written in either Java or .Net. The modular approach allows for each partner to identify and install those components required for their local participation in the collaboration depending on their needs.

Impact, innovation and results

Impact

Using case studies with generic features which can be adopted in other information exchange environments, the project is developing two demonstrators:
- An interoperability gateway rendering completely electronic the lifecycle of legal texts in Austria organised by the Federal Chancellery of Austria (BKA);
- An interoperability gateway for cooperation and electronic exchange of information between Eurojust, Europol and the Belgian Federal Public Service of Information Technology and Communication (Fedict).

Those demonstrations were selected out of 6 case studies performed during Year 1 of the project:

- Mutual visibility and understanding of legal processes (between a national "eRecht" legal repository and an EU legal content repository).
- Secure exchanges of crime-related information between Eurojust, Europol and Member States (Belgium).
- Electronic procurement schema for European public administrations.
- Interoperability in educational environments.
- Consular information exchange network.
- Secure but loose collaboration of the German Supreme Court.

Based on the demonstrations and the research performed on: interoperability, security, integration and training; the project engages with a range of User Groups to evaluate their scaleable potential and measurable value to citizens and governments. The User Groups are the interface between the project and potential users of R4eGov tools. The user groups include communities of interest engaged in the European dimensions to fraud, policing, consular work, health, and security. Some approaches may involve bilateral pilot work, while others address the priority aim of full spectrum requirements for cross-border and cross-administration interoperability.

Through the two demonstrators and the User Groups, R4eGov can show its added value to parties interested in the project's results, enhance the research results' impact and ensure end users' awareness and use of those tools.

Regarding liaison between R4eGov and other projects, R4eGov is fostering collaboration between complementary research communities and programmes within and outside the EU. Within the EU, R4eGov integrates a large number of national projects in the areas of eGovernment, trust and security, and scalable distributed systems (including Grids). Intercontinental collaborations include liaison with research projects
in Australia (Queensland University) and the US (Carnegie Mellon University). In particular,
R4eGov will pursue liaison with: Athena, Trustcom, Prime and eJustice.

Dissemination of efforts and visibility of the project is also achieved through project partners' participation in conferences such as: German Presidency Seminar (2006); OECD special seminar on improvement of public sector performance (July 2007); e-Government Ministerial Conference in Lisbon (September 2007) and the French Presidency (July 2008 onwards).

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - Donâ€™t let yourself be discouraged by difficulty, keep faith and work hard! Building interoperability on top of existing legacy systems without a massive re-engineering seemed unrealistic. Today, many partners feel that it is feasible.

Lesson 2 - The world is changing and the need for new eGov solutions is stronger than the fear of trying them. Past experience in eGovernment projects has shown that only small administrations accept to be trial users. When looking at former projects financed by the European Commission, this is a common rule. With BKA, Europol, Eurojust and Fedict as trial users, R4eGov is proving that this rule can be broken.

Lesson 3 - European Commission programmes have helped European organisations work better together. People have learned working in large consortia, are less afraid of protecting their assets and are more open-minded to technologies Â«not invented hereÂ».

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