Lowering barriers to European e-Government

02 October 2008, 6:44pm

In recent years, many eGovernment programmes have been launched. In Europe, these programmes serve administrations and companies, and ease everyday life for European citizens. The CEN eGov‐Share Workshop will assist in unifying those services and facilitate the sharing of information. The workshop is soliciting participation from practitioners.

eGovernment programmes and projects across Europe are used by systems and applications to serve citizens, business, and administration agencies. One of the challenges across those programmes and projects is to unify information that is maintained in different places under different mandates. The intent is to offer that information in an integrated way to the various audiences. Providing eGovernment services involves a substantial amount of co-operation and sharing.

Goals

The results of the CEN/ISSS eGov-Share Workshop1 will consist of specifications, and guidelines to assist designers and developers of eGovernment systems and services, ultimately creating a single point of access to users. In addition to developing a standard for the exchange of information, this Workshop pays attention to different terminologies that are being used across agencies and countries, and to cultural elements that play a role in the use of information in different cultural contexts. The workshop provides hands-on examples on how to realize and to use those specifications.

Respecting variety

The Workshop acknowledges that approaches may differ in various systems; therefore, there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. As such, the work concentrates on enabling exchange of information, without attempting to standardize local, regional, and national solutions across Europe. Furthermore, the focus is on federation of resource descriptions, enabling the description of services and other resources that are managed in different locations. The reasons for the
exchange of information, and what information agencies want to share, are not within the scope of the project. In many cases these decisions are based on bilateral agreements, or governed by European Directives or Regulations.

Participation

As a consensus platform, this Workshop solicits participation and contributions from the community of program managers, designers, and developers of eGovernment systems and services. to. Widespread participation ensures that the specifications, guidelines and tools meet the needs of the community.

Participants will gain insight into the practices and opportunities of information
sharing.

As part of the Workshop approach, two open meetings are being organized. The first one will take place in conjunction with the Second Summit on Interoperability in iGovernment ESIIG2 on 20 October 2008. The second open meeting is being scheduled for late January 2009 in Brussels. The meetings provide an opportunity for people directly involved in building systems and service to make sure the work does indeed provide the support they need. As well, interested organizations and individuals can find out how the results of the Workshop may help them plan and design their interactions with eGovernment.

The meetings are free of charge. All interested parties are invited to contribute.
Meeting information:

Time: 20 October 2008, 15:00 – 18:30

Location: Rome, Villa Piccolomini, Via Aurelia Antica, 164,

In connection with: ESIIG2 summit 20-22 October in Rome

Next meeting: 3 February 2009,
Location: CEN offices at Marnixlaan 17, Brussels, Belgium.

Registration: e-mail the secretariat at paul.vanrijsinge@nen.nl

More information:

Secretary: Mr. Tim Kniep, tim.kniep@nen.nl
Telephone: +31 15 2690 100

Joining instructions: Please send an e-mail to the secretary. Joining the
workshop is free of charge.

Registration for the workshop

eGov Share workshop web site

ESIIG2 summit 20-22 October in R

Working Draft for the workshop

Geo: International