FASTeTEN, which is supported by the European Commission’s eTEN programme, is a project to examine how a secure electronic document exchange system, developed in France, can be deployed for the benefit of administrations and citizens across Europe.

What is FASTeTEN?

The FASTeTEN project builds on the work of CDC Confiance Electronique Europeenne, a subsidiary of France’s Caisse des Dépôts. The project focuses on the FAST secure gateway, which has been under development in France for nearly three years. FAST stands for Fournisseur d’Accès Sécurisés Transactionnels, and provides openness and transparency in information access for communications between citizens and their administrations.

Through FAST, public administrations can streamline their operations by switching their document management systems onto an electronic platform. Documents can be exchanged securely and efficiently in electronic format, between different agencies and different levels of the administration. FAST allows Fully Automated Secure Transactions. It has been successfully demonstrated in a number of contexts in French local and regional administrations.

The FAST system provides:

• Automated, secure document exchange;
• Legally recognised acknowledgement of receipt;
• Electronic certificates and signatures;
• Secure encryption of information;
• Traceability (electronic paper trails), timestamping and archiving.

The FASTeTEN project will build on the work done in France to develop the FAST system, by examining how the system can be deployed in different European contexts.

What are the benefits of FAST?

FAST streamlines back office processes and makes document exchange easier. It thus lightens the load of administration officials. Authorities are required to exchange notifications on the occasion of marriages, deaths and other life events requiring certification, and are also required to exchange statistical data and information concerning electoral registration with national statistical authorities. All of this documentation is easily exchangeable through FAST. Furthermore, procedural burdens are lessened for citizens – for example, they will no longer have to ask for a copy of a birth certificate where it is required for a benefit application.

By reducing the time required for dealing with administrative demands and the associated costs, FAST thus makes a contribution to improving government efficiency in Europe. By deploying FAST in different administrations across Europe, citizens throughout the European Union can share in these benefits.

Where will FASTeTEN deploy FAST?

FASTeTEN will carry out two pilot deployments of FAST: for eProcurement in the region of Valencia, Spain, and for education applications in Sheffield, United Kingdom. In addition, the project has established a group of potential deployers from Belgium (Brussels and Flanders), Bulgaria, Hungary, and Italy. These will monitor the pilot deployments and assess the potential for further deployments.

EU funding: 2.2 million euros

Duration: from 01/01/2007 to 31/12/2009

Participating countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Italy, Spain, UK