++ FASTeTEN project announces mid-term event ++

FASTeTEN will hold a secure infrastructure workshop in Issy-les-Moulineaux, Paris, on 15 October 2008.

The workshop will give a technical overview of the FAST bundle of services for secure document exchange, will examine the FASTeTEN pilot deployments in detail, and will be an opportunity for other public bodies to learn about this recognised good practice case.

The workshop will be held in Issy-les-Moulineaux, Paris, where on the two following days (October 16-17) the Worldwide Forum on eDemocracy and eGovernment will take place.

The FASTeTEN workshop is free of charge. The event is co-branded with the European Commission’s ePractice website and registration is via the ePractice website. A preliminary agenda is also available there.

Background information

FASTeTEN is an eTEN-supported project to pilot the FAST bundle of services for secure document exchange in different European contexts. FAST (standing for Fournisseur d’Accès Sécurisés Transactionnels, or Fully Automated Secured Transactions) is a French developed system that was featured in the 2005 European eGovernment Awards catalogue of good practices. FAST has been successfully tested in France, but has the potential to offer considerable benefits to other European public administrations.

Specifically, FAST is a bundle of services facilitating secure document exchange, covering identity management, administration of digital certificates, rights management and authentication, time stamping, document validation, encryption and archiving. As part of FASTeTEN, pilot deployments of FAST are taking place in Sheffield, UK (educational services) and Valencia, Spain (eProcurement).

For more information about the project, see the next section.

++ FASTeTEN goes live! ++

FASTeTEN is preparing to go live in early April in Valencia, Spain, when the FAST bundle of services will be integrated into the Valencia regional government’s eProcurement platform. The switch-on will mark the latest stage in the project, which began in January 2007 and is supported by the European Commission’s eTEN programme to promote eServices deployment.

FASTeTEN will go live in the region of Valencia, Spain

Since its launch at the beginning of 2007, FASTeTEN has planned out two pilot European deployments, in Sheffield, United Kingdom, and in Valencia, Spain. In Sheffield, a city of half a million people in the north of England, FAST will be deployed in educational services. In the region of Valencia in eastern Spain, FAST will help streamline the eProcurement platform.

Specifically, in Valencia, FAST will allow bidders for regional government contracts to securely submit their bids in electronic format, and receive secure responses in the same way. FAST offers a number of services to enable this: identity management, administration of digital certificates, rights management and authentication, time stamping, document validation, encryption and archiving.

Importantly for the project, the pilot European deployments are being watched by a potential deployers’ group, consisting of public administrations from across the European Union. Based on successful pilot deployments, this group will examine the possibility of integrated FAST into their eGovernment services, thus multiplying the impact of the FASTeTEN project.

The FASTeTEN potential deployers’ group includes administrations from Belgium (Brussels and the Flemish Region), Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy and Malta. The Maltese Ministry for Investments, Industry and Information Technology is the most recent member, having joined in July 2007.

++ FASTeTEN: next project management meeting agenda now available ++

The next project management board meeting for the FASTeTEN project is planned for April 11, 2008, in Paris, France.

The outline agenda is :

09h30 Welcome 10h00 Follow-up of FASTeTEN review results (see below) 10h30 Review of work packages 13h00 Lunch 14h30 Review and update of the project memorandum 15h30 end (approx.)

The meeting is the first since a positive first review of the project by the European Commission. The independent reviewers appointed by the Commission found during the review on 22 January 2008 that the project had made "considerable progress", and offered "promising" initial results. FASTeTEN, coordinated by the Conseil General des Yvelines (Regional Council of Yvelines) in France, started at the beginning of 2007 and will conclude at the end of 2009.

For more information about FASTeTEN visit the project website, http://www.eu-fasteten.eu, or contact Baudouin de Sonis, baudouin.de-sonis@eu-forum.org. e-Forum provides communication services to the FASTeTEN project.

++ Screen captures and ergonomics ++

Information about the user interfaces that will be used for the pilot deployment of the FAST bundle of services in Sheffield, UK, and Valencia, Spain, are now available on the FASTeTEN website. The ergonomics documents (user interfaces) for the two deployments show in practical, graphical terms how the system can be accessed, navigated, used, and modified for user preferences.

The documents can be downloaded at the FASTeTEN website.

For the Sheffield document, go to
http://www.eu-fasteten.eu/FASTeTEN-in-practice-Sheffield.html

For the Valencia document, go to
http://www.eu-fasteten.eu/FASTeTEN-in-practice-Valencia.html

In addition, the minutes from the FASTeTEN project management board meeting, held on 5-6 December 2007, in Versailles, France, can be downloaded from the project’s website at http://www.eu-fasteten.eu/FASTeTEN-project-management-board.html

++ FASTeTEN newsletter ++

This is the third edition of the FASTeTEN newsletter. Newsletters will provide updates on project developments and activities. More information can also be found on the website of e-Forum, the project communications partner, at http://www.eu-forum.org.