++ THE PROJECT IN BRIEF ++

FASTeTEN is a project to deploy a bundle of services for secure electronic document exchange across Europe. The bundle of services, FAST - Fournisseur d’Accès Sécurisés Transactionnels (Secure Access Gateway) - has been successfully developed and piloted in France. As part of this project, funded by the European Commission’s eTEN programme, two different applications of FAST are being trialed: in eProcurement in Valencia, Spain, and in educational services in Sheffield, United Kingdom.

++ VALENCIA PUBLISHES FASTeTEN SOFTWARE TEST AND INSTALLATION PLANS ++

FASTeTEN project partner the Regional Government of Valencia has published a software test plan, and details of the installation and configuration procedures that will allow the FAST bundle of services to function on the Valencia eProcurement platform.

The Valencia software test plan sets out the tests that are to be performed in order to ensure that the requirements for the FAST Valencia application are fulfilled as far as the FAST platform is concerned. The tests deal with electronic signatures, authorisation, signature validation, archiving, and provision of proofs that electronic documents have been received.

The plan setting out the installation and configuration procedures in Valencia examines how the FAST services can be integrated with the regional government’s eProcurement platform. This is being done using open source software.

This work follows on from definition of the different aspects of the deployment of FAST in Valencia. In May 2008, Valencia published three reports concerning Electronic Workflow Processes, System Requirement Specifications, and the Software Design Definition. For information about these, click here.

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.

The Valencia software test plan, and installation and configuration procedures documents can be downloaded from the FASTeTEN website.

++ DOWNLOAD THE FASTeTEN PROJECT BROCHURE ++

Also available from the FASTeTEN website is the FASTeTEN project brochure, available for download in PDF format. Click here to download the brochure, which sets out the details of the project and the organisations involved. For printed copies of the brochure, contact Baudouin de Sonis.

++ FASTeTEN ENJOYS SUCCESSFUL MID-TERM WORKSHOP ++

FASTeTEN held its mid-term workshop at the Palais des Arts et des Congrès, Issy-les-Moulineaux, Paris on 15 October. The event was attended by around 25 eGovernment professionals from countries as diverse as Belgium, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Estonia, France, Hungary, Italy and the United Kingdom.

FASTeTEN is conducting pilot European deployments of FAST in educational services in Sheffield, UK, and in eProcurement in Valencia, Spain, and the aim of the workshop was to provide a ’progress and lessons learned’ report on these activities.

Archiving considerations

Charles du Boullay, CEO of Arkineo, spoke about archiving of electronic documents as a crucial aspect of secure electronic document exchange, which is the focus of the FASTeTEN project. Archiving of documents might be legally required for up to 30 years, du Boullay said, and organisations had to be able to demonstrate that archived material had not been modified. M. du Boullay called the switch to electronic documentation, including emails and contracts, a “revolution,” with a pressing need to secure information that has a legal impact in many cases (for example, electronic documentation used as evidence).

Storage of electronic data might be straightforward, but administrations need systems and tools for securing, protecting and retrieving the stored information. A single European electronic signature would help in this respect, M. du Boullay said. He posed three key questions about electronic archiving:

 How can we be confident about it?
 How can compliance with European Union directives be ensured, relating to the protection of integrity of documents, jurisdictions and standards?
 How can the validity of foreign documents be checked in cross-border situations?

FASTeTEN and secure infrastructure

Sebastien Pujadas of CDC FAST, the developer of the FAST bundle of services for secure electronic document exchange, gave an overview of FAST and how the FASTeTEN project can contribute to European eGovernment objectives by offering a flexible system for electronic document management. FAST is based on the premise that electronic documents should have the same value as paper documents and provide long-term electronic evidence.

FAST responds to a number of needs:

 Data can be sensitive and needs high level security
 Data must also be authentic, with appropriate electronic certification
 Security of data exchange must be guaranteed with proofs of authenticity and access for only authorised people

FAST is based on a seven-step process:

 Authentication and access control to ensure the issuer has a right to issue data
 Signature validation
 Time-stamping
 Transmission to recipient
 Creation of proof
 Archiving
 Indexing

FAST is flexible so for archiving, for example, it can be adapted to different systems. This is also the case with certification, with no problems so far with certificates that do not work with the FAST platform. The flexibility of FAST has been shown in the pilot FASTeTEN deployments in Sheffield and Valencia. In the former, for educational services, third parties execute transactions through the FAST platform, while in the latter, FAST has been integrated with the Valencia eProcurement platform, and with some existing services, such as timestamping and archiving.

Philippe Yon, also of CDC FAST, underlined the flexibility of FAST by describing its wide range of potential uses, from public accounting, to exchange of data related to civil status (marriage certificates for example), to urban planning permissions, to education, health and public procurement documentation. In France, where it was developed, FAST is used by 25 conseils généraux, and by 1200 municipalities. The FASTeTEN project is demonstrating the adaptability of the bundle of services in other European contexts, with the pilot deployments in Spain and the UK.

FASTeTEN in the UK

In the UK, FASTeTEN has been piloted in Sheffield, in a system allowing parents to send permissions relating to their children’s education electronically to schools. The pilot deployment focuses on relatively simple permissions, such as for attending events or school trip, but Shaun Topham of Sheffield City Council said there were many other wider applications in education, where flows of information happen on three levels: between parents and schools, between schools and local education authorities, and between education authorities and government ministries.

The system had potential value in universities, and for public examinations (such as transmission of marked exam papers and sending of exam results), Mr Topham said. In Sheffield, the system interfaces have been designed and the workflow created, the software has been installed, and information flows are being tested. Next steps include monitoring and evaluation of FAST in Sheffield. The UK has the idea of assigning each student with a ’unique learner number,’ which will link participants in the education process, and it is foreseen that FAST could play a role in this. Sheffield also has a plan to build a ’school of the future,’ in which ICT support will be integral - FAST could play a role in this. Another possibility raised by Mr Topham was a role for mutual recognition of university identity cards from different countries, and these cards as an access token for a pan-European FAST system, through which relevant information could be exchanged.

FASTeTEN in Spain

Sebastien Pujadas gave an update of the FASTeTEN deployment in Valencia. Here, FAST is used as a ’glue’ to hold together various aspects of the eProcurement system. Valencia is a pioneering EU region in terms of eProcurement, and is working to security standards for public sector contracts set out in Spanish legislation. Integration of FAST with Valencia’s eProcurement platform was completed in August 2008, and the system is currently being tested. Application testing and deployment will take place in 2009. In Valencia, trust services (time stamping, validation and archiving) are provided by the regional certification authority, and it has been necessary to integrate FAST with the requirements of this.

Entering the test phase

Summing up the progress of the FASTeTEN project, Jean-Francois Navarre of the Conseil Général des Yvelines said that the detailed specifications of the pilot deployments were completed and “we are now moving on and entering the test phase,” with actual implementation in 2009.

The aim of FASTeTEN is to prove the flexibility of FAST and that such systems can work in a pan-European context, and across different sectors, such as education and eProcurement. FASTeTEN should prove the interoperability of FAST, M. Navarre said. He also noted that FASTeTEN is being tracked by a potential deployers’ group, consisting of public authorities from Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy and Malta. This group is studying potential legal barriers to deployment of FAST. The project is also developing a business plan for pan-EU deployment once the pilot deployments have been evaluated. The ultimate outcome will be technical findings, but accompanied by a plan showing the economic and business possibilities, M. Navarre said.

For more information, visit the FASTeTEN project website.

++ OUTCOME OF THE FASTeTEN PROJECT MANAGEMENT MEETING, 14 October 2008 ++

Prior to the FASTeTEN workshop, the FASTeTEN project management board met for the sixth time on 14 October 2008, in Paris. The meeting discussed the progress of the FASTeTEN project, hearing for example that the Sheffield deployment is on track, and the test phase of the deployment is currently ongoing.

In addition, the meeting discussed synergies with other compatible projects funded through the European Commission and dealing with similar matters to FASTeTEN, and a discussion took place on linking FASTeTEN with the Commission’s IDABC initiative.

Documentation from the meeting is available for download from the FASTeTEN website.

The next PMB is scheduled to take place in mid-February 2009, in Budapest.

++ FASTeTEN PARTICIPATION IN EVENTS ++

Since the last edition of the FASTeTEN newsletter, representatives of the project have been active speaking and appearing at a number of relevant eGovernment events.

In particular, FASTeTEN has been seen at:

e-Gov for Municipalities, Malaga, Spain 28 April 2008 Mid-term event epractice.eu, Brussels, Belgium,19 May 2008 STORK Kick-Off meeting, Madrid, Spain, 18 June 2008 The GOV IT 2008 Summit, Brussels, Belgium, 9-10 June 2008 Ruralitic, Aurillac, France, 27 August 2008 EIF V2 Infos day, Brussels, Belgium 25 June 2008 EISCO Conference, Naples, Italy, 26 September 2008 The World eDemocracy Forum, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France, 16-17 October 2008 ESIIG 2nd Summit, Rome, Italy, 20-21 October 2008 eChallenges 2008, Stockholm, Sweden, 22-24 October 2008 eServices 4 Europe networking session, part of ICT 2008, Lyon, France, 27 November 2008 ERISA 10th anniversary broad-band observatory, Brussels, Belgium, 10 December 2008

++ FASTeTEN NEWSLETTER ++

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