Assessing the interoperability of digital public services in the EU: the sooner, the better

Image of interaction in an office — © Jacob Lund, stock.adobe.com

As national public services become more digitalised, interoperability assessments (IOPAs) have become an essential tool for improving cross-border interaction of public administrations. According to JRC research, early interoperability assessment can substantially reduce the investment, save resources and time, ease implementation and ensure higher quality of public services.

The interoperability assessments are introduced by the Interoperable Europe Act, a fresh legislation designed to help make interconnected digital public services a reality. Examples of services that can benefit from this include recognition of diplomas or professional qualifications, exchange of vehicle data for road safety, access to social security and health data, information exchange related to taxation, customs, public tender accreditation, digital driving licenses, or commercial registers.

The legislation aims to strengthen cross-border data exchange to benefit citizens, businesses, and public administrations. A JRC analysis found that improved interoperability would bring a 0.4% GDP increase to EU economy, save annually €543 million for citizens and €568 billion to businesses. These findings were recently cited in the report on the future of the single market (PDF), prepared by former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta.

The Interoperable Europe Act, in force since 11 April, will become applicable as of 12 July 2024. It however envisages that European Institutions, bodies and agencies, and public entities start running interoperability assessments (IOPAs) as of January 2025. The assessments will help to detect and tackle barriers to cross-border interoperability early, in the design phase of policies and public services. According to the JRC analysis, a successful implementation of the IOPA requires cultural and organisational change.

The JRC has been at the forefront in supporting policy makers with robust evidence for the preparation, interinstitutional negotiations and, currently, implementation of the Act. JRC studies on interoperability highlight efforts, benefits and challenges for European public administrations, supporting their adoption of an “interoperable-by-design" approach.

Counting on innovation

The Interoperable Europe Act sets out measures to support the adoption of innovative solutions by the public sector. An in-depth JRC analysis of more than 180 use cases, Artificial Intelligence for Interoperability, finds that AI can offer numerous opportunities to improve service delivery and the overall efficiency of government operations. It also indicates further steps that policy makers may need to take to leverage AI use, such as raising awareness of the AI potential within the public institutions, and cross-organisational collaboration.

Tracking progress

The legislation establishes a monitoring scheme for ensuring the progress towards seamless functioning of cross-border digital services. A JRC study identified opportunities for streamlining the monitoring of European digital policies and presented key recommendations.

The authors highlighted elements that need attention, ranging from improving the timing of information requests to assessing if indicators are relevant.

They also pointed to the challenge of managing cases where EU countries move at different speeds in their digitalisation, and encouraging those still learning. It is important to reconsider monitoring beyond mere output measurement, and shift attention towards digital policy outcomes and impacts. Piloting alternative approaches should help understand whether minor adjustments or more fundamental changes are needed.

Among the recommendations, the study indicates the need to harmonise the monitoring of different digital policies to keep them coherent and aligned, including the Digital Decade targets for skills, governments, businesses and infrastructure.

GovTech, the government approach to modernise the public sector

The Interoperability Europe Act is also the first regulation to explicitly promote the design and deployment of GovTech solutions, where the public sector engages with private actors, especially with SMEs and start-ups, to procure innovative and interoperable technology solutions. The JRC reports contributed to deepen the understanding of the GovTech landscape and markets, bringing the attention to innovating procurement practices to exploit the full potential of GovTech.

The coming months will be dedicated to support the early implementation of the Interoperability Europe Act. The lines of investigations will focus on the support to interoperability assessments, regulatory sandboxing and learning, the competence building for digital skills of public servants, and the provision of human-centric digital public services. They will include investigating the adoption of AI solutions by public administrations, and the related citizen's acceptance, as well as the role of the private sector for the digital service development and delivery in the EU.