A VISION TO THE FUTURE: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE 2017 EUROPEAN INTEROPERABILITY FRAMEWORK

Interoperability has proven to be key for the digitalization of public administrations. It can help to improve public services while saving time, reducing costs and increasing transparency. It has also been recognized as crucial to overcome societal challenges, such as climate change, housing, health, energy efficiency and urban mobility. Yet interoperability implementation is complex and context-sensitive. In order to support the Member States of the European Union, the European Commission has been developing European Interoperability Frameworks since 2004. The most recent framework dates from 2017 and is under review. Building upon research expertise of the authors and their participation in the development of proposals for new interoperability frameworks for the European Commission, the objective of this reflection article is twofold: 1) to propose changes in the definition of interoperability and additions to both the layers and principles of the 2017 EIF and 2) to provide an overview for non-European scholars on the latest developments around the 2017 EIF. A revised version of the interoperability definition, the addition of co-creation as a principle together with a cultural interoperability layer, and a cross-cutting layer of Skills and Competencies would facilitate an alignment of the revised framework with the recently developed interoperability frameworks. Considering these revisions could help to decrease fragmentation among the different efforts conducted by the European Commission. Finally, by sharing these latest developments regarding the EIF and the developed proposals with a Latin American audience, the authors aim to support the exchange of experiences between Europe and Latin American.