Better legislation for smoother implementation glossary

Administrative burdens stem from administrative activities that are solely due to a legal obligation. 

Reference Doc: Methodologies for analysing impacts in impact assessments, evaluations, and fitness checks

Administrative simplifications means, where possible, to streamline and simplify their administrative processes by improving them or eliminating anything that does not provide public value. Administrative simplification can help businesses and citizens to reduce the administrative burden of complying with EU legislation or national obligations.

Alignment of digital policies assures that policymakers do not face gaps between future and existing policies which is necessary in order to regulate better open data, personal data, e-Identity, security and privacy, data and internet governance, web and ICT accessibility, digital connectivity infrastructure, and its take-up.

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are software components that connect subsystems and actors in digital environments such as Digital Platforms or the European Data Spaces. They enable flexible data access, data sharing and the control and coordination of digital interactions happening through them.

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to systems that display intelligent behaviour by analysing their environment and taking actions – with some degree of autonomy – to achieve specific goals. AI-based systems can be purely software-based, acting in the virtual world (e.g.

A Building Block is an open and reusable digital solution. It can take the shape of a framework, a standard, a software, or a software as a service (SaaS), or any combination thereof.

A list of one-to-one associations between specific business information entities and values (codes).

Reference Doc: EIRA

Cross-border user is a user in a situation which is not confined in all respects within a single Member State.

This definition scope goes beyond the scope of the legal that defines it.

Reference Doc: Single Digital Gateway Regulation

Data are symbols obtained through an encoding process of business information or a legal act.

Reference Doc: Data

A data asset may be a system or application output file, database, document, or web page. A data asset also includes a service that may be provided to access data from an application.

Reference Doc: Data asset

A data catalogueis an organised inventory of data assets in the organisation. It uses metadata to help organizations manage their data. It also helps data professionals collect, organize, access, and enrich metadata to support data discovery and governance.

Reference Doc: What Is Data Catalog?

A Data set is a collection of data, published or curated by a single agent, and available for access or download in one or more formats.

Reference Doc: Data Set

A data space is a seamless digital area where data providers, users, and intermediaries apply the same standards to the storage and sharing of data so as to make a large pool of data available, combined with the technical tools and infrastructure necessary to use and exchange data, as well as appropriate governance mechanisms.

The Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) is a new EU funding programme focused on bringing digital technology to businesses, citizens and public administrations.

Reference Doc: The Digital Europe Programme

Digital Governance ABB is a Business Object assuring the functioning of an Interoperability Framework. These rules include structures, roles, responsibilities, policies, standards, specifications, practices, decision making and operational procedures. 

Policies (and legislative acts) are digital-ready if they enable smooth and digital by default policy implementation through the best use of digital technologies and data.

Reference Doc: Digital-ready Policies

Digital-ready policymaking refers to the process of formulating digital-ready policies and legislation by considering digital aspects from the start of the policy cycle to ensure that they are ready for the digital age, future-proof and interoperable. It also encompasses the use of innovative methodologies and tools (e.g.

Technologies that are currently developing, or that are expected to be
available within the next five to ten years, and are creating, or are expected to have significant social or economic effects. Examples: Big Data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, sensors, Internet of Things (IoT). 

The new European Interoperability Framework (EIF) is part of the Communication (COM(2017)134) from the European Commission adopted on 23 March 2017. The framework gives specific guidance on how to set up interoperable digital public services.

Reference Doc: Revised EIF

ICT service means a service consisting fully or mainly in the transmission, storing, retrieving or processing of information by means of network and information systems.

Reference Doc: EU Cybersecurity Act

New ways of addressing scientific, technological, societal or market challenges, either by creating new knowledge or by adapting and combining existing solutions in a novel way.

Interoperability is a key factor in making a digital transformation possible. It allows administrative entities to electronically exchange meaningful information in ways that are understood by all parties. It addresses all layers that impact the delivery of digital public services in the EU, including: legal, organisational, semantic and technical aspects.

‘Interoperability by design’ means that for a European public service to be interoperable, they should be designed with certain interoperability and reusability requirements in mind.

Reference Doc: Revised EIF

Interoperability governance refers to decisions on interoperability frameworks, institutional arrangements, organisational structures, roles and responsibilities, policies, agreements and other aspects of ensuring and monitoring interoperability at national and EU levels.

Interoperable Europe is the initiative of the European Commission for a reinforced public sector interoperability policy. The Interoperable Europe Act proposes a strategic interoperability cooperation mechanism across the European Union.

Reference Doc: Interoperable Europe

Legal interoperability is about ensuring that organisations operating under different legal frameworks, policies and strategies are able to work together.

Reference Doc: Revised EIF

One of the main pillars for achieving digital-ready policymaking. Technology can support policymaking activities in various ways and become an enabler of policymaking and law-making activities.

Reference Doc: Legislation & Technology

Machine Readable functionalities refers to the ability to have data or instructions (such as that stored in a bar code, written in magnetic ink, or recorded digitally on a disk) that can be read through an electronic device (such as a laser scanner, magnetic stripe reader, or disk drive) for interpretation and manipulation by a computer.

It is the authoritative, most accurate data that is available about key business entities, used to establish the context for business transactions and transactional data.

Reference Doc: Master Data Policy

Data that defines and describes the characteristics of other data, used to improve both business and technical understanding of data and data-related processes.

Reference Doc: EIRA

The enabler for digital-ready policies. A multidisciplinary team is described as a group of people with 
complementary skills who are committed to a common 
purpose, performance goals and approach, for which they 
hold themselves mutually accountable. 

In the context of interoperable public services, the concept of openness mainly relates to data, specifications and software.

Reference Doc: Revised EIF

Any data used to organize of categorize other data, or for relating data to information both within and beyond the boundaries of the enterprise.

Reference Doc: EIRA

In the frame of the regulatory reporting process, regulatory parties refer to public institutions setting regulatory reporting obligations to third parties. 

Regulatory reporting is the periodical provision of structured or unstructured data (qualitative or quantitative) from concerned private and public organisations, to competent authorities (at EU or national level) as required by the requirements set in specific legislation.

Stakeholders that are obliged or invited to provide information to EU institutions.

Reference Doc: How to facilitate the reuse of data in regulatory at the European Commission

The reusability of IT solutions (e.g. software components, Application Programming Interfaces, standards), information and data, is an enabler of interoperability and improves quality because it extends operational use, as well as saving money and time. This makes it a major contributor to the development of a digital single market in the EU.

Data reuse occurs when an investigator conducts their own analysis of research data collected by others. 

Reference Doc: Reusing Data - Research Data and Reproducibility

Citizens and businesses must be confident that when they interact with public authorities they are doing so in a secure and trustworthy environment and in full compliance with relevant regulations, e.g. the Regulation and Directive on data protection, and the Regulation on electronic identification and trust services (eIDAS).

Simplification of the reporting process for businesses, such as SMEs, so that they only have to report information once (“once-only” principle)

User-centricity means putting users’ needs at the centre when determining which public services should be provided and how they should be delivered.

Reference Doc: Revised EIF