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Last update: 19/08/2019 Reading time: 11 mins
NOTICE
In view of the transitioning to the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL), a new version of the LEOS governance will be published.
For any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at: DIGIT-LEOS-FEEDBACK@ec.europa.eu.
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DISCLAIMER This text below on LEOS Governance is a statement of the intentions of the Commission within the context of the ISA2 Action -2016.38. Legislation Interoperability Tools – LEGIT . It is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a legally binding commitment. The Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Any references to duties or obligations within this page should therefore be understood as a good faith statement of intent only, without any obligation of result or legal recourse in case of breaches of such duties or obligations. References to legal acts or documentation of the European Union (EU) cannot be perceived as amending legislation in force or other EU documentation, more specifically those related to the ISA² Programme. The document does not supplement or amend terms and conditions of any procurement procedure; therefore, no compensation claim can be based on the contents of the present document. |
1. Improving the efficiency and quality of the legislative process
1. Improving the efficiency and quality of the legislative process
The 2016.38. Legislation Interoperability Tools – LegIT action aims specifically at modernising and improving the efficiency and quality of the legislative process across the Union, promoting interoperability between the systems of the different actors of the process. It seeks to facilitate the cooperation between public administrations at EU, national, regional and local levels.
In order to achieve this goal, the LegIT action delivers open source software implementing specifications and standards in the legislation domain. At the same time, the action strives to build a community around its outputs and the common goal to improve the efficiency and quality of the legislative process. Having the community as a key driver, it is important to present how the project is steered in order to meet its goals and deliver the agreed vision.
The IT governance model for 2016.38. Legislation Interoperability Tools – LegIT has been drafted in accordance with Article 4 Decision (EU) 2015/2240. Additional sources of inspiration were the proposal on governance mechanism put forward by the ISA2 Action - 2016.31 Sharing and reuse and other best practices of well-established open source communities.
From this we have three elements, as shown in the below picture. The principles for the governance were taken mainly from Article 4 Decision (EU) 2015/2240, but also from the ISA2 programme goals and vision. These principles were further used to describe the organisational structure and processes.
2. Principles
Principle 1. Governance based on utility and driven by identified needs and programme objectives.
The governance process must ensure that the results of the ISA2 Action are driven by identified needs, programme objectives (re-use, interoperability, effectiveness and efficiency) and based on utility as defined each year in the ISA2 work programme.
Principle 2. Consensus driven but decision oriented, proportionate stakeholder representation organisational structure.
When taking decisions, it is important to reach out for consensus among the different key stakeholders. However, consensus cannot always be reached. At the same time, the project has a roadmap to deliver. Therefore, the organisational structure and processes must support the consensus building. In absence of a consensus, it should be ensured that decisions are taken in accordance with the action’s visions.
Principle 3. The design of reusable building blocks delivered by the actions support the implementation of user-centricity principles for design.
The cluster B (Interoperable and re-usable independent products (components, services or applications)) of 2016.38. Legislation Interoperability Tools – LegIT would allow development activities necessary to refactor the existing software into more complete and re-usable building blocks released under open source licence. The development of software components or services for the validation and transformation of semantic elements defined and documented by the IFC are also contained in Cluster B.
This principle applies to the end-user of solutions delivered by the action. Taking into account the approach of the action to deliver reusable building blocks, these building blocks delivered should support the implementation of user-centricity principles for design. These principles include accessibility, security, availability, usability, protection of personal data and privacy, etc. For more see Tallinn ministerial declaration Annex: User-centricity principles for design and delivery of digital public services.
Principle 4. Inclusive organisational structure and governance process supporting accessibility
Recital (32) Decision (EU) 2015/2240
“In its activities, the Union should observe the principle of equal treatment. Citizens of the Union should have the right to equal treatment from the Union's institutions, bodies, offices and agencies. The Union should take into account requirements linked to the fight against social exclusion. In that regard, accessibility for all should be incorporated into the development of strategies relating to the interoperability of public services across the Union, taking into consideration the most disadvantaged citizens and the most sparsely populated areas in order to combat the digital divide and exclusion, as called for by the European Parliament in its resolution of 20 April 2012 on a competitive digital single market — eGovernment as a spearhead. The implementation of electronic public services by European public administrations requires an inclusive (e-inclusion) approach that, where necessary, will provide technical support and training in order to reduce disparities in the use of ICT solutions and will incorporate multi-channel delivery, including the maintenance of traditional means of access when appropriate. ”
To be in-line with the principle of inclusion for European public administration, the Organisational structure should include the Member States, key community users. The results of the action should be made openly available in order to avoid discrimination and digital-divide.
Principle 5. Use of open standards and specifications
Recital 35 Decision (EU) 2015/2240
“Interoperability is directly connected with, and dependent on the use of, open specifications and standards. The ISA2 programme should promote and, where appropriate, support the partial or full standardisation of existing interoperability solutions. Such standardisation should be achieved in cooperation with other standardisation activities at Union level, European standardisation organisations and other international standardisation organisations.”
In line with recital 35, decisions should always consider the use of open standards and specifications when relevant and possible.
Principle 6. Governance process ensuring transparency
Transparency, one key principle of the European Commission, must be ensured by making available all relevant outputs of the governance process and the results of the actions as defined in the ISA2 Work Programme.
Principle 7. Governance ensuring re-usability and avoidance of duplication
In-line with the ISA2 goal to avoid duplication and ensure re-usability, the governance organisation and process ensures that the project engages in dissemination activities and invests sufficient resource to ensure avoidance of duplication of effort.
Principle 8. Governance process ensuring flexibility and extensibility
In times of fast evolving technology and user needs, it is crucial that the project runs in an agile mode, being opened to change. The governance process will ensure that changes are correctly managed and have sufficient flexibility and extensibility.
Principle 9. Governance process supporting sustainability
The decision-making process should always take into account the long-term sustainability of the results of the action beyond its duration. For example the actions taken for the community building, actions that can contribute to the continuation of the community beyond the duration of the action.
3. Organisational structure
Layer 1 – the Community
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Principle 1 Governance based on utility and driven by identified needs Principle 4 Inclusive governance structure and governance process |
In order to comply with principles 1 and 4, the Community is at the foundation of the organisational structure. Its needs are driving the evolution of the project, and its members are the main beneficiary of the results of the action.
The community can encompass stakeholders from following categories:
- Member States (first priority);
- Others according to Article 14 of Decision (EU) 2015/2240.
International cooperation
"1. The ISA2 programme shall be open to participation by other countries of the European Economic Area and by the candidate countries within the framework of their respective agreements with the Union.
2. Cooperation with other third countries and with international organisations or bodies shall be encouraged, in particular within the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean and Eastern Partnerships and with neighbouring countries, in particular those of the Western Balkans and Black Sea regions. Related costs shall not be covered by the ISA2 programme.
3. Where appropriate, the ISA2 programme shall promote re-use of its solutions by third countries."
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Principle 1 Governance based on utility and driven by identified needs Principle 2. Consensus driven but decision oriented, proportionate stakeholder representation governance structure. Principle 4 Inclusive governance structure and governance process Principle 7. Governance ensuring re-usability and avoidance of duplication |
Layer 2 - Operational/Technical layer
The middle layer is the Operational/Technical layer that ensures that the policies and strategies for the action are implemented accordingly and in time.
This layer includes the following governance bodies:
- Project Core Team – responsible for the technical direction of the ISA2 action, for receiving and filtering the requests from the community, mainly DIGIT.B2 development team. The Project Core Team will be able to deal with most requests from the users without consulting the Change Advisory Board. Only the requests that are of Change Request type will be submitted to the Change Advisory Board. The team will take note of the requests as soon as possible, taking into account the current workload and established priorities.
- Change Advisory Board (CAB) – responsible to advice the Change Manager (DIGIT.B2) in the processes of evaluation, prioritisation and resolution of changes. DIGIT.B2 as the president of the CAB meetings, prepares the agenda, takes the meeting minutes and takes a decision when there is no consensus reached.
- Consulted groups / Observers – depending on the topic of the CAB meeting, the consulted groups / observers might be invited or consulted. (principle 7). Convening consulted groups or observers is an option at the prerogative of the CAB.
Layer 3 – Policy and strategy
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Principle 1 Governance based on utility and driven by identified needs Principle 2. Consensus driven but decision oriented, proportionate stakeholder representation governance structure. Principle 4 Inclusive governance structure and governance process |
This layer is responsible for defining the policy and strategy of the ISA2 work programme together with its actions. This layer can also deal with requests that have been escalated from the Community layer, after having been rejected/parked by the Operational/Technical layer, to be added for review when updating the ISA2 action description.
4. Governance processes
4.1. Project management (monitor, risk, issues, budget)
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Principle 6. Governance process ensuring transparency |
The project management process ensures that the ISA2 Action work programme is delivered on time and in budget. Therefore, it covers the following activities:
- Planning the activities (PM2 and Agile@EC),
- Monitoring and reporting as defined by ISA2 Work programme,
- Risk and issue log.
4.2. Change management
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Principle 3. The design of reusable building blocks delivered by the actions support the implementation of user-centricity principles for design. Principle 5. Use of open standards and specifications Principle 6. Governance process ensuring transparency Principle 7. Governance ensuring re-usability and avoidance of duplication Principle 8. Governance process ensuring flexibility and extensibility Principle 9. Governance process supporting sustainability |
The change management process is described in the below diagram. Principles 3,5, 7 and 8 are used while evaluating a change request and when defining the resolution.
Principle 6 is respected by informing users about the resolution of their change request, even if the response is negative. Received requests may be rejected because they are out of scope or after the evaluation of the Change Advisory Board.
*For full-size picture please see below in attachments.
**Communicate decision - the user is informed that his/her change request has been accepted. The delivery date of the change request is still subject to change.
Exceptional flow
In case the User (Community Member), representing a public administration from a Member State is not satisfied with the reason for rejection of the Change Request, can submit the wish to escalate the change request. In this case, the request is forwarded to the ISA2 Action Owner who would further submit the change in the ISA2 Committee. Alternatively, the user can also contact their ISA2 Committee representative to submit the change.
4.3. Community management
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Principle 9. Governance process supporting sustainability |
The community management strategy is the high-level plan on how to build, develop and engage with a given community.
In order to do so the following five steps are recommended.
All these five steps are done for each community life-cycle phase (kick-off, maturity and self-sustainability) if the evaluation step concludes that the community is ready for another phase.
The self-sustainability phase is respecting principle 9.
