NEW BID TO PROMOTE COMPATIBLE PAN-EUROPEAN E-GOVERNMENT SERVICES.

• Position: On-line services - Brief article

The European Commission would like to raise awareness in member states of the work needed to achieve pan-European compatibility for on-line services. In a Communication published on February 8, it asked the Council to find a solution to the needs which have been identified and to support those measures which are to put in place to achieve them.

The Commission has distinguished three key areas of compatibility:

- operational compatibility, i.e. the ability to identify all actors and organisational procedures involved in providing a specific on-line administration service and to ensure that these actors and procedures agree on the way of structuring their interaction.

- technical compatibility incorporates the interpretation of technological platforms and software, the definition and use of interfaces, open standards and protocols in order to create reliable and efficient information systems.

- semantic compatibility: to ensure that the meaning of the information exchanged...