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| FAST Fully Automated Secured Transactions services |
FASTeTEN First Newsletter
FASTeTEN — Project news, June 2007
++ LATEST NEWS ++
FASTeTEN leaflet now available in German. To download the leaflet, which may be reproduced and distributed freely, visit the FASTeTEN website.
Das FASTeTEN-Projekt baut auf CDC Confiance Electronique Européenne auf, einem Ableger der französischen Caisse des Dépôts. Der Schwerpunkt des Projekts liegt auf dem sicheren FAST-Gateway, der in Frankreich seit fast drei Jahren entwickelt wird.
Die Abkürzung FAST bedeutet Fournisseur d’Accès Sécurisés Transactionnels, und liefert Transparenz für den Informationszugang in der Kommunikation zwischen Bürgern und Verwaltungsstellen.
Mit Hilfe von FAST können öffentliche Verwaltungsdienststellen Vorgänge rationalisieren, indem sie ihre Dokumentenmanagementsysteme auf eine elektronische Plattform umlagern. Ein vollautomatisierter sicherer Datenaustausch zwischen verschiedenen Dienststellen und - unterschiedlichen Verwaltungsebenen wird damit ermöglicht. Das System ist bereits erfolgreich in unterschiedlichen Situationen in der französischen Regional- und Kommunalverwaltung demonstriert worden.
++ What is FASTeTEN? ++
FASTeTEN is a project to deploy a bundle of services for secure electronic document exchange across Europe. Deployment of the FAST bundle of services will be demonstrated in two very different European contexts - in Spain and in the United Kingdom. On-going analysis of these deployments will permit the establishment of a template and methodology for other deployments in different European countries.
FAST stands for Fournisseur d’Accès Sécurisés Transactionnels (Secure Access Gateway Provider). It is a bundle of services for secure electronic document exchange developed by French-government mandated public financial institution Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC). The FAST development project began in 2002. FAST has been extensively and successfully tested in the French départements of Yvelines and Deux-Sèvres. FAST allows secure and legally watertight exchange of electronic documents. This is supported by a range of functions including receipting, encryption, authentication, electronic signatures, timestamping, archiving and so on.
FAST offers considerable efficiency savings and greatly improves document management procedures — in a legally watertight way. Implementation of the FAST services can also lead to higher quality workflows, with fewer errors, and can help cut down on fraud.
++ FASTeTEN project progress ++
FASTeTEN started life on January 1, 2007. During its first few months of operation, it has:
Staged the overall project kick-off meeting in Versailles, France, on February 1, 2007.
Staged kick-off meetings in Spain and the United Kingdom to launch the pilot deployments in those countries — see below for more information.
Staged the FASTeTEN potential deployers working group kick-off meeting in Prato, Italy — see below for more information.
Launched the FASTeTEN website at http://www.eu-fasteten.eu
Published the FASTeTEN project leaflet in English, French and German (download the leaflet from http://www.eu-fasteten.eu).
Participated in the French Ministry of Finance eProcurement working group
Participated in the GOVSEC 07 government security expo and conference in Brussels on June 6-7, 2007.
Prepared the FASTeTEN Quality Plan.
More information on these developments can be found at http://www.eu-fasteten.eu. An overall presentation of the project can be downloaded from the project website (PowerPoint presentation included in Zip file).
++ FASTeTEN pilot deployments ++
The FASTeTEN project will demonstrate the adaptability of FAST in two pilot deployments that take the bundle of services beyond the borders of France, where it was first developed.
The pilot deployments will be in Valencia, Spain, and in Sheffield, UK. In both cases, FAST services will be developed to transform existing paper workflows into secure electronic workflows. However, the application is different in each case. In the UK, FAST will be applied to the education sector, whereas in the Region of Valencia, FAST will be used to change the procurement process from paper to electronic.
For information on the Valencia and Sheffield deployments in detail, visit http://www.eu-fasteten.eu.
++ FAST potential deployers group ++
The FASTeTEN project has established from the outset a mechanism that will smooth the path to on-going deployment of FAST in different contexts in different European countries: a potential deployers group. This group will monitor the pilot deployments, and make an assessment of benefits and obstacles.
The deployers groups consists of:
CIRB - Brussels Region Informatics Centre (Belgium)
Comune di Prato (Italy)
FLGR - Bulgarian Local Authorities Association (Bulgaria)
Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office (Hungary)
Vlaamse Gemeenschap (Belgium)
The Ministry of Innovation, Investment and Information Technologies (MIIIT Malta)
This group will define a methodology for working alongside the FASTeTEN project. Potential deployers group members are interested in the potential for deploying FAST services in their own countries and will therefore monitor the demonstration deployments in Valencia and Sheffield. The monitoring work will enable potential deployers to answer a range of questions pertaining to the application of FAST services in their own contexts. Key questions to be addressed include:
Are FAST pilot deployments technically replicable in other countries?
Can similar implementations be identified in other countries/contexts?
Is there sufficient information to make a decision on deployments in other countries?
How are the Sheffield and Valencia legal and organisational conditions replicable in other countries?
For more detail on these aspects, visit the project website.
++ FASTeTEN newsletter ++
This is the first edition of the FASTeTEN newsletter; future editions will be published quarterly. Newsletters will provide updates on project developments and activities. More information can also be found on the website of e-Forum, the project communications partner, at http://www.eu-forum.org.
