European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS)

📃 Read below the key takeaways of ECIS' Annual Event last week on the role of cloud interoperability in AI for Europe. We explored the opportunities and challenges of building innovative AI markets while addressing cloud lock-in, data access, and tying practices. Discussions highlighted the need for diverse AI models, respect for local realities in global AI frameworks, and the importance of exchanging best practices, while emphasizing on completing unfinished legislative work and supporting startups in scaling up. A big thank you to our Media Partner MLex, and to our speakers and participants for adding their insights to this event!

Cyber Resilience Act published today in the EU official journal - herewith Tom Savage’s Red Hat blog addressing the #opensource perspective as well as next steps of this close collaboration with European policymakers, customers and global open source community. Congrats on this milestone and thank you for all the hard work and collaboration - Christiane Kirketerp de Viron Benjamin Bögel Filipe Jones Mourão Tommaso Bernabò Maika FOHRENBACH Raluca Stefanuc

📢 ECIS 2024 Annual Event   On 28 November, the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS) will host its annual event, focusing this year on the critical role of cloud interoperability in building a robust generative AI market for Europe.   Join us for a dynamic panel discussion featuring insights from leaders in industry, academia, and the public sector, who will share their perspectives on this essential topic.   🎙️ Speakers include: Luca Bertuzzi, Senior AI Correspondent at MLex - Moderator Miguel Valle del Olmo, Digital Transformation Attaché at the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU Dr. Alea Fairchild, Research Fellow at The Constantia Institute Jean-Marc Leclerc, Director EU Affairs, Government and Regulatory Affairs at IBM Thomas Vinje, ECIS Chairman, Clifford Chance Chairman Emeritus We’re also thrilled to announce MLex as our Media Partner for the event! Link for registration: https://lnkd.in/exudq7-K More info at: info@ecis.eu

𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗦 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰-𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟵 𝗘𝗨 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 Since 1989, ECIS has endeavoured to promote a favourable environment for interoperable ICT solutions, actively representing its members regarding issues related to interoperability and competition before European, international and national fora, including the EU institutions and WIPO. 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝘄𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀. With Commissioners yet to begin their work, ECIS would like to provide valuable insights into the evolving digital landscape, and more specifically on the key issues of interoperability, competition, and innovation, which will shape EU policy in the coming years.

𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗦 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗨 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 The European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS) recently participated in two critical public consultations, reinforcing our commitment to fostering a competitive and open digital market in Europe: 1️⃣ 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐄𝐔) 𝟏𝟎𝟐𝟓/𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟐 https://lnkd.in/e6hkkCGv 2️⃣ 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝟐𝟏 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟐𝟑 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐈𝐒𝟐 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 https://lnkd.in/eNuUsQJi By engaging in these consultations, ECIS continues to advocate for a digital environment that prioritizes fairness, security, and interoperability across the European market.

Thank you European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS) and Jochen Friedrich for this timely discussion especially given launch of 1025 regulation review*! * https://lnkd.in/grMCfnqa

Interview on ECJ Ruling by ECIS - Part 2 ECIS: What do you know of the context of the Malamud case and relevance to open source? James: Frankly, Carl Malamud is synonymous with open, in particular open information. Indeed, he has taken this mission ‘to make public information public’ to other parts of the globe such as India and, now, to Europe. In terms of open source, the ruling was not about the code but surely it does cast more light as to not only how accessible standards are but also how implementable they are in open source. ECIS: OK, but wouldn’t some changes be good and important for the European standardisation system? James: Software standards - and I mean Open Standards are fundamental to digital innovation. Open source software and open standards drive interoperability and innovation. The risk of having cumbersome procedures to develop standards is that it can take too long to keep pace with technology and the customer or citizen needs for digital transformation.  Jochen: Fully agree. The system is in many respects outdated in its processes and needs reform.. We need a system that is more agile in its decision making processes, that allows direct participation. But let me also be clear: The European standardisation system is organised under self-governance of the stakeholders. It is the task of these stakeholders, and of industry as the key stakeholder, to work on the necessary reforms. It is not a matter of courts and parliaments. We have a good legal framework for standardisation in Europe. It is up to us to work on a modern, up-to-date infrastructure so that IT standardisation in and out of Europe can have a leading role.  ECIS: Any other reflections you’d like to share from an “open” perspective? James: Well, to Malamud’s point (Para 70 of the ECJ judgement) that European harmonised standards “forms part of EU law owing to its legal effects” as supported in James Elliott judgement (Para 40) is particularly relevant given that several key digital regulations (e.g. Cyber Resilience Act, Interoperability Act, Data Act, Radio Equipment Directive, DSA etc) rely heavily on European harmonised technical standards to ensure compliance.   The challenge here for open source is thus not just about access to the future standards but the importance to engage in existing SDOs tasked with developing standards in a new world of software (in particular open source software) which is not familiar terrain. Open Source is focused on ‘implementation first and standards later’ if / when a solution has been scaled.   As such, it is going to be really important to find more ways (such as via the EU’s ICT Multi Stakeholder Platform) to engage and channel input from open source developers and global fora/consortia who are already working on relevant open standards. I am concerned, however, that open source organisations and stewards’ possible liaison or partner status might risk being complicated by the reverberations of this ruling.    

ECIS interview with standards expert, Jochen Friedrich, with comments from James Lovegrove - Part 1 In March, the Court of Justice of the European Union published a ruling that was long awaited by everyone being active and interested in European standardisation. It is about free access to harmonised European standards. In the concrete case about safety of toys. ECIS interviewed Dr. Jochen Friedrich, head of European standardisation and technical regulation at IBM. Jand James Lovegrove (Red Hat, EMEA Director Government Affairs Public Policy) ECIS: First to you Jochen, how often did you click on the European Court of Justice’s web page that Tuesday morning? Jochen: Close to 11 am I thought, time for a cup of tea. Then one click, there it was, the long awaited ruling on the so-called Malamud case. Of course I downloaded and read it immediately. ECIS: What was your first reaction? Jochen: I thought it was a very balanced and wise ruling. It very much focuses on the actual case that was at stake: do the appellants have a right to free access to four harmonised European standards in a specific context? Before the ruling, many people were concerned that the Court of Justice might turn this into a fundamental decision with large effect on the European standardisation system. Scenarios were painted where it would be impossible for European standardisation to keep aligned with international standardisation; where standards were treated as law, where the copyright for standards was abolished, where the fundamentals of the European regulatory environment, the New Legislative Framework, was at stake.  ECIS: Can you explain what these fundamentals are, what’s the history here? Jochen: The New Legislative Framework goes back to the mid 1980's when the European Commission under the leadership of Jacques Delors created a system where legal requirements are laid down in the legal acts but the definition of technical requirements on how to meet and be compliant with the legal requirements is done through open processes in standardisation. This system is at the core of the European Single Market allowing for innovative technologies being brought to the EU market in a safe and trusted way.  ECIS: Thank you Jochen, so the million dollar question, how much does the ruling shake up the European standardisation system? Jochen: A little bit. The ruling says that if there is an overriding public interest, free access to the respective harmonised standards must be granted. This is because of the legal effects that the respective standards have and which makes them part of the law. But the ruling doesn’t put into question the basis that standards are copyright. It does not require that European standards are not permitted “to be sold”. Also It does not put the European regulatory system at question – it rather confirms it. But very clearly, in certain cases and on request, interested groups must be granted access to the respective standards. 

https://lnkd.in/ez5xQj49

ECIS COMMENDS THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND THE COUNCIL ON THE ADOPTION OF THE INTEROPERABLE EUROPE ACT Brussels 8 March   ECIS is an international, non-profit association of information technology companies founded in 1989. We promote a favourable environment for interoperable ICT solutions and actively represent our members on issues relating to interoperability and competition before European, international, and national fora.   As a prominent industry association focused on all facets of interoperability, ECIS has meticulously followed and engaged in EU policies that promote interoperability and open source, such as the EIF (European Interoperability Framework) back in 2004 and subsequent revisions (2010 and 2017) which, along with other policies (DIGIT open source strategy, ISA2, Horizon etc) have taken an ever greater emphasis on putting open standards and open source into practice within the public sector.    ECIS believes that the Interoperable Europe Act (IEA) further expands the EU’s default-to-open policy with a binding legal framework for EU institutions and EU Member States to accelerate IT modernisation and enhance cross-border interoperability so as to improve public sector services. Apart from the economic benefits and efficiency gains, experience shows that interoperability, open standards and open source use and upstream contribution improves user centricity and positively affects public values, such as improving trust from citizens in their governments.