Commission proposes extension of IDA programme
The European Commission has recently completed a review of the Interchange of Data between Administrations (IDA) programme and put forward a proposal for its renewal for a five year period. The IDA programme has contributed to the establishment of complex telematics networks linking governments in different Member States. These networks may contribute to areas of direct interest to citizens, such as health or social security. Other IDA networks contribute to government in fields such as fisheries, customs, statistics or competition policy. Whilst the IDA programme has successfully contributed to the establishment of basic network infrastructures which now link administrations in different fields throughout the EU, the creation of these networks has raised new problems. The Commission proposes that the focus of the programme over the next few years should change from the establishment of infrastructure to address the issues associated with its use. These include security and legal obstacles, and the need to find interoperable solutions which satisfy multilingual and multicultural requirements. These problems are such that they require solutions at Community level, rather than at the level of individual sectors. The Commission's proposals for the extension of the IDA programme include initiatives to improve the quality of project results. The principal objective will be to promote the effective and harmonized development of all Community telematics-based systems for the interchange of data between administrations. The focus on horizontal projects which can improve many sectors will continue, and IDA will continue to emphasize the exploitation of products and services which are available on the market, rather than the development of proprietary solutions.