Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions — News archive

A new version of the world-renowned X-Road® data exchange solution released

The Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions (NIIS) has released a new version of their world-renowned data exchange solution: X-Road 7 “Unicorn” provides a better user experience and is more secure, scalable and environmentally friendly than its predecessors.

X-Road is open-source software and ecosystem solution that provides unified and secure data exchange between organisations.

The most significant new features of X-Road 7 are about protecting data at rest. Another important new feature is a production-level Docker support that makes X-Road more scalable and cloud friendly.

“Overall, the new features make X-Road more secure, configurable and scalable. Also, the latest changes enable reducing the environmental footprint of the Security Server”, explains Petteri Kivimäki, CTO of NIIS.

By utilising the new features, users can achieve significant benefits on the ecosystem level. According to Kivimäki, upgrading to version 7.0.0 paves the way for the following releases that will also provide substantial changes and improvements.

”Of course, it’s always recommended to use officially supported X-Road versions only because they receive patches and security fixes. The good news is that X-Road 7 is backwards compatible on the interface level with X-Road 6, so the migration should be smooth”, Kivimäki says.

X-Road is a digital public good verified by the Digital Public Goods Alliance, and it’s released under the MIT open-source license and is available free of charge. The solution is implemented in several countries worldwide, and its global user community has over a thousand members from more than sixty countries.

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NIIS releases Harmony eDelivery Access for data exchange between organisations within the EU

Harmony eDelivery Access from the developers of the world-renowned X-Road® is a free and actively maintained open-source component for joining eDelivery policy domains.

eDelivery is one of the building blocks of the European Commission (EC) Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) that enables the exchange of data between networked organisations in an interoperable, reliable and secure manner.

Harmony eDelivery Access is based on the European Commission’s sample implementations of the eDelivery AS4 access point and SMP components. On top of their existing features, the first release of Harmony eDelivery Access provides automated installation, upgrade and configuration process with additional documentation. The security of Harmony eDelivery Access is assured by a third-party security assessment.

”Even if Harmony eDelivery Access is a new product, it’s based on existing open-source products enhanced with the best practices learned over years of X-Road development and maintenance”, explains Ville Sirviö, CEO of NIIS.

Harmony eDelivery Access can be used in both existing and new eDelivery implementations by organisations acting as service consumers, producers, or both. Also, Harmony eDelivery Access supports joining multiple eDelivery policy domains using a single Harmony instance.

New features will be added in future releases based on the requests and ideas coming from the Harmony eDelivery Access users.

”All the existing and new eDelivery users are welcome to try Harmony and see whether it could be a good fit for them”, Sirviö says.

Harmony eDelivery access website is launched and the source code is released on 17 December 2021: https://edelivery.digital

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Iceland joins the Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions

Iceland joins the Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions (NIIS) on 1st June 2021 and becomes the third member government in the international consortium after initial founders Estonia and Finland. NIIS is developing digital government solutions for its members, including X-Road® for unified and secure data exchange between organisations.

Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions (NIIS) is a non-profit association with the mission to ensure the development and strategic management of X-Road® and other cross-border components for digital government infrastructure.

“Co-development has increased cost-effectiveness. It ensures quality, enables innovation and builds capacity for cross-border digital government infrastructure components. In addition, the joint institute enables multilateral international cooperation, which we are particularly pleased about today, as we are welcoming Iceland to NIIS as a new member” Finnish Minister of Local Government Ms Sirpa Paatero sums up some of the benefits of the cooperation.

X-Road is open-source software and an ecosystem solution that provides unified and secure data exchange between organisations. X-Road forms the national data exchange infrastructure of NIIS member countries that jointly finance the development of X-Road core technology and steer its development.

“X-Road has truly become an international solution, beyond the great foundation it provides for well-working and seamless digital public services and society in Estonia,” said Estonian Minister of Entrepreneurship and IT, Mr Andres Sutt.

“We are also glad to see NIIS grow, especially with Iceland as another Nordic country joining. As the name hints, the rationale behind NIIS has been from the start that we would join forces in Nordics as a world’s leading digital region to build the best possible digital government together,” added Minister Sutt.

Since 2018, Iceland has participated in NIIS working groups and contributed to the development of X-Road. Iceland is currently implementing X-Road and aims to make digital services available through the national data exchange ecosystem Straumurinn.

“Iceland aims to be one of the leading countries in the world when it comes to digital services and joining NIIS with Finland and Estonia is an important step in that direction. Together these countries can become global leaders when it comes to e-government infrastructures and cross border digital services. We are very proud to join forces with NIIS.” Mr Bjarni Benediktsson, Icelandic Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs says.

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X-Road's environmental footprint is being identified by NIIS, Gofore and the Stockholm Environment Institute

The EU is fighting climate change and has put forward a plan to further cut emissions by 2030. By 2050, Europe aims to become the world's first climate-neutral continent.

Running a software also has a carbon footprint, and in order to contribute to climate neutrality, it is fundamental to determine the extent of the environmental footprint and the possibilities for reducing it.

The Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions (NIIS) is including sustainability in the different areas of its operations: the environmental footprint of the organisation, sustainable procurement, sustainable development process, sustainable solution X-Road® and sustainable use of X-Road. Sustainability is one of the NIIS' values.

X-Road® is open-source software and ecosystem solution that provides unified and secure data exchange between organisations. Until now, sustainability has not played a significant role in the development of X-Road. Therefore, NIIS has initiated a project with Gofore Plc and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) to identify the extent of X-Road's environmental footprint and submit proposals for reducing the environmental footprint.

The short-term goal is to focus on the direct and tangible environmental impact of the X-Road software. The long-term goal is to make X-Road the most sustainable data exchange solution in the world. Before starting to make X-Road more sustainable, the current situation must be assessed, and the next steps defined based on the assessment's results.

The study results are the basis for future decisions in the activities of NIIS to systematically take into account the environmental aspect and reduce negative impacts as much as possible, thereby contributing to the achievement of European and global climate goals.

"It is necessary to focus on the strategic view and to point out the most critical opportunities for X-Road to contribute to climate goals, which are technically possible and necessary for making strategically wise future decisions and investments", says Ville Sirviö, CEO of NIIS.

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