On Monday June 20th, the European Commission
hosted the first meeting of the High Level Expert Group on Information Systems
and Interoperability. The Group, established following the Commission’s
Communication on Stronger and Smarter Information Systems for Borders and
Security, will examine improvements to current large-scale IT systems in the
JHA area, development of new systems required to fill gaps in the current
information architecture and interoperability between existing and
newly-developed systems as a means to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
During the meeting, participants agreed on work priorities
and modalities for engagement in the coming months, with a final report from
the group in May/June 2017 being the most crucial outcome. During
his intervention, eu-LISA's Executive Director welcomed the fact that the
establishment of the Expert Group brings technology to the fore in terms of
political priorities and suggested that there was a need to use the momentum
created to build a shared vision for the future. He also emphasised the
importance of data quality in large-scale IT in order to ensure efficiency and
effectiveness. As a basis for further work, he suggested that an information
architecture model be created to examine current information availability and
by extension, requirements for change. Finally, he noted that given appropriate
resources eu-LISA is ready to work to achieve the ambitious outcomes sought.
