On
11-12 October 2022, the
European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA), in cooperation with
the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, will organise the 16th edition of the
Industry Roundtable.
The event will take place
face to face in Tallinn, Estonia and will also be streamed online, allowing for remote participation.
The 16th edition of the eu-LISA Industry Roundtable will focus on presenting and discussing new
technology solutions and the associated
business and operational processes developed and deployed by the
industry (carriers from all business areas and their respective service providers operating at air, sea and land borders), the
Member States (MS) and the associated
air and sea portsoperators in relation to the
Entry/Exit System (EES) and the
European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), which will enter operations in 2023. The event will also tackle the
innovations introduced by these stakeholders in order to adapt to the
new ecosystem of Large-Scale European IT Systems.
Background
The Schengen ecosystem of large-scale IT systems is going through a significant change with the entry into operation in the very near future of EES, ETIAS and, subsequently, of the Interoperability Architecture.
While the benefits to freedom, security and justice of these two latest members of the family of monitoring and control tools of the Schengen Area are evident, their Entry into Operation (EiO) also presents a number of new technological and operational challenges to different stakeholders: travellers, carriers from all business areas, border control operators and national authorities, national law enforcement agencies, and European Agencies in the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) domain, especially eu-LISA (who will be responsible for managing the systems) and
Frontex (who will help coordinate business processes related to EES and ETIAS at border crossing points).
Among all these stakeholders, carriers will play a key role for the successful entry into operation. According to the Commission Implementing Regulations
2021/1217 and 2021/1224, carriers will have the legal obligation to query EES and ETIAS to verify the traveller status before they cross the Schengen borders (to verify whether third-country nationals holding a short-stay visa have already used the number of entries authorised by their visa, or those subject to travel authorisation requirement are in possession of a valid ETIAS.). In addition, the revision of the Visa Information System (VIS) legal base (Regulation (EU) 2021/1134, OJ L 248, 13.7.2021, p. 11–87) brings an evolution of the Carrier Interface which incorporates checks on multi-entry visas, long stay visas and residence permits. Finally, the
European Commission has initiated discussions and is assessing the revision of the current API (Advance Passenger Information) Directive, with the aim of providing the carriers with one unified interface based on further enhancements of the Carrier Interface.
These developments will affect carriers' processes (including their infrastructures and equipment) particularly during check-in and boarding of travellers. Carriers will now have to integrate identity verification and travel authorisation by checking an online system. These changes will have an impact on traveller flow management, on the interaction with the Carrier Interface, and on the optimisation of the passenger verification process.
In order to support carriers towards a successful EiO of the new systems, eu-LISA chairs a
Working Group (WG) for Carriers with monthly meetings and additional biweekly informal awareness sessions, to address questions and concerns from carriers.
Focus of the event and tentative agenda
With the same objective as the WG, of further strengthening the support offered by eu-LISA to carriers, the October 2022 Industry Roundtable (IR) will focus on the carriers' needs and requirements that arise from the EiO of EES/ ETIAS. The objective of the IR is to provide a common platform, not only to carriers, but also to airport/ seaport operators and industry to present and exchange ideas on the latest innovations in business processes and technology developments that can improve the overall travellers' experience. The IR will also give the opportunity to all stakeholders to debate and share knowledge, based on practical experiences and good practices, with the ultimate goal of reaching the best solutions to increase the overall traveller experience, while enhancing overall security.
To this aim, the Industry Roundtable will take place during 1.5 days with 5 sessions: 2 sessions on 11 October 2022 and 3 sessions on 12 October 2022.
DAY 1, 11 October 2022
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Session 1. Setting the scene: Legal Framework and updates
The session will provide the latest updates from the legislation, implementation roadmap and technology perspectives in the area of border crossing management and the role that carriers play in this respect.
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Session 2. Setting the scene: The carriers' perspective
In this session, representatives of associations of air, sea and land carriers will explain how the EiO of EES and ETIAS will be addressed from the perspective of business and operational processes and the solutions they are considering to handle their implementation. The audience will get to know the way in which carriers are preparing for the new reality of pre-checks for travellers and the pending tasks that still need to be addressed in collaboration with border authorities and port operators.
DAY 2, 12 October 2022
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Session 3. Operational pilot projects in air passenger transport
The session will focus on showcasing pilot projects that have been carried out in the field of air passengers transport. The presentations will focus on explaining the experience and lessons learned from the air carriers' side and how these can help in preparing for the real operational conditions that will be put in place with the EiO of EES and ETIAS.
The session will include a wide range of stakeholders involved in the pilot projects, such as operators (i.e., airports - both at the point of departure and arrival), government representatives from the MS (responsible for issuing travel authorisations) and industry (providing the necessary technical solutions).
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Session 4. Operational pilot projects in sea and land passenger transport
Session 4 will have the same format and goal as Session 3, but will cover pilot projects carried out for sea passenger transport (e.g., cruise lines) and land passenger transport (e.g., coach lines).
As before, the focus will be on the carriers' and service providers' experience, notwithstanding operators (e.g., departure and arrival seaports), MS and industry.
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Session 5. Industry solutions for air, sea and land passenger transport to support the EiO of EES and ETIAS
The session will be fully dedicated to innovations and new technology solutions applicable for supporting business processes related to the EiO of EES and ETIAS. The presented solutions may be directed or designed to any of the stakeholders involved in the management of travellers: carriers, service providers, port operators, MS Agencies and/or border authorities, and others.
Practical information - Call for expression of interest
If your association/ company is interested in presenting an innovative technology, product or service at the event, please sign up to participate:
Application form
Please note that a maximum of one presentation per company will be allowed. However, you are welcome to submit several proposals addressing different aspects of the business processes, technologies and equipment used by any of the stakeholders involved in the EiO of EES/ ETIAS and traveller flow management.
Please specify in your application to which of the sessions (sessions 2, 3, 4 and 5) you would like to participate.
Please note that
session 2 is intended for
representatives of carrier associations. If you will be presenting on behalf of an individual carrier, service provider or airport/ seaport operator, please select the most adequate session among sessions 3, 4, and 5, according to the content/ topic of your presentation.
Should the IR organisers feel that your proposed presentation better fits in a different session than the one selected, they will get in contact with you to discuss the point.
Please also provide a brief description of your company/ organisation and the pilot project/ solution/ technology you would like to present.
Please note that the number of presentation slots is limited and submissions will be evaluated by eu-LISA experts. The selection of submitted proposals will be based on the relevance of the proposals to the topic of the event, their novelty and potential impact.
eu-LISA will communicate the outcome of the selection procedure to all applicants.
All relevant information related to the event will be regularly updated on our dedicated webpage:
eulisaroundtable.eu
Timeline
- The Call for Expression of Interest is published on
28 July 2022.
- The Call for Expression of Interest is open until
16 September 2022 13:00 CET.
- eu-LISA will review the proposals and inform the selected speakers by
23 September 2022.
- The final programme will be made available on
30 September 2022.
- The Industry Round table will take place on
11-12 October 2022.
