On 27 October 2021, eu-LISA held its 8th Annual Conference “Towards the Digital Schengen Area”. Organised in cooperation with the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the event was held online. The conference took stock of current developments in the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) area in which the upcoming launch of the Entry/Exit System (EES), the European Travel Information Authorisation System (ETIAS) and the new Interoperability architecture will create a new and modern gateway at European external borders. Further to that, handling the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked new initiatives, such as vaccination passports and medical tests, all affecting traditional border checks.