DailyPost 615
X-ROAD ESTONIA: THE DATA MAGIC
Interoperability services is the future of data. Data is at the centre of governance. Citizen centred state & service oriented information system require to function as an integrated whole: one single operational information system. Ease of usage is the touchstone – data needs to be requested only once from the citizen. Estonia, digital services trailblazer nation’s solution to this critical requirement is X-Road, an integrated decentralised architecture, which saves 800 years of working time every year, operates 99% of state services online with 52,000 organisations being indirect users & 500 M queries are responded annually. Over 900 organisations & enterprises use X-Road daily.
Starting in the year 2001, X-Road today is the de facto data exchange standard of Estonia. It is thus the data exchange layer for all government information systems / databases. It has led to the creation of a technological & organisational environment enabling a secure Internet based data exchange between department owned & operated databases. During the data exchange X-Road has a demonstrated track record of ensuring Autonomy, Confidentiality, Evidential value & Interoperability of the databases, which are its part. The X-Road consists of a legal structure, organisational structure, protocol stack & a software realizing the protocol stack.
Having faced the now famous cyber attacks on its Govt. information infrastructure 2007, X-Road has gone through technological hardening since then. Presently, X-Road operates on a time tested, scalable security protocol. It employs a versatile security solution. This high end operational solution comprises of authentication, multi-level authorisation, a high-level log processing system, encrypted & time-stamped data traffic.
It is also implemented in Finland, Azerbaijan, Namibia & Faroe Islands. It is the first data exchange platform to allow for data to be automatically exchanged between countries. Since June last year, Estonia & Finland enjoy automatic data exchange facility.
EASE OF SECURE DATA IS EASE OF LIFE.
Sanjay Sahay