A Cloud Infrastructure for Collaborative Digital Public Services by Charalabidis, Koussouris, Ramfos years in the Internet and IT industry, it is more than certain that two of the most important innovations are cloud computing, which evidently takes processing power and IT provision to a whole new level, and Web2.0 service applications, that reveal the innovative thinking and development power of users, who in many cases are the architects of these applications. Despite this progress, focusing on the provision of public services reveals that until today little has been done in order to expose the real power of those two concepts. Cloud computing is in most cases regarded just as an alternative to having in premise infrastructures, while Web2.0 applications designed by third parties cannot be integrated in the public sector and are characterised as “promising initiatives that cannot go further”. This paper targets the constantly increasing need for having more efficient and effective public sector services by trying to combine the benefits that derive by both the cloud computing and the open innovation concepts, and proposes a platform that could actually assist stakeholders to deploy their services towards meeting their needs, whether this refers to the exposure of public services over cloud infrastructures or to the creation of personalised composite public services.

1. A Cloud Infrastructure for
Collaborative Digital Public
Services
Yannis Charalabidis (University of the Aegean)
Sotirios Koussouris (National Technical University of Athens)
Antonis Ramfos (IntraSoft International)
IEEE CloudCom 2011, 01 Nov. 2011 @Athens, Greece

2. Cloud is growing....
• Gartner: “The market is expected to reach
$150.1 billion in 2013”
• Centre for Economics and Business Research
(CEBR): “by 2015, the cumulative annual
economic benefit in Europe’s top five
economies will exceed Ireland’s current GDP”
Cloud is still growing at an incredible pace but
all these predictions appeared before the crisis
IEEE CloudCom 2011, 01 Nov. 2011 @Athens, Greece

3. The Role of eGov Clouds
• Better and more efficient public services,
using better, more efficient and secure ICT
infrastructure, are key to securing a better
future for Europe’s businesses and its people.
• EU pushes towards a future where public
services in Europe take full advantage of
cloud technology (Malmö, Granada Ministerial
Declarations, the European eGovernment Action Plan 2011-2015
and EU’s Digital Agenda)
IEEE CloudCom 2011, 01 Nov. 2011 @Athens, Greece

4. Towards 2020, Government
Services should be driven by...
• Ubiquitous nature
• Usability, federation
• Co-generation
• Collaboration
• Openness
• Innovation
IEEE CloudCom 2011, 01 Nov. 2011 @Athens, Greece

5. 2020: A Paradeigm shift
in Policy Making* ✴ As adopted from the 2010 ICT for Governance
and Policy Modelling Roadmap (CROSSROAD
Project)
more people involved
(collaborative governance)
more accurate/powerfull/
efficient systems
(system flexibility)
more data available
(data deluge) IEEE CloudCom 2011, 01 Nov. 2011 @Athens, Greece

6. How should we proceed?
• The current economic circumstances do not
allow governments to spend much in
eInfrastructures
• Things that had to be solved, remain still
unsolved
Governments should provide the basic IT
ingredients and citizen should do “their own
magic”.
IEEE CloudCom 2011, 01 Nov. 2011 @Athens, Greece

7. Major Challenges in Cloud-
related eGov Service Deployment
A) Change the DNA of public services in the direction of the
“1-1-1” concept that supposes that «Every public service
can be provided to any device in one-stop, within one
second, with one cent cost»;
B) User-driven innovation shaping public services during
their whole lifecycle in order to be delivered to their
beneficiaries at their own ends;
C) Digital public services value proposition for all, which
defines and assesses the impact for all stakeholders, and
D) Massive public information as a Service promoting a
service-oriented attitude in the public sector
information (PSI).
IEEE CloudCom 2011, 01 Nov. 2011 @Athens, Greece

8. A New Governance Model for
Public Service Co-Creation
1) Government agencies develop modular public services
(instead of finished, immovable services) according to
defined sets of interoperability standards
2) The modular public services are listed in the “Registry
of Modular Public Services” constituting a realization of
an open data catalogue
3) Stakeholder utilise a “Public Service Co-creation
Platform” to create complex services on top of the
“Registry”’s modules.
4) Services of value are taken up by the government,
following a specific business model (e.g. shared
revenue, complete acquisition of the solution, etc.)
IEEE CloudCom 2011, 01 Nov. 2011 @Athens, Greece

9. Open Innovation Process for
Co-Creation of Public Services
Promoting:
• Public Service Co-creation.
Citizens can easily create next- ' Service'
' Composi-on'
generation public services as '
Engines'
assemblies of available modular
Developed'by'Everyone'
Open'Data'
public services •
• Web'2.0/3.0'APIs'
Tools'
• InterCloud'Services' SMEs'
Stakholders'
• Public Service Configuration Ci0zens'
Take'up'by'the'PA'
Models'
Flexibility. Easy to tailor public
services meeting the shifting
personal needs and specific uses. Ideas'
• Public Service Delivery Variety. Public'
Providing citizens the real choice Adminsitra0on'
over the style of provision of a
next-generation public service (e.g.
Internet, TV, telephone, mobile,
etc).
IEEE CloudCom 2011, 01 Nov. 2011 @Athens, Greece

10. The envisaged Cloud Platform
Composite Services App Store
• Storing all by the users designed Stakeholder&Groups,&SMEs,&Professionals,&CiNzens,&Public&Sector&
and deployed services and their Service&Provision&
documentation Design& Interact&
• Capable of storing pure web
services to be used by service Visual&Design& Social&
Networking&
Publish&
Environment&
designers (direct calls by Environment&
external infrastructures or re-
&CollaboraNve&Studio&
Third&Party&Io&Interfaces&
Service'Composi-on'Engine' Social&Networks&
use in the same platform) [Mashup&Editor,&Workflow,&Forms&Editor]&
Social&Media&
Web&APIs&
Linked&Data&
• Interconnected with the other Retrieve&
Atomic&and&Third&Party&Service&Retrieval&
&&Discovery&Engine& Open&Data&
“App Stores” Register&
Web2.0&Source&
Public&Services&&&Data&Interoperability&Interfaces&
• Governed by a group of people, Store&
who will decide on the acceptance
Register&
or rejection of applications. Composite&
Services&
&App&Store& PA&Web& Public&
Services& Sector&
• A revenue model providing Registry& Cloud&based&“Atomic”&Services&
Cloud&Infrastructure&
Open&Data& Cloud'
Registry'
financial benefits to developers Public&AdministraNons&
but also public administrations Service&Provision&
IEEE CloudCom 2011, 01 Nov. 2011 @Athens, Greece

11. The envisaged Cloud Platform
Service Blueprint Registry
• Α single repository, which will be the Stakeholder&Groups,&SMEs,&Professionals,&CiNzens,&Public&Sector&
reference point for all development Service&Provision&
activities. Design& Interact&
• Α searchable catalogue of all publically
available public-sector web services Visual&Design& Social& Publish&
Environment& Networking&
Environment&
• Storing blueprints of all atomic services
&CollaboraNve&Studio&
Third&Party&Io&Interfaces&
deployed by the Governmental agencies Service'Composi-on'Engine' Social&Networks&
[Mashup&Editor,&Workflow,&Forms&Editor]&
Social&Media&
• Allowing the re-use of those services for Web&APIs&
Retrieve& Linked&Data&
the development of by third party Atomic&and&Third&Party&Service&Retrieval&
Open&Data&
&&Discovery&Engine&
applications Web2.0&Source&
Register&
• Interconnected with similar registries Store&
Public&Services&&&Data&Interoperability&Interfaces&
of other clouds for developing complex
services
Register&
Composite&
Services&
PA&Web&
• Sharing common semantics and similar &App&Store&
Services&
Cloud&based&“Atomic”&Services&
Public&
Sector&
Registry&
arguments/core components, resulting Cloud&Infrastructure&
Open&Data& Cloud'
Registry'
in better utilisation of resources and
Public&AdministraNons&
improved reusability. Service&Provision&
IEEE CloudCom 2011, 01 Nov. 2011 @Athens, Greece

12. The envisaged Cloud Platform
Cloud Registry
• A searchable catalogue of all Stakeholder&Groups,&SMEs,&Professionals,&CiNzens,&Public&Sector&
registered clouds that support
Service&Provision&
the platform Design& Interact&
• Storing information regarding
computational, storage and Visual&Design& Social&
Networking&
Publish&
network capacity, technology Environment&
Environment&
used, platform made available to
&CollaboraNve&Studio&
Third&Party&Io&Interfaces&
Service'Composi-on'Engine' Social&Networks&
cloud users, usage policy, rates, [Mashup&Editor,&Workflow,&Forms&Editor]&
Social&Media&
certificates. Web&APIs&
Retrieve& Linked&Data&
Atomic&and&Third&Party&Service&Retrieval&
&&Discovery&Engine& Open&Data&
• Allowing the transfer of Register&
Web2.0&Source&
information for cloud bursting, Public&Services&&&Data&Interoperability&Interfaces&
backup, or redundancy creation Store&
purposes.
Register&
Composite&
Services&
PA&Web&
• Providing the ability of public &App&Store&
Services&
Registry& Cloud&based&“Atomic”&Services&
Public&
Sector&
administrations and developers Cloud&Infrastructure&
Open&Data& Cloud'
Registry'
to utilise resources located in Public&AdministraNons&
other clouds Service&Provision&
IEEE CloudCom 2011, 01 Nov. 2011 @Athens, Greece

13. The envisaged Cloud Platform
Collaborative Design Studio
• Public Services and Data Interoperability Stakeholder&Groups,&SMEs,&Professionals,&CiNzens,&Public&Sector&
Interfaces. Fetching data from the atomic
services and from the Open Data repositories Service&Provision&
Design& Interact&
• Third Party Interoperability Interfaces.
Supporting the communication with other third
party sources needed for building personalised Social&
Visual&Design& Publish&
and innovative services. Environment& Networking&
Environment&
• Atomic & Third Party Service Registry and
&CollaboraNve&Studio&
Third&Party&Io&Interfaces&
Discovery Engine. Seeking and retrieving the Service'Composi-on'Engine' Social&Networks&
[Mashup&Editor,&Workflow,&Forms&Editor]&
registered services from third parties and the Social&Media&
Service Blueprint Registry. Web&APIs&
Retrieve& Linked&Data&
Atomic&and&Third&Party&Service&Retrieval&
Open&Data&
• Service Composition Engine. Analysis, &&Discovery&Engine&
Web2.0&Source&
transformation and utilisation of the data. Register&
Construction of the service workflows and rules. Public&Services&&&Data&Interoperability&Interfaces&
Store&
• Visual Design Environment. A UI for defining
Register&
the required inputs and designing the actual Composite&
workflow. Services&
PA&Web&
&App&Store& Public&
Services& Sector&
• Social Networking Environment. Offering to Registry& Cloud&based&“Atomic”&Services&
Open&Data& Cloud'
users the ability to interact with their social Cloud&Infrastructure& Registry'
cycles and to publish information to their social Public&AdministraNons&
networks for empowering collaboration. Service&Provision&
IEEE CloudCom 2011, 01 Nov. 2011 @Athens, Greece

14. What is still missing?
The interconnection
between clouds of
different vendors is still !""# )*+("',-%#
!""# )*+("',-%#
the most critical issue
$%&'(# .(/,0%'1#
$%&'(# .(/,0%'1#
Registries
interconnection will !""# )*+("',-%#
!""# )*+("',-%#
$%&'(# .(/,0%'1#
unleash the power of $%&'(# .(/,0%'1#
collaborative co-design OpenGov.gr+
and co-development Cloud+
(imagine App Store + Android Market +
Windows Marketspace!)
IEEE CloudCom 2011, 01 Nov. 2011 @Athens, Greece

15. Conclusions
• A novel approach for cloud based public service co-creation with advantages to both the
public and the private sector, but also to citizens and all relevant stakeholders.
• Public bodies will be relieved of many IT development related activities, lowering costs and
freeing up important human and computational resources.
• Open innovation will result in the design and deployment of more sophisticated and
personalised services at no cost for the public sector.
• Reconnecting citizens with their governments
Things to consider
• A strong need for an assessment methodology to validate the model and minimize risks
(Good governance principles, (such as legitimacy, accountability, transparency, etc.), are not
automatically ensured by a new model)
• Risk of privacy infringements.
• Many open issues regarding cloud interoperability and interoperation of cloud based
solutions.
• Reliability of information made available through citizen-generated public services.
IEEE CloudCom 2011, 01 Nov. 2011 @Athens, Greece

16. Thank you for your Attention
Sotirios Koussouris
National Technical University of Athens
skous@epu.ntua.gr
IEEE CloudCom 2011, 01 Nov. 2011 @Athens, Greece