‘We are all RINIS’
Connecting with Europe: this was the central topic of the first RINIS consultation round of 2025. At Groningen-based DUO, in early February the Participants discussed cross-border data sharing in a smarter and more efficient manner, complying with the Single Digital Gateway Regulation and the OOTS platform in practice.
RINIS stages these consultation rounds twice a year for its Participants, Accounts Manager Jean-Paul Bakkers explains. “To us, this is one of the key moments to find out what occupies people’s minds over at our Participants and what it is they expect from us. But perhaps even more important to me are the mutual contacts and the exchange of ideas. Yet again, we noticed that many Participants face the same challenges and the fact that there are various stimulating perspectives on how to deal with them.”
DUO Business Manager and member of RINIS’s Administrative Consultation Committee (Bestuurlijk Overleg) Ralph Galliard kicked off proceedings with a powerful message: “We are all RINIS.” Digitalisation does not stop at national borders and cooperation is crucial to making sure data sharing is properly organised in a joint effort, he underscored. Which is why it is important for Participants to continue to provide RINIS with input. This is the only way for us as a Foundation to play our part in the latest digitalisation drive in the field of international data sharing. “Needless to say I couldn't agree more”, Jean-Paul comments. “The Participants are who make RINIS and we are there to serve the Participants. This is at the very heart of our organisation and a major principle behind our service delivery and our ambitions.”
Link-up between EMREX and OOTS
In amongst other things, DUO looks after the financing of educational institutions and the administration of data held in the national childcare and play school register. New EU regulations has an impact on DUO in terms of the storage and provision of data by educational organisations.
As one of the first Dutch organisations, to do so DUO has already embraced OOTS, the Once Only Technical System, as RINIS linked up EMREX to OOTS. At the consultation meeting, DUO’s Product Owner International Services Domain Qualification Services Jan Joost Noorder explained that EMREX is an exchange protocol for the fast and secure transfer of diplomas and grades. This brings an enhanced experience for students and better streamlined administrative processes. Eight countries and some 50 educational organisations are already using EMREX.
RINIS hosts OOTS and administers the EMREX bridge at the request of DUO. The organisations are jointly exploring which further exchange opportunities this bridge can deliver.
OOTS and RINIS
At the instruction of the Ministry of the Interior, RINIS is the official administrator of the OOTS platform in the Netherlands. RINIS is the co-developer of the platform and provides support with the implementation and link-up. As part of the consultation meeting, RINIS’s Wim Luursema presented a demo of the platform which enables secure and efficient data sharing between European government organisations. This includes applications submitted in by EU citizens for worker posting declarations or retirement pension benefits.
With the SDG Regulation now in force, OOTS is fast becoming a rewarding tool for all public service providers. A successful OOTS implementation requires proper preparation, Wim commented in his demo presentation. “Make a list ahead of time detailing which services need to be linked up. This may relate to services included in Annex II or existing digital services for citizens and business owners that have a cross-border element to them.”
Informal setting
Jean-Paul looks back on a valuable consultation meeting. Most Participants already met up the evening before the event at a dinner party in Groningen. “Participants rated the informal nature of the consultation round, the exchange of knowledge and the topic RINIS chose. These are the very things that represent what we mean to be: an accessible knowledge partner who knows what its Participants’ concerns are. So I’m looking forward to our next consultation round set to be held in the autumn.”
Public service providers interested in OOTS should get in touch with RINIS’s Marjolijn van Ofwegen at accountmanagement@rinis.nl. Marjolijn is the national Technical Single Point of Contact (T-SPOC) for OOTS and liaises with other EU-OOTS T-SPOCs.