X-Road

According to their web page, "The X-Road is an open source data exchange layer solution that enables organizations to exchange information over the Internet. The X-Road is a centrally managed distributed integration layer between Information Systems that provides a standardized and secure way to produce and consume services. The X-Road ensures confidentiality, integrity and interoperability between data exchange parties."

X-Road was started in 1998 as a pilot project under Ministry of Economy and Communications and first prototype was publicly presented in 2000. One of the main reasons behind architectural choice of distributed data storage was massive data leak of 1996, where government contractor and computer specialist Imre Perli created and marketed a "superdatabase" containing personal data from various government sources.{{Cite web|url=https://blog.ria.ee/sissejuhatus-x-teesse-osa-1/|title=Sissejuhatus X-teesse (osa 1)|last=Veldre|first=Anto|date=August 28, 2015|website=Information System Authority blog|access-date=February 4, 2020}}

The Information System Authority (RIA) at the Ministry of Economy and Communications, developed X-Road and launched the first version in 2001{{Cite web|url=https://www.ria.ee/en/introduction-to-xroad-part1.html|title=Introduction to X-Road (part 1)|date=August 8, 2016|website=Information System Authority|location=Estonia|language=en|access-date=2018-03-17}} and holds the registered trademark, X-Road.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ria.ee/en/x-road.html|title=Data Exchange Layer X-Road|date=February 2016|website=Information System Authority, Estonia|language=en|access-date=March 17, 2018 |quote="X-Road, the data exchange layer for information systems, is a technological and organizational environment enabling a secure Internet-based data exchange between information systems"}}

On October 28, 2014 the government of Namibia entered into a two-year agreement with the e-Governance Academy to implement a data exchange layer based on the X-Road technology.{{Cite web|url=https://ega.ee/news/estonia-to-construct-secure-data-exchange-layer-similar-to-x-road-for-namibia/|title=Estonia to construct secure data exchange layer X-Road for Namibia|website=e-Governance Academy|date=2014-10-29|access-date=2020-02-12}}

On October 3, 2016 the source code of central components of X-Road was released under an MIT License.{{cite web |title=Source codes released to central components of X-Road used by Estonia and Finland |date=October 3, 2016 |access-date=August 14, 2018 |url=https://vrk.fi/en/artikkeli/-/asset_publisher/viron-ja-suomen-hyodyntaman-x-roadin-keskuskomponenttien-lahdekoodit-julkaistu |work=Population Register Centre |location=Finland}}

February 7, 2018, Finland's and Estonia's data exchange layers were connected to one another. X-Road is used nationwide in the Estonian public administration (X-tee) and in the Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer (Suomi.fi-palveluväylä) service. X-Road has built-in support for connecting two X-Road ecosystems with each other which enables a native cross-border data exchange between Estonia and Finland.{{Cite web|url=http://vrk.fi/en/artikkeli/-/asset_publisher/suomen-ja-viron-palveluvaylat-liitetty-yhteen-7-2-tietojen-nopea-ja-luotettava-vaihto-maiden-valilla-nyt-mahdollista|title=Finland's and Estonia's data exchange layers connected to one another on 7 February|website=Population Register Centre |location=Finland|language=en-US|access-date=March 17, 2018}}

The Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions (NIIS) was founded jointly in June 2017 by Finland and Estonia, with a mission "to develop e-governance solutions...with the X-Road technology used nationwide in the Estonian X-tee and in the Finnish Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer services".{{citation |title= NIIS 2017 Yearbook |type=PDF }}

The NIIS manages, develops, verifies, and audits X-Road's source code; administers documentation, business and technical requirements; conducts development; develops and implements principles of licensing and distribution; provides second-line support for members, and engages in international cooperation.{{Cite web|url=https://niis.org|title=Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions|website=Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions (NIIS)|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-03-17}}

By April 2018, a number of articles erroneously stated that X-Road is a "blockchain-based technology or it utilizes blockchain internally".{{cite magazine |magazine=The New Yorker |title=Estonia, the Digital Republic |first=Nathan |last=Heller |date=December 18, 2017 |access-date=December 19, 2017 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/18/estonia-the-digital-republic}}{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/e_estonia/status/997394359023816704 |date=May 18, 2018 |access-date=August 14, 2018 |work=e-Estonia via Twitter |title=Recently there have been multiple writings about the X-Road }} According to an April 18, 2018 article by Petteri Kivimäki the CTO of the Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions (NIIS), "There is no blockchain technology in the X-Road."{{cite web |url=https://www.niis.org/blog/2018/4/26/there-is-no-blockchain-technology-in-the-x-road |title=There is no blockchain technology in the X-Road |first=Petteri |last=Kivimäki |date=April 26, 2018 |access-date=August 14, 2018}} Kivimäki "was the technical lead of X-Road implementation project in Finland and was coordinating the joint open source development of the X-Road solution between Finland and Estonia."{{cite web |url=https://mydata2018.org/speakers/petteri-kivimaki/ |title=Petteri Kivimäki |series=Speakers' profiles |date=nd |access-date=August 14, 2018 |work=MyData 2018 |location=Helsinki, Finland}} Still, there are still contested claims around the use of blockchain in combination with X-Road.{{Cite journal |last1=Semenzin |first1=Silvia |last2=Rozas |first2=David |last3=Hassan |first3=Samer |author-link3=Samer Hassan |date=12 April 2022 |title=Blockchain-based application at a governmental level: disruption or illusion? The case of Estonia |journal=Policy and Society |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=386–401 |doi=10.1093/polsoc/puac014 |doi-access=free }}

• E-Estonia
• Once-only principle

{{reflist|30em}}

• [https://www.ria.ee/en/x-road.html Data Exchange Layer X-Road]
• [https://e-estonia.com/ e-Estonia]
• [https://www.ria.ee/en/for-a-member-of-x-road.html Estonian X-Road Ecosystem]
• [https://www.niis.org/data-exchange-layer-x-road/ Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions and X-Road]
• [https://esuomi.fi/suomi-fi-services/suomi-fi-data-exchange-layer/?lang=en Suomi.fi Data Exchange Layer]
• [https://x-road.global/ X-Road Community]
• [https://e-estonia.com/wp-content/uploads/facts-a4-v02-x-road.pdf X-Road Factsheet]
• [https://github.com/nordic-institute/X-Road X-Road Source Code and Documentation]
• [https://docs.nlx.io/understanding-the-basics/introduction Netherland's Implementation of a variation of X-Road, written in Go]

Category:Open government

Category:Open data

Category:Estonia–Finland relations

Category:Software using the MIT license

Category:Free and open-source software

Category:Free software programmed in Java (programming language)