Members of the Laboratory for Open Systems and Networks from Jožef Stefan Institute organized a workshop in the scope of the GIRDA project on 4 July 2019 in Orehov Gaj. Along with our partners Simbioza Genezis, organization that cares for the inter-generation cooperation and learning, and the Slovenia philanthropy, we presented the results from the project. Girda is a project from the EU program Erasmus+, where the main objective is development of methodology for improving the digital literacy among elderly adults based on digital games and touch screen tablets. The development and the application of novel methods for acquiring digital skills was oriented around methods that successfully enable better coordination of the cognitive and motor skills of the elderly adults. This in turn facilitates efficient use of the modern digital devices, like smart phone, in everyday life of elderly people.

The Laboratory for Open Systems and Networks at Jozef Stefan Institute, together with 19 partners from 12 countries from Europe, America and Africa, marked the 25th anniversary of the ISABEL videoconferencing system. In the past, the system was used to carry out a number of large-scale distributed events with participants from all over the world. With the goal of participating in these events in 1997, the members of the laboratory also established the first broadband optical ATM connection of Slovenia with the rest of the world. Experience in mastering new technologies and the results of further research on networks and videoconferencing systems were used in several successful European Union projects, such as NICE, UNIVERSAL, PROLEARN and GLOBAL, and the establishment of our infrastructure group.

In May 2019 started with implementation the EU project funded within the program JUST-JCOO-AG-2018 entitled »European Investigation order – legal analysis and practical dilemmas of international cooperation – EIO-LAPD«. In the project partners come from Slovenia, Austria, Portugal, Italy, Germany and Croatia. The aim of the project is to study and to rise the awareness about the Directive about the European Investigation order. The laboratory tasks are connected to the problems of collecting e-evidence on digital devices.

At the end of April 2019, the SI-PASS project, co-financed by the European Union from the funds of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF Telecom), was successfully completed. The project partners, under the guidance of the Laboratory for Open Systems and Networks of the Jožef Stefan Institute, established at the Ministry of Public Administration an eIDAS node, which represents the central point of trust in the country for secure cross-border e-services, and integrated e-services in the field of eHealth, pension and disability insurance, protection of intellectual property, company registers and electronic business. The results of the project enable foreigners access the Slovenian e-services with their national electronic identification means, for example, electronic ID cards and easy access to public e-services in other EU Member States in the near future.

In 2018 the European Commission set up a special fund in the Horizon 2020 program to fund centers of excellence in the field of cyber security. Among the four centers selected at the tender is also CONCORDIA, which included the Laboratory for Open Systems and Networks of the Jožef Stefan Institute at the invitation of the coordinator of the German research institute CODE. The Center will provide research and development solutions for a safe, resilient and trusted European ecosystem. Laboratory staff will carry out research and development in the field of confidentiality, electronic identity management, user-friendly services for e-health and smart solutions to prevent cyber threats.