S4ACA
SIENA for Anti-Corruption Authorities

General Information

On the basis of the EU Programme "Prevention of and Fight against Crime 2007-2013 (ISEC)", the project "Siena for Anti-Corruption Authorities (S4ACA)" was initiated by the Austrian Federal Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAK) in February 2014.

Project Partner: Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA), Poland

• is a special service established to combat corruption in public and economic life, particularly in public and local government institutions, as well as to fight against activities detrimental to the State’s economic interest.

Associate Partner: EUROPOL

• is the indispensable Associate Partner of the project. It maintains the two systems which S4ACA aims to promote (EPE and SIENA) and its staff members are experienced in previous SIENA-extensions to so-called competent authorities.

The project S4ACA, which was approved by the EU, is basically designed in a way that it will promote and develop cooperation and mutual understanding among law enforcement agencies (LEAs), other national anti-corruption authorities (ACAs) and EUROPOL. The ultimate objective is to tackle crime more effectively and, thus, to reduce the harm caused to our societies and the EU.

S4ACA contributes to the aims of the ISEC programme 2007-2013 to combat corruption by improving the communication of operational data via the secure SIENA channel. As set out in Art 4,2(a) of the Council Decision of 12 February 2007 (2007/125/JHA), S4ACA will improve the coordination of operations regarding the fight against corruption.

The main target group of the project will be representatives of European anti-corruption authorities.

S4ACA aims to enhance the communication with Europol and to increase the exchange of information via Europol's Secure Information Exchange Network Application (SIENA) by initiating SIENA’s extension to and use by the Member States' anti-corruption authorities. Additionally, for the secure exchange of non-operational data, S4ACA seeks to reinvigorate the Anti-Corruption Group which was set up on Europol’s Platform for Experts (EPE) in the framework of the concluded EACT project.

Since the core part of the project will be dedicated to initiating SIENA’s extension to and use by European LEAs engaged in the fight against corruption, most of the project participants will be senior officials, investigators and IT/security experts of such LEAs. However, the project will also address the Member States’ Europol National Units (ENUs) and Europol Liaison Offices in view of their important decision-taking role on the national level (e.g. routing and visibility of the data traffic).

ACAs which do not have law enforcement functions are the target group for those parts of the project focusing on the promotion of EPE as a secure platform for the exchange of non-operational information.

The ultimate beneficiaries of the project are the citizens of Europe who will benefit from a more effective fight against corruption.

The overall result of S4ACA will be the initiated extension and use of SIENA as well as the promotion and increased use of EPE by ACAs.

S4ACA´s approach aims at raising awareness of the necessity for a secure data and information exchange among anti-corruption authorities and enables organizations to identify needed technical or legal requirements so that they are prepared for a secure network application. To establish competent authorities, it is necessary to transfer knowledge via SIENA and the Europol Platform for Experts (EPE) as communication tools. The experience and knowledge gained from the monitored and evaluated pilot phase result in a secure information exchange between executive forces and public authorities in the field of fighting corruption.

Timetable

November 2014 to October 2016

Starting in November 2014 and followed by a Kick-Off-Conference at the beginning of 2015, the project will be dedicated to a pilot phase which will be evaluated midway and at the very end with a view to gathering first experiences and optimizing the use of the application.

In October 2016, S4ACA’s results will be presented and disseminated at a 3-day conference marking the end of the project.

Project Steps of S4ACA

1. Starting position: naming organizations which could be connected with SIENA and EPE and identifying their necessary legal or technical requirements by organizing consultations and a kick-off conference.
2. Organizing tailor-made workshops for authorities and their IT experts, where technical requirements and relevant experiences are presented.
3. Identifying and training a pool of key persons who transfer knowledge and act as point of contact for participating organizations (train-the-trainer concept).
4. Exchanging data on the basis of case studies. This phase will be monitored and evaluated.
5. Presenting a final report and the results of the project, connecting the competent authorities to SIENA in order to enhance the secure information exchange in the field of fighting corruption.

Europol Platform for Experts (EPE)

In order to improve communication between the participants of S4ACA as well as to provide a continuous and secure exchange of information, the Europol Platform for Experts (EPE) will be used for most of the communication and work between the workshop meetings. EPE allows for the secure exchange of information and ensures that documents, case studies and expertise as well as the preparation for an upcoming meeting are available for the participants on a consistent basis.