The Single Portal for Entry or Exit Data, Generation 2 (SPEED2) represents a milestone achievement in European customs data exchange. Working as a subcontractor to Accenture within the CUST-DEV2 Framework Contract, Vivansa played a vital role in implementing this secure communication gateway. The SPEED2 platform, operational since 2012, continues to process millions of customs messages annually between EU member states and third countries.
Context and challenges
The European Commission needed to modernise its customs data-exchange infrastructure to support expanding trade relationships with non-EU countries. The initial SPEED platform, operational since 2009, was designed primarily for Russia and faced significant limitations in scalability, maintenance, and connectivity. Its architecture consisted of two separate components handling message filtering/conversion and protocol bridging, creating operational complexity and high maintenance costs.
DG TAXUD required a completely redesigned solution that could maintain backward compatibility while providing enhanced features: support for multiple communication protocols, robust message validation and transformation, stringent security, and high availability (99.98%). The platform also needed to be future-proof, allowing seamless integration of new third-country partners beyond the initial TIR movement exchanges with Russia, and had to address complex requirements including XML firewalling, intrusion detection, message-level security, and monitoring.
Vivansa's mission
Vivansa contributed significantly to both the specification and implementation phases. Our primary responsibility was providing a robust connectivity solution between Oracle Service Bus and the EU's Common Communication Network (CCN), achieved through our lxr.CCN software connector. We designed the integration architecture, ensuring seamless message routing between EU National Administrations and third countries, and implemented high availability through clustering, message buffering during unavailability periods, and comprehensive audit logging.
The lxr.CCN component provided critical capabilities for the SPEED2 platform, including:
- Out-of-the-box connectivity between Oracle middleware and CCN/CSI
- Support for both synchronous and asynchronous messaging patterns
- Advanced reliability features including failover and message retention
- Comprehensive testing capabilities including loopback mode and CCN simulation
- Performance optimization to support high message throughput
- Compliance with all EU security standards and policies
Vivansa experts collaborated in technical design sessions, provided implementation guidance, and supported testing phases to ensure proper integration within the broader SPEED2 architecture based on Oracle technologies (Service Bus, Enterprise Gateway, and SOA Suite).
Outcomes
SPEED2 successfully replaced its predecessor with a modern, unified architecture providing significant improvements in scalability, maintainability, and operational efficiency, and continues to serve as critical infrastructure for customs information exchange between the EU and various third countries.
Vivansa's lxr.CCN software connector has become a de facto standard within EU customs systems for CCN/CSI connectivity. Its reliability and performance have been proven through years of continuous operation, handling millions of messages annually while maintaining strict security standards, and delivering reduced total cost of ownership, enhanced monitoring, improved configurability, and better overall performance.