eu-LISA (European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice) is the backbone of Europe’s digital infrastructure for security, border control, and justice. Since its establishment in 2012, the agency has managed critical IT systems that support EU-wide policies on migration, asylum, border management, and criminal justice.
With operations in Estonia, France, Austria, and Belgium, eu-LISA delivers mission-critical services to Member States and EU institutions — 24/7. The agency coordinates the development, testing, system rollouts, and support activities across multiple communities, all while maintaining strict compliance with European data protection and sovereignty regulations.
The Challenge: Delays in service desk processes slowed support coordination across Member States
As eu-LISA prepared the rollout of the Entry/Exit System (EES), the team faced a critical challenge: coordinating multiple testing campaigns across different systems, teams, and countries.
Relying solely on the traditional service desk and ticketing process introduced delays. Technical teams and Member State stakeholders needed an agile, real-time way to ask questions, resolve issues, and align across systems.
At the same time, eu-LISA had to ensure full compliance with EU data protection laws, including GDPR. This required a DPA with Standard Contractual Clauses, strong security measures like encryption, MFA, and SSO, data minimization, and keeping all data within the EU.
The Solution: Rocket.Chat on AWS for compliant collaboration between technical teams and Member States
eu-LISA deployed Rocket.Chat as its secure communications platform, hosted on AWS Cloud infrastructure in Germany, ensuring full data sovereignty and compliance.
Rocket.Chat provided a lightweight yet powerful way for technical teams and Member State representatives to communicate, coordinate, and resolve testing-related questions instantly.
Why Rocket.Chat on AWS?
- Real-time messaging for test coordination
- EU-based hosting to guarantee sovereignty and jurisdictional control
- Browser-based access for remote teams - no installation required
- Fine-grained access controls, enabling segmented support for different Member State teams
- End-to-end encryption, auditability, and compliance-ready features
The Outcomes: Greater speed, less friction, full compliance
To further streamline operations, eu-LISA integrated Rocket.Chat with Jira, enabling real-time issue tracking and project updates directly within chat channels.
Using Jira’s event-driven architecture and JQL-based filtering, structured updates are pushed into relevant Rocket.Chat rooms, giving teams instant visibility into ticket changes and reducing the need to switch between tools.
This integration now supports all CBS projects involved in Member State coordination, helping internal and external teams stay aligned without leaving their collaboration environment.
In the first 90 days:
- Hundreds of users onboarded
- Thousands of secure messages exchanged
- Most active channels tied to testing support and system validation
- Clear peaks in platform usage aligned with campaign windows
The Outcomes: Greater speed, less friction, full compliance
Implementing Rocket.Chat enabled eu-LISA to transform how support was delivered during multi-country testing campaigns, reducing operational friction, improving visibility, and ensuring legal compliance.
Key benefits:
Faster support: Member States could ask questions and resolve issues in real time - bypassing traditional ticketing bottlenecks.
Reduced operational friction: Technical teams managed and monitored multiple campaign channels simultaneously.
Improved compliance posture: All communication remained within the EU, with data protection controls enforced by design.
Streamlined integration: Jira events surfaced directly in Rocket.Chat, eliminating the need to switch between tools.
"With Rocket.Chat, we were able to support Member States in real time, reduce operational friction, and stay fully compliant with EU data protection rules. The platform helped us centralize collaboration, streamline ticket visibility with Jira integration, and respond faster during critical testing windows."
Nadia Rosioru, Information Technology Officer, eu-LISA
