SEMIC.EU: Bringing Semantic Interoperability to life

Vassilios Peristeras, EC, DG DIGIT, ISA Unit Renke Fahl-Spiewack, ]init[ AG João Rodrigues Frade, PwC Stijn Goedertier, PwC

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AGENDA

1.   SEMIC.EU overview

2.   Core Concepts and Core Vocabularies 3.   Federation of Government Metadata

Repositories ( Gofran Shukair et al.)

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1 SEMIC.EU Overview

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SEMIC.EU – Scope

SEMIC.EU is a platform (www.semic.eu) and a set of services around this platform

to support semantic interoperability initiatives related to cross-border or cross-sector electronic interactions between Public

Administrations in Europe

SEMIC.EU was initiated in 2007 and it has been included as one of the “larger” actions in the new ISA Programme (2010-2015)

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SEMIC.EU – Services

Interoperability Assets

11 May 2011

Community building Taxonomies

Code lists Methods and

Concepts

Access to Interoperability Assets

Asset Clearing Process

Communication Management

Development Projects on the SEMIC.EU Platform

Community Support

Awareness Raising

Guidelines and Studies

Yearly Conference SEMIC.EU Road Show

Platform Extension

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2 SEMIC.EU Core Concepts and Core Vocabularies

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Core Concept – Vision

Semantic definitions should be commonly agreed

on fundamental, highly reusable concepts

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Core Concept – Challenges

Is it possible to define an entity (concept) in a way that remains relevant in different contexts?

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Is it possible for 27 MSs to agree on common semantics?

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Core Concept - Definition

A Core Concept is a simplified data model that captures the minimal, global, generic, country and domain neutral characteristics/properties of an entity.

A Core Concept can be represented as Core Vocabulary

using various formalisms (e.g. XML, RDF)

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Core Concept - Definition

•  Definitions could first be agreed on fundamental concepts (Core), where diverged and/or conflicting views are less intense.

•  A Core Concept/Vocabulary

Is highly reusable: the specification is simple and captures basic and generic characteristics of an information entity, regardless of the context this entity is used

Is extensible: domain specific specializations can be drafted on top of the core representation.

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Core Concept – Core Person Extensions

Core Patient Core Voter Core Employee Core Student

Context Neutral

Context Specific

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Implementations and mappings?

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Core Concepts - Principles of development

1.   Share ownership and involve the MSs

2.   Identify 20-30 top reusable concepts e.g. Person, Vehicle, Building, Company, Project

3.   Reuse existing vocabularies/definitions

4.   Use a minimalistic approach Minimize the number of attributes, keep schemas simple.

5.   Draft semantic documentation … to guarantee the proper reuse of a schema.

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