Semantic Interoperability Community of Practice SICoP

1
Semantic Interoperability Community of Practice
(SICoP)

• Brand Niemann
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
  niemann.brand_at_epa.gov
• SICoP, Chair

2
Preface

• Dr. Niemann has been with the U.S. EPA for 25
  years and currently works in the Office of the
  Chief Information Officer and Assistant
  Administrator for Environmental Information as an
  Enterprise Architect and Semantic Web Services
  Specialist.
• He Chairs the Federal CIO Councils Semantic
  Interoperability Community of Practice (SICoP).
• He serves as a member of the XML Conference
  Planning Committee, the E-Gov Institute Program
  Planning Committee, the Architecture
  Infrastructure Committee, and the Knowledge
  Management Working Group of the Best Practices
  Committee.

3
Preface

• Thank you for the invitation to participate and I
  think it is significant that you start your
  conference on a day set aside to celebrate
  wonderful relationships
• I opened a sweet Valentines Day card from my
  sweetheart this morning that I found in my
  suitcase last night!
• I opened your conference brochure and saw the
  names of 4 colleagues on tomorrows agenda that I
  have been privileged to develop wonderful
  personal and professional relationships with
  during the past five years.

4
Preface

• Continued
• I read the words agility and looking inward
  looking outward in your conference theme and
  recalled they are about good relationships
• Agile Methods lightweight software development
  methodologies that emphasize close collaboration
  between the programmer team and business experts
  face-to-face communication (as more efficient
  than written documentation) frequent delivery of
  new deployable business value tight,
  self-organizing teams and ways to craft code and
  the team such that the inevitable requirements
  churn is not a crisis.
• See the Agile Alliance Web site at
  http//www.agilalliance.org.home

5
Preface

• Continued
• I read the words agility and looking inward
  looking outward in your conference theme and
  recalled they are about good relationships
  (continued)
• Endocepts from the Greek endo meaning inside
  the Ahas insights that suggest ways out of
  a problem situation so building good
  relationships between inspirations and realities.
• From stories that spark peoples imagination to
  formal Solution Envisioning sessions.
• See Capability Cases A Solution Envisioning
  Approach, Polikoff, Coyne, and Hodgson, 2005,
  Addison Wesley.
• Ralph Hodgson gives two presentation tommorrow!

6
Preface

• Continued
• I read about your new Semantic Technology
  Integrated Program Environment (IPE) and Semantic
  Technology Briefings and Workshops and they are
  about building good relationships with each other
  around a new technology!
• So this all fits together nicely with what I want
  to talk to you about
• SICoP, a community of practice to improve the
  public-private relationships to deliver improved
  E-Government Services to the public.

7
Preface

• Continued
• So this all fits together nicely with what I want
  to talk to you about (continued)
• Yes, you serve the government, but we serve the
  citizen, so by inference (a term from semantic
  technologies), you help us serve the citizens.
• And I am pleased to say that Lockheed Martin is
  an excellent participant in SICoP as you will see
  later in this presentation.
• We had 5 Lockheed Martin employees registered for
  our Fourth Semantic Interoperability for
  E-Government Conference last week.

8
Overview

• The Semantic Interoperability Community of
  Practice (SICoP) has made considerable progress
  towards implementations of semantic technologies
  and web standards in the U.S. government with a
  series of white papers, conferences, and pilot
  projects.
• Part I. SICoP and Data Reference Model 2.0
  Implementation Making it Real.
• Part II. Highlights of the 4th Semantic
  Interoperability for E-Government Conference,
  February 9-10, 2006.
• Part III. Related Presentation by Mills Davis,
  Semantic Wave 2006 Executive Guide to the
  Business Value of Semantic Technologies

9
Some Kudos

• You should be proud of the way that DRM 2.0
  turned out and how it has been accepted by the
  data community. The open, collaborative
  development process sets it apart, and gives us a
  high standard for our other efforts across
  government.
• Richard Burk, Chief Architect, OMB, 12/22/2005.
• Note The SICoP White Paper Module 1, Figure 6
  (Data Structure Continuum, From Pollock and
  Hodgson, 2004) suggested the three basic types of
  data used in the DRM 2.0 !

10
Some Kudos
11
Some Press

• Government Computer News GCN.com
• January 11, 2006 1000 AM
• Data Reference Model 2.0 and the role of metadata
  
• GCN Senior Writer Joab Jackson moderated an
  online forum Jan. 11 with Brand Niemann, chairman
  of the Federal CIO Council Semantic
  Interoperability Community of Practice.
• In 2006, one of the big issues for government
  content managers will be how to share information
  more easily. Niemann helped draft the second
  version of the Data Reference Model, the Office
  of Management and Budgets own framework for
  interagency sharing of information. Niemann also
  discussed advanced semantic technologies, the
  usefulness of Wikis and metadata and the upcoming
  Semantic Interoperability for E-Government
  Conference.
• See Transcript at http//appserv.gcn.com/forum/qna
  _forum/37914-2.html

12
IntroductionUse the DRM 2.0 Abstract
ModelDescription, Context, Sharing

• Describe Yourself
• Scientist Atmospheric and Computer Science.
• EPA Data Standards (ISO/IEC 11179), SICoP
  (Semantic Standards and Technologies), and DRM
  (Composite Applications, etc.) Pilots.
• Describe Your Context
• Scientific Method Do Experiments (Pilots) to
  Test Architectural (Enterprise, Knowledge, Data)
  Concepts.
• A total of 10 public forums, meetings, and
  workshops and 29 pilot presentations on the DRM
  in the past five months!
• Describe What You Want to Share
• Five Steps to Interoperability (in the domain of
  scientific ontology) (Barry Smith).
• Find ways to use reality to take care of
  interoperability (when scientists disagree they
  let reality tell them how to resolve their
  disagreement they look at instances). (Concept,
  instance, and the relationship between them
  otherwise it is just in our minds.)

13
Information Model

• Part I. Ontology and Flow
• 1. What is Semantic Interoperability?
• 2. What is a Community of Practice?
• 3. What is DRM 2.0?
• 4. What is DRM 2.0 Implementation Guidance?
• 5. Where is SICoP DRM 2.0 Implementation Going?
• 6. Can semantics improve the usefulness of the
  ISO/IEC 11179 standard? (Pilot Demonstration)

14
Information Model
Two Connected Layers Knowledge Map and the
Information Resources
SICoP and DRM Implementation Through Iteration
and Testing Making It Real, Federal Metadata
Management Consortium, Dec. 13,
2005. http//web-services.gov/scopefmmc12132005.pp
t
Also used in Building Semantic Webs for
e-government with Wiki technology.
http//colab.cim3.net/file/work/SICoP/2006-02-09/E
Gov20Wiki.pdf
15
Information Model

• Introduce a concept in the form of a question.
• Answer that question with a definition and an
  instance that illustrates the relationship we
  mean between the concept and the instance.
• Provide a flow of concepts and instances that
  supports logic and reasoning.
• This illustrates the Knowledge Reference Model we
  are working towards!

16
Part I1. What is Semantic Interoperability?

• Formal Semantics
• Semantic is primarily concerned with sameness. It
  determines that two entities are the same in
  spite of appearing to be different.
• Number semantics 5.1, 5.10, and 05.1 are all the
  same number.
• DNA sequence semantics cctggacct is the same as
  CCTGGACCT.
• XML document semantics is defined by infosets.

Introduction to the Semantic Web for
Bioinformatics, Ken Baclawski, December 6, 2005,
K. Baclawski T. Niu, Ontologies for
Bioinformatics, MIT Press, October, 2005
17
Part I1. What is Semantic Interoperability?

• Five Steps to Interoperability (in the domain of
  scientific ontology)
• (1) Find ways to use reality to take care of
  interoperability (when scientists disagree they
  let reality tell them how to resolve their
  disagreement they look at instances).
• (2) Recognize that an ontology consists of names
  for types and of representations of relations
  between types defined in terms of underlying
  relations between instances.
• (3) Recognize correspondingly that there are
  three kinds of relations ltclass, classgt, ltclass,
  instancegt, ltinstance, instancegt
• (4) Use a coherent upper level taxonomy
  distinguishing continuants (cells, molecules,
  organisms ...), occurrents (events, processes),
  dependent entities (qualities, functions ...),
  and independent entities (their bearers).
• (5) Coordinate, coordinate, coordinate!

Barry Smith, Workshop on Bio-ontologies,
October 28, 2005, University of Buffalo.
18
Part I1. What is Semantic Interoperability?
Mapping ebXML to/from UDDI
UDDI and ebXML from One Registry, Tony Graham,
XML 2005 Conference, November 14-18, Atlanta, GA.
19
Part I2. What is a Community of Practice?

• The concept of a Community of Practice (often
  abbreviated as CoP) refers to the process of
  social learning that occurs when people who have
  a common interest in some subject or problem
  collaborate over an extended period to share
  ideas, find solutions, and build innovations.
• Source http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_of_
  practice
• More recently Communities of Practice have become
  associated with knowledge management.

20
Part I2. What is a Community of Practice?

• Table of Contents
• Charter
• Calendar
• Future
• Past
• SICoP Working Groups and Projects
• SICoP Conferences and Public Meetings
• SICoP White Papers and Presentations
• SICoP Support for the Data Reference Model
• Discussion Forum Archives / File Workspace
  Resources
• SICoP Conference Calls

See http//colab.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?SICoP
21
Part I2. What is a Community of Practice?
Source http//colab.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?Wiki
HomePage
22
Part ILogic and Reasoning

• So SICoP is primarily concerned with sameness
  using scientific ontology focused on
  instances by coordination across community
  over an extended period to find solutions to
  interoperability.
• Also see the SICoP Charter
• The Semantic Interoperability Community of
  Practice (SICoP) is established by a group of
  individuals for the purpose of achieving
  "semantic interoperability" and "semantic data
  integration" in the government sector.
• The SICoP seeks to enable Semantic
  Interoperability, specifically the
  "operationalizing" of these technologies and
  approaches, through online conversation,
  meetings, tutorials, conferences, pilot projects,
  and other activities aimed at developing and
  disseminating best practices.

23
Part I3. What is DRM 2.0?

• A New FEA Reference Model with
• (1) Reference Model
• Abstract Model.
• (2) Management Strategy
• FEA Enterprise Architecture Assessment Framework
  2.0.
• (3) Implementation Guidance
• Pilots During 2005 and Continuing in 2006. Five
  Vendor Implementations So Far!
• (4) OMB Draft E-Gov Act 2002 Section 207d /DRM
  Guidance
• See Footnote 14.

Like a four-legged stool with rungs to create a
stable platform going forward. Need all four legs
and all four rungs connecting them to remain
stable.
24
Part I3. What is DRM 2.0?

• Data Three Types structured (20), and
  unstructured and semi-structured (80).
• Originally it was the Data and Information
  Reference Model.
• Metadata Three Roles discovery, integration,
  and reasoning.
• Recombine data and metadata for sharing and reuse
  and address Section 207d requirements (see slide
  21).
• Model Three Functions description, context,
  and sharing.
• DRM XML Schema and DRM Abstract Model (see next
  slide).
• Reporting Three Documents reference,
  management strategy, and implementation guide.
• Integrated in the DRM Education Pilot with Pilot
  Metrics and CoP/CoI Templates (see slide 22).
• Metamodel Three Implementation Levels
  organizational, technical, and semantic
  interoperability or agency, CoI, and cross-CoI.
• European Interoperability Framework, Andreas
  Tolk, Enterprise Architecture Assessment 2.0, DoD
  Net-Centric Strategy, etc.

25
Part I3. What is DRM 2.0?
Portion of the Abstract Model where data elements
are classified, specified, defined, named, and
registered.
26
Part I3. What is DRM 2.0?
Mapping DRM Abstract Model to OMB Section 207d /
DRM Guidance
27
Part I3. What is DRM 2.0?
Use DRM Version 2.0 itself as a pilot project for
education and FEA information sharing!
See http//web-services.gov and Dynamic Knowledge
Repositories
28
Part I3. What is DRM 2.0?
The Data Reference Model 2.0 Education Pilot
Implements This Schematic Diagram!
Source Expanding E-Government, Improved Service
Delivery for the American People Using
Information Technology, December 2005, pages
2-3. http//www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budintegration/
expanding_egov_2005.pdf
29
Part I4. What is DRM 2.0 Implementation Guidance?

• What is it? Taxonomies and Ontologies for
  describing information relationships and
  associations in a way that can be accessed and
  searched.
• What am I expected to do? Use the DRM Abstract
  Model to guide both your agency data architecture
  and your interagency data sharing activities.
• What are some best practices for doing it? See
  Ontology and Taxonomy Coordinating Work Group,
  etc.
• How do I work both locally in my Agency and more
  globally with other agencies on this? Participate
  in the Collaborative Workshops, the DRM ITIT
  Team, etc.

See next slide for explanation.
30
Part I4. What is DRM 2.0 Implementation Guidance?

• Metamodel by Andreas Tolk (2005)
• There are four rectangular boxes on top of one
  another (labeled from bottom to top data,
  metadata, model, and metamodel, respectively) and
  each box contains 2-4 circular colored dots, and
  these colored dots are connected with lines,
  meant to show that there are relationships, or
  need to be relationships, between say data and
  metadata, between metadata and models, and
  between models and metamodels. The purpose is to
  show that we need to describe information model
  relationships and associations in a way that can
  be accessed and searched.

Note This is also provided for Section 508
Compliance of the graphics.
31
Part I4. What is DRM 2.0 Implementation Guidance?
See next slide for explanation.
Source Mills Davis, Smart Search Continuum in
DRM Implementation - Preliminary Strategy,
October 11, 2005.
32
Part I4. What is DRM 2.0 Implementation Guidance?

• The role of semantic metadata in increasing
  search capability
• In this XY graph, the X axis is labeled
  "Increasing Search Capability" (with sub-labels
  of Recovery, Discovery, Intelligence, Question
  Answering, and Reasoning) and the Y-Axis is
  labeled "Increasing Metadata" (with sub-labels
  from Weak Semantics to Strong Semantics). A
  straight line from the origin to the upper right
  has labels of Syntactic Interoperability
  (sub-label "Many Federal applications do not
  enable data sharing"), Structural
  Interoperability (DRM 2.0 sets the bar here), and
  Semantic Interoperability (Some Intelligence,
  Defense, Security, Health, Science Business
  applications share information at these levels)
  from bottom to top. The point of this XY graph is
  that Increasing Metadata (from glossaries to
  ontologies) is highly correlated with Increasing
  Search Capability (from discovery to reasoning).

Note This is also provided for Section 508
Compliance of the graphics.
33
Part I4. What is DRM 2.0 Implementation Guidance?

• Five Key Activities Over the Next Year
• (1) Education and Training in DRM Version 2.0 and
  use in FEA DRM-based Information Sharing Pilots
  (started June 13, 2005).
• (2) Testing of XML Schemas and OWL Ontologies by
  NIST and the National Center for Ontological
  Research, respectively, among others (began
  October 27, 2005).
• (3) Inventory/Repository of Semantic
  Interoperability Assets and Development of a
  Common Semantic Model (COSMO) by the new Ontology
  and Taxonomy Coordinating Work Group (ONTACWG)
  (started October 5, 2005).
• (4) Continued early implementation of DRM 2.0
  concepts and artifacts by industry in open
  collaboration with open standards pilot projects
  and workshops (started July 19, 2005).
• (5) Fostering champions of DRM Best Practices to
  improve (1) agency data architectures within
  agencies and (2) cross-agency data sharing across
  agencies in funded projects (started June 13,
  2005).

34
Part I4. What is DRM 2.0 Implementation Guidance?

• Pilot Metrics
• A specific instance for the Semantic DNS - UDEF
  Disaster Response Pilot (presented on November
  10th, December 6th and today), based on an
  initial assessment subject to feedback and
  review, is that it covers 13 of the 15 boxes in
  the five by three matrix (recall slide 5 Data,
  Model, Documents, Implementation, and Status).
  The two missing boxes are that it does not
  currently treat unstructured or semi-structured
  data. This has been addressed.
• This template will be completed for all pilot
  projects and provides metrics to help decide what
  should be done with the pilots, namely, adopt
  them (high score), improve them (moderate score),
  or not adopt them (low score).
• CoP/CoI Templates (see next slide)
• Helps CoPs/CoIs both differentiate themselves
  from one another as to their unique interests as
  well as help discover where collaboration and
  synergy is possible.

35
Part I4. What is DRM 2.0 Implementation Guidance?

• Community Profile for XXX
• By / Date
• Last Updated
• Community (name)
• Date Established
• Key Stakeholders
• Constituency
• Domain
• Mission / Charter
• With respect to Ontology work (esp. eGov-related
  work), the community's
• Medium Term Goal
• Short Term Goal
• Deliverables within the next 6 months
• Key Differentiation (with the other communities
  presenting today)
• What we can bring to the table to foster
  collaboration with other communities here today
• Additional Remarks
• Contact
• See http//ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?Confer
  enceCall_2005_11_10/Prep

36
Part I5. Where is SICoP DRM 2.0 Implementation
Going?

• The Evolution of Metadata
• In the beginning there was data, and hopefully
  its documentation but it was not accessible so
  we resorted to
• Metadata for Discovery but we still wanted to
  see the actual data now both are on the Web.
• Metadata for Integration but that is really
  hard.
• I spent two years doing it for the Interagency
  Chesapeake Bay Program databases with help from
  graduate classes in exploratory data analysis and
  statistical data visualization and produced a
  comprehensive Data Story.
• And now the new paradigm is Executable Metadata
  the data (XML), metadata (RDF), models (RDF/S)
  and metamodels (OWL) are all integrated to
  support knowledge computing, statistical
  computing, and stochastic inference under
  conditions of uncertainty referred to as the
  Bayesian Web
• See "Ontologies for Bioinformatics, Ken
  Baclawski and Tianhua Niu, MIT Press, October
  2005 http//ontobio.org/
• And see the National Center for Ontological
  Research (NCOR) http//ncor.us

37
Part I5. Where is SICoP DRM 2.0 Implementation
Going?
Source Mills Davis, http//web-services.gov/NetCe
ntricSemantics051110.pdf
38
Part I5. Where is SICoP DRM 2.0 Implementation
Going?
Super Pilot Address as Many Boxes as Possible!
Yes
?
?
CoP Community of Practice LoB Line of
Business FHA/DAWG Federal Health Architecture
Data Architecture Work Group See FHA Data
Architecture Working Group SICoP DRM 2.0 Pilot,
December 28, 2005. http//web-services.gov/scopefh
adawg.ppt
39
Part I6. Can Semantics improve the usefulness of
the ISO/IEC 11179 standard?

• The Semantic DNS - UDEF Disaster Response Pilot
  comes from asking the question can semantics
  improve the usefulness of the ISO/IEC 11179
  standard?
• And the experiment (pilot) shows that it does!
• Ron Schuldt at the Federal Metadata Management
  Consortium Meeting, December 13, 2005
• Followups with National Cancer Institute and
  IPV6!
• Applications to other emerging technologies like
  RFID!

Lockheed Martin and Chair, The Open Group UDEF
Forum
40
Part I6. Can Semantics improve the usefulness of
the ISO/IEC 11179 standard?

• The semantics portion of the approach is based on
  an evolving global standard known as the
  Universal Data Element Framework (UDEF). The UDEF
  is a method for categorizing data element
  concepts (as defined by ISO/IEC 11179) that exist
  across multiple applications. It assigns each
  data element concept an alphanumeric tag plus a
  semantically rich name that in most cases can
  stand-alone without requiring a separate
  definition.
• For example, Purchase Order Number found in an
  invoice from industry to the government is a
  commonly encountered data element concept. This
  concept has a UDEF tag d.t.2_13.35.8 and
  associated UDEF name Purchase.Order.DOCUMENT_Gover
  nment.Assigned.IDENTIFIER.

41
Part I6. Can Semantics improve the usefulness of
the ISO/IEC 11179 standard?

• The UDEF name and associated ID pair is similar
  in several ways to the Domain Name System (DNS)
  used to manage computer-sensible IP addresses in
  123.123.123.123 format and to associate them with
  user-friendly formats such as www.company.com If
  adopted on a global scale, the UDEF could become
  a Semantic DNS or Semantic Bridge connecting the
  semantics of data element concepts across
  disparate applications across the globe.
• The Semantic DNS - UDEF Disaster Response Pilot
  was submitted October 14, 2005, to the Federal
  Semantic Interoperability Community of Practice
  as a proposed solution approach and was was
  demonstrated live at The Open Group Semantic
  Interoperability Conference in Houston on October
  20, 2005.

42
Ron Schuldt, Lockheed Martin Corporation and
Chair, The Open Group UDEF Forum
By SICoP Chair, Brand Niemann, U.S. EPA
Produced in Collaboration With
43
Part II. Recent Conference

• Fourth Semantic Interoperability for E-Government
  Conference, February 9-10, 2006, MITRE, McLean,
  Virginia
• February 9th
• Opening Keynote and Demonstration
• The Semantic Web for Bioinformatics Professor
  Ken Baclawski
• Ontology-based Searching for Health Information
  (e.g. Is my child safe from environmental
  toxins?) Michael Belanger
• Featured Presentation and Panel
• The Business Value for Semantic Technologies
  Mills Davis
• Senior Officials and Managers - CIO Council and
  Committees, Agency, IAC, etc.
• Vendor/Poster Networking 30
• Presentations and Work Group and Partner Reports
  32 and 4 and 3, respectively
• Closing Keynote and Dialogue Professor Jim
  Hendler

44
Part II. Recent Conference

• Fourth Semantic Interoperability for E-Government
  Conference, February 9-10, 2006, MITRE, McLean,
  Virginia (continued)
• February 10th
• Work Group Sessions
• Data Reference Model Implementation, Health
  Information Technology Ontology, FEA Reference
  Model Ontology, and Ontology and Taxonomy
  Coordination.
• Breakout Session Presentations 12
• Tutorials (BBN, TopQuadrant/Oracle, Baclawski)
• Some Highlights
• Registered Attendees 250 (remote audience
  video)
• Special Recognitions See next slide

45
Part II. Recent Conference

• Outstanding Contributions as a Member of the
  Planning Committee Rick Tucker, MITRE.
• Best Co-Papers Elisa Kendall, Sandpiper, Sam
  Chance, US Navy, and Michael Seebold, Concurrent
  Technologies Corporation.
• Best Semantic Harmonization Tool Application,
  Chuck Mosher, MetaMatrix Corporation.
• Best Exhibit Siderean.
• Best Breakout Session Presentations Gregory
  Fairnak, Consultant to Northrop Grumman and Ray
  Piasecki, BAE Systems.

46
Part III. Related Presentation

• Mills Davis, Semantic Wave 2006 Executive Guide
  to the Business Value of Semantic Technologies
• Mills is Project10Xs managing director for
  industry research and strategic programs. Mills
  consults with technology manufacturers, global
  2000 corporations, and government agencies on
  next-wave semantic technologies and solutions.
• Mills serves as lead for the Federal CIO
  councils Semantic Interoperability Community of
  Practice (SICoP) research into the business value
  of semantic technologies. Also, he a founding
  member of the AIIM interoperable enterprise
  content management (iECM) working group, and a
  founding member of the National Center for
  Ontology Research (NCOR).
• A noted researcher and industry analyst, Mills
  has authored more than 100 reports, whitepapers,
  articles, and industry studies.