Open City Data Pipeline

Statistical data about cities, regions and at country level is collected for various purposes and from various institutions. Yet, while access to high quality and recent such data is crucial both for decision makers as well as for the public, all to often such collections of data remain isolated and not re-usable, let alone properly integrated. In this paper we present the Open City Data Pipeline, a focused attempt to collect, integrate, and enrich statistical data collected at city level worldwide, and republish this data in a reusable manner as Linked Data. The main feature of the Open City Data Pipeline are: (i) we integrate and cleanse data from several sources in a modular and extensible, always up-to-date fashion; (ii) we use both Machine Learning techniques as well as ontological reasoning over equational background knowledge to enrich the data by imputing missing values, (iii) we assess the estimated accuracy of such imputations per indicator. Additionally, (iv) we make the integrated and enriched data available both in a we browser interface and as machine-readable Linked Data, using standard vocabularies such as QB and PROV, and linking to e.g. DBpedia. Lastly, in an exhaustive evaluation of our approach, we compare our enrichment and cleansing techniques to a preliminary version of the Open City Data Pipeline presented at ISWC2015: firstly, we demonstrate that the combination of equational knowledge and standard machine learning techniques significantly helps to improve the quality of our missing value imputations; secondly, we arguable show that the more data we integrate, the more reliable our predictions become. Hence, over time, the Open City Data Pipeline shall provide a sustainable effort to serve Linked Data about cities in increasing quality.Series: Working Papers on Information Systems, Information Business and Operation

Architectures and Standards for Spatial Data Infrastructures and Digital Government: European Union Location Framework Guidelines

This document provides an overview of the architecture(s) and standards for Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) and Digital Government. The document describes the different viewpoints according to the Reference Model for Open and Distributed Processing (RM-ODP) which is often used in both the SDI and e-Government worlds: the enterprise viewpoint, the engineering viewpoint, the information viewpoint, the computational viewpoint and the technological viewpoint. The document not only describes these viewpoints with regard to SDI and e-Government implementations, but also how the architecture(s) and standards of SDI and e-Government relate. It indicates which standards and tools can be used and provides examples of implementations in different areas, such as process modelling, metadata, data and services. In addition, the annex provides an overview of the most commonly used standards and technologies for SDI and e-Government.JRC.B.6-Digital Econom

Methodology to sustain common information spaces for research collaborations

Information and knowledge sharing collaborations are essential for scientific research and innovation. They provide opportunities to pool expertise and resources. They are required to draw on today’s wealth of data to address pressing societal challenges. Establishing effective collaborations depends on the alignment of intellectual and technical capital. In this thesis we investigate implications and influences of socio-technical aspects of research collaborations to identify methods of facilitating their formation and sustained success. We draw on our experience acquired in an international federated seismological context, and in a large research infrastructure for solid-Earth sciences. We recognise the centrality of the users and propose a strategy to sustain their engagement as actors participating in the collaboration. Our approach promotes and enables their active contribution in the construction and maintenance of Common Information Spaces (CISs). These are shaped by conceptual agreements that are captured and maintained to facilitate mutual understanding and to underpin their collaborative work. A user-driven approach shapes the evolution of a CIS based on the requirements of the communities involved in the collaboration. Active users’ engagement is pursued by partitioning concerns and by targeting their interests. For instance, application domain experts focus on scientific and conceptual aspects; data and information experts address knowledge representation issues; and architects and engineers build the infrastructure that populates the common space. We introduce a methodology to sustain CIS and a conceptual framework that has its foundations on a set of agreed Core Concepts forming a Canonical Core (CC). A representation of such a CC is also introduced that leverages and promotes reuse of existing standards: EPOS-DCAT-AP. The application of our methodology shows promising results with a good uptake and adoption by the targeted communities. This encourages us to continue applying and evaluating such a strategy in the future

Evaluation study supporting the interim evaluation of the ISA² programme. CEPS Project Report. June 2019

In compliance with Article 13 of Decision (EU) 2015/2240 establishing the ISA2 programme, the interim evaluation assessed the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, EU added value, coherence, utility and sustainability of ISA2. Based on primary data collected from 129 consulted stakeholders, extensive desk research, and expert assessments, the evaluation confirms that ISA2 performs well in all the evaluation criteria. The objectives pursued by ISA2 are still pertinent in relation to the evolving needs and problems in the field of interoperability of digital public services, and the results achieved so far are aligned with the objectives of the programme. As ISA2 progresses and solutions are further developed, the expected results should be attained, given that the implementation of the programme is continuing as planned. There are substantial synergies and limited overlaps among ISA2 actions. Moreover, particularly strong synergies exist with the Connecting Europe Facility. ISA2 contributed to enhancing cross-border interoperability and users generally tend to be satisfied with the solutions provided. Overall, ISA2 plays a crucial role in enhancing the interoperability landscape in the European Union. In light of these findings, the evaluation outlines some measures to improve the performance of ISA2 and future editions of the programme