OpenKnowledge at work: exploring centralized and decentralized information gathering in emergency contexts

Real-world experience teaches us that to manage emergencies, efficient crisis response coordination is crucial; ICT infrastructures are effective in supporting the people involved in such contexts, by supporting effective ways of interaction. They also should provide innovative means of communication and information management. At present, centralized architectures are mostly used for this purpose; however, alternative infrastructures based on the use of distributed information sources, are currently being explored, studied and analyzed. This paper aims at investigating the capability of a novel approach (developed within the European project OpenKnowledge1) to support centralized as well as decentralized architectures for information gathering. For this purpose we developed an agent-based e-Response simulation environment fully integrated with the OpenKnowledge infrastructure and through which existing emergency plans are modelled and simulated. Preliminary results show the OpenKnowledge capability of supporting the two afore-mentioned architectures and, under ideal assumptions, a comparable performance in both cases

A geo-service semantic integration in Spatial Data Infrastructures

In this paper we focus on the semantic heterogeneity problem as one of the main challenges in current Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs). We first report on the state of the art in reducing such a heterogeneity in SDIs. We then consider a particular geo-service integration scenario. We discuss an approach of how to semantically coordinate geographic services, which is based on a view of the semantics of web service coordination, implemented by using the Lightweight Coordination Calculus (LCC) language. In this approach, service providers share explicit knowledge of the interactions in which their services are engaged and these models of interaction are used operationally as the anchor for describing the semantics of the interaction. We achieve web service discovery and integration by using semantic matching between particular interactions and web service descriptions. For this purpose we introduce a specific solution, called structure preserving semantic matching. We present a real world application scenario to illustrate how semantic integration of geo web services can be performed by using this approach. Finally, we provide a preliminary evaluation of the solution discussed

Integrative Research: The EuroGEOSS Experience

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Blockchain for digital government

In less than ten years from its advent in 2008, the concept of distributed ledgers has entered into mainstream research and policy agendas. Enthusiastic reception, fuelled by the success of Bitcoin and the explosion of potential use cases created high, if not hyped, expectations with respect to the transformative role of blockchain for the industry and the public sector. Growing experimentation with distributed ledgers and the emergence of the first operational implementations provide an opportunity to go beyond hype and speculation based on theoretical use cases. This report looks at the ongoing exploration of blockchain technology by governments. The analysis of a group of pioneering developments of public services shows that blockchain technology can reduce bureaucracy, increase the efficiency of administrative processes and increase the level of trust in public record keeping. Based on the state-of-art developments, blockchain has not yet demonstrated to be either transformative or even disruptive innovation for governments as it is sometimes portrayed. Ongoing projects bring incremental rather than fundamental changes to the operational capacities of governments. Nevertheless some of them propose clear value for citizens. Technological and ecosystem maturity of distributed ledgers have to increase in order to unlock the transformative power of blockchain. Policy agenda should focus on non-technological barriers, such as incompatibility between blockchain-based solutions and existing legal and organizational frameworks. This principal policy goal cannot be achieved by adapting technology to legacy systems. It requires using the transformative power of blockchain to be used to create new processes, organizations, structures and standards. Hence, policy support should stimulate more experimentation with both the technology and new administrative processes that can be re-engineered for blockchain.JRC.B.6-Digital Econom

Enabling Information Gathering Patterns for Emergency Response with the OpenKnowledge System

Today's information systems must operate effectively within open and dynamic environments. This challenge becomes a necessity for crisis management systems. In emergency contexts, in fact, a large number of actors need to collaborate and coordinate in the disaster scenes by exchanging and reporting information with each other and with the people in the control room. In such open settings, coordination technologies play a crucial role in supporting mobile agents located in areas prone to sudden changes with adaptive and flexible interaction patterns. Research efforts in different areas are converging to devise suitable mechanisms for process coordination: specifically, current results on service-oriented computing and multi-agent systems are being integrated to enable dynamic interaction among autonomous components in large, open systems. This work focuses on the exploitation and evaluation of the OpenKnowledge framework to support different information-gathering patterns in emergency contexts. The OpenKnowledge (OK) system has been adopted to model and simulate possible emergency plans. The Lightweight Coordination Calculus (LCC) is used to specify interaction models, which are published, discovered and executed by the OK distributed infrastructure in order to simulate peer interactions. A simulation environment fully integrated with the OK system has been developed to: (1) evaluate whether such infrastructure is able to support different models of information-sharing, e.g., centralized and decentralized patterns of interaction; (2) investigate under which conditions the OK paradigm, exploited in its decentralized nature, can improve the performance of more conventional centralized approaches. Preliminary results show the capability of the OK system in supporting the two afore-mentioned patterns and, under ideal assumptions, a comparable performance in both cases

An Application Programming Interface (API) framework for digital government

The digital transformation of society obliges governments to evolve towards increasingly complex digital environments. These environments require strong coordination efforts to ensure a synergistic integration of different systems and actors. Application programming interfaces (APIs) are the connective nodes of digital components and thus instrumental enablers of this integration. Yet today, the integration of digital components is often done on an ‘ad hoc’ basis, disregarding the potential value-added for the whole digital environment. This work proposes a framework for a cohesive API adoption in government environments. The framework is distilled from the analysis of an extensive literature review conducted on government API adoption practices to date. The output of this analysis identifies actions to be taken by governments to improve their API infrastructure and related organisational processes. The framework offers 12 ‘proposals’ arranged around four organisational pillars, namely, policy support, platforms and ecosystems, people, and processes. Actions are then organised into the three levels of organisational management, i.e. strategic, tactical and operational. Motivations, implementation details and a self-assessment checklist are provided for each of the proposals. Given that the maturity of digital government structures is uneven, the framework has been designed to be flexible enough to help governments identify the specific actions they need to focus on. The work outlines the basis of an API maturity assessment tool.JRC.B.6-Digital Econom

Web Application Programming Interfaces (APIs): general-purpose standards, terms and European Commission initiatives

From their inception, digital technologies have had a huge impact on our everyday life. In both the private and the public sectors, they have contributed to, or at times driven, change in organisational structures, ways of working, and how products and services are shaped and shared. Governments and public administration units, driven by the digital evolution of information and communications technology (ICT), are evolving from traditional workflow-based public service provisions to digital equivalents (e-government), with more innovative forms of government and administration looking for the engagement of citizens and the private sector to co-create final services through user-centric approaches. Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), which are one of the most relevant ICT solutions, have contributed to this notable shift in the adoption of technology, especially when used over the web. They have affected the global economy of the private sector and are contributing to the digital transformation of governments. To explore this in more detail, the European Commission recently started the APIs4DGov study. One of the outputs of the study is an analysis of the API technological landscape, including its related standards and technical specifications for general purpose use. The goal of the analysis presented in this brief report is to support the definition of stable APIs for digital government services adopted by governments or single public administration units. Such adoption would avoid the need to develop ad hoc solutions that could have limited scalability or potential for reuse. Instead, the work suggests that we should consider a number of existing standards provided by standardisation bodies or, at least, technical specifications written by well-recognised consortia, vendors or users. The aim of this report is also to support API stakeholders in the identification and selection of such solutions. To do this, it first gives a series of definitions to help the reader understand some basic concepts, as well as related standards and technical specifications. Then, it presents the description and classification (by resource representation, security, usability, test, performance and licence) of the standards and technical specifications collected. A shortlist of these documents (based on their utilisation, maintenance and stability) is also proposed, together with a brief description of each of them. Finally, the report provides a useful glossary with definitions of the relevant terms we have collected so far within the APIs4DGov study.JRC.B.6-Digital Econom

JRC Data Policy

The work on the JRC Data Policy followed the task identified in the JRC Management Plan 2014 to develop a dedicated data policy to complement the JRC Policy on Open Access to Scientific Publications and Supporting Guidance, and to promote open access to research data in the context of Horizon 2020. Important policy commitments and the relevant regulatory basis within the European Union and the European Commission include: the Commission Decision on the reuse of Commission documents, Commission communication on better access to scientific information, Commission communication on a reinforced European research area partnership for excellence and growth, Commission recommendation on access to and preservation of scientific information, and the EU implementation of the G8 Open Data Charter.JRC.H.6-Digital Earth and Reference Dat

The Future of Cities

This report is an initiative of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the science and knowledge service of the European Commission (EC), and supported by the Commission's Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO). It highlights drivers shaping the urban future, identifying both the key challenges cities will have to address and the strengths they can capitalise on to proactively build their desired futures. The main aim of this report is to raise open questions and steer discussions on what the future of cities can, and should be, both within the science and policymaker communities. While addressing mainly European cities, examples from other world regions are also given since many challenges and solutions have a global relevance. The report is particularly novel in two ways. First, it was developed in an inclusive manner – close collaboration with the EC’s Community of Practice on Cities (CoP-CITIES) provided insights from the broader research community and city networks, including individual municipalities, as well as Commission services and international organisations. It was also extensively reviewed by an Editorial Board. Secondly, the report is supported by an online ‘living’ platform which will host future updates, including additional analyses, discussions, case studies, comments and interactive maps that go beyond the scope of the current version of the report. Steered by the JRC, the platform will offer a permanent virtual space to the research, practice and policymaking community for sharing and accumulating knowledge on the future of cities. This report is produced in the framework of the EC Knowledge Centre for Territorial Policies and is part of a wider series of flagship Science for Policy reports by the JRC, investigating future perspectives concerning Artificial Intelligence, the Future of Road Transport, Resilience, Cybersecurity and Fairness Interactive online platform : https://urban.jrc.ec.europa.eu/thefutureofcitiesJRC.B.3-Territorial Developmen

Ontology matching evaluation using GIS web services

Matching between concepts describing the meaning of representing for heterogeneous information sources is a key operation in many application domains, including web service coordination, data integration, peer-to-peer information sharing, query answering, and so on. In this paper we present an evaluation of an ontology matching approach, specically of Structure-Preserving Semantic Matching (SPSM) solution which we applied within an emergency response scenario for GIS web service coordination. We evaluate the SPSM solution both on a set of synthesized benchmarks, as well as on real world GIS ESRI ArcWeb services. The results demonstrate the robustness and the performance of the SPSM approach on a large (ca. 700.000) number of matching tasks