Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau, AHDIT, August 2002 AHDIT: Ad Hoc Data Interoperability Tool Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau Dept. of Computing Science University of Aberdeen

Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau, AHDIT, August 2002 The Problem UK NYPD Washington DC Philippines France 50 Other States Sept Exchange data on: Suspects Victims Potential Victims How can so many different organisations exchange information?

Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau, AHDIT, August 2002 Current Practice Word Doc Word Doc Exchange MS Word documents: 1. Enter data into own system 2. Export report to other party 3. Recipient then enters data into own system - Potential for error as data re-entered - Requires more clerical staff - Creates a bottleneck at the start of investigations

Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau, AHDIT, August 2002 A Common Problem This problem arises when there are large scale –Terrorist incidents –Transport disasters –Natural disasters, ie earthquakes, hurricanes –International war, ie refugees and victims The problem occurs when common data procedures and agreements are not already present between the parties involved.

Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau, AHDIT, August 2002 Current State of Affairs Organisations have problems communicating internally as evidenced by knowledge management applications –problems finding experts in organisations –problems sharing information in organisations Organisations communicate externally even less well Governments implementing interoperability progammes Some governments setting standards for XML use with XML Schema. –UK & US working towards standard XML policies

Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau, AHDIT, August 2002 Semantic Web Give meaning to and extending the WWW Machine processable, not human readable Built upon structured collections of data and inference rules Use of XML and related languages

Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau, AHDIT, August 2002 AHDIT & Semantic Web AHDIT builds upon the Semantic Web: –use structured data of the XML and XML Schema to create RDF models that can be compared –work with standard practices of organisations –no new procedures need to be introduced

Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau, AHDIT, August 2002 Semantic Web Layers AHDIT works with XML, XML Schema and RDF, RDF Schema layers XML & XMLS are being deployed by governments today AHDIT lifts this to next level of RDF & RDFS Source: Tim Berners Lee

Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau, AHDIT, August 2002 XML- Extensible Markup Language W3C Standard of human readable text Provides structured content - still need to know what author means My Life and Times Paul McCartney McMillin Publishing

Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau, AHDIT, August 2002 XML Schema The XML Schema file (xsd) defines whether an XML document is valid or not. The XML file could also be labelled as an instance of an XSD file.

Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau, AHDIT, August 2002 RDF- Resource Definition Framework Aimed at providing information about meta- data for WWW resources. AHDIT builds this up from the XML Schema

Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau, AHDIT, August 2002 The Goal State A State B Application Direct application to application communication Export report Import or type report or post report We want to move from the route to the direct route

Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau, AHDIT, August 2002 Phase 1 Solution App 1 App 2 Export report Import report DB 1 DB 2 State AState B Mixed Method : export report send to second party convert to XML run through AHDIT import modified report

Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau, AHDIT, August 2002 AHDIT Phase 1 Solution Application takes in two XSD files, and the new XML file to be integrated State B XSD State A XSD AHDIT State A XML State B RDF State A RDF RDF not B Modified State A XML

Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau, AHDIT, August 2002 Phase 1 Solution Notes User determines what is changed in ‘RDF not B’ to create ‘Modified State A XML’ file. User needs to know the domain to make correct changes. Original document left untouched.

Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau, AHDIT, August 2002 AHDIT Solution Phases Phase 1 - parse and compare the documents Phase 2 - establish community methods –local server with knowledge of partner organisations –maps to convert to their data structures stored Phase 3 - develop agent facilities to automate methods Aim towards less human intervention

Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau, AHDIT, August 2002 Possible Phase 3 Solution App 1 App 2 DB 1 DB 2 State AState B XML AHDIT DB 3 App 3 A 1 A 2 Negotiate - create app to integrate data into current systems - would need search, find and bind procedures

Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau, AHDIT, August 2002 Further Solution Notes Security needs to be incorporated Ontology tools to manage knowledge and the data Language tools to manage diverse users and contente –German vs, French, vs English issues, etc Communication method between parties –Possibly RPC or SOAP for the first two phases –Probably need agent communication languages for phase 3

Dr. Bruce A. Scharlau, AHDIT, August 2002 Summary Organisations need to exchange information Current methods are laborious, repetitious, and error prone Movement towards XML & XML Schema Today methods and concepts are available to allow for ad hoc interoperability between applications and organisations