The Multi-disciplinary Interoperability research challenges: EuroGEOSS and EGIDA projects Stefano Nativi National Research Council of Italy (CNR ) GEPW-5 – London, 8-9 Feb 2011 Sesion 3c Architecture and Data, Capacity Building, S&T, User Interface

Distributed Computing Infrastructure (s) Geospatial Information Infrastructure Digital Earth Infrastructure Multi-disciplinary Interoperability Different interoperability levels -at different Infrastructures level Four main infrastructure types 1. Thematic/Community Infrastructures  SBA/CoP resources core functionalities 2. Digital Earth (Earth System Science) Infrastructure  Earth science resources core functionalities 3. Geospatial Information Infrastructure  Geospatial resources core functionalities 4. Distributed Computing Infrastructure  Distributed Capacity provision functionalities Information S&T Domain Semantics Earth System S&T

Challenges to fill the gap existing (autonomous) capacities  Build on existing (autonomous) capacities system of systems  Implement a “system of systems”  Build on existing and future information systems  Supplementing but not supplanting systems mandates and governance arrangements Low Entry Barrier  Assure a Low Entry Barrier for Users and Resource Providers  Mediate (standard and non-standard capacities)  Interconnect (capacities) and Adapt existing capacities Semantic Interoperability  Implement Semantic Interoperability  Shift from technical interoperability towards conceptual composability  Avoid tight coupling or strong integrations

Cyber-Infrastructure Low Entry Barrier Complexity to manage Complexity to manage Complexity to manage Low Entry Barrier

Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider SOA approach  For complex (large and heterogeneous) infrastructures, SOA archetype does not scale and is not flexible (tens of thousands) Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Server Service Consumer Service Consumer Client Service Registry Service Registry Publish Find (Harvest) Bind Present GCI framewok (hundreds)

Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Broker(s) Service Broker(s) Service Consumer Service Consumer Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider Service Provider The Brokering SOA (B-SOA) Service Provider Service Provider Server Service Consumer Service Consumer Client Service Registry Service Registry Publish Find Bind Service Broker(s) Service Broker(s) Mediator Order Harvest (2-3) (tens of thousands) (hundreds) A more sustainable approach A Brokered-SOA proved to be more sustainable (i.e. flexible and scalable)

EU ProgramsNational Initiatives GEO ADC, STC, CBC, UIC Tasks Promote GEO in S&T Communities S&T Engage S&T Communities in Developing GEOSS S&T SoS Engineering Process AD SoS Engineering Process Lower Entry Barrier AD Lower Entry Barrier Combine Top-Down & Bottom-Up Approaches: harmonizing S&T and A&D

EuroGEOSS project Proposal full title EuroGEOSS: a European approach to GEOSS Proposal acronym EuroGEOSS Type of funding scheme Collaborative project (large-scale integrating project) Work programme topics addressed FP7-ENV : Environment (including climate change) ENV : European Environment Earth Observation system supporting INSPIRE and compatible with GEOSS Start date01 May 2009 End date01 May 2012

EGIDA project Proposal full title Coordinating Earth and Environmental cross-disciplinary projects to promote GEOSS Proposal acronym EGIDA Type of funding scheme Co-ordination and support actions (Coordinating) Work programme topics addressed Area Integration of European activities within GEO ENV Supporting the integration of European and international R&D programmes in GEO Start date01 September 2010 End date01 September 2012

GEO-EGIDA Workshop Connecting GEOSS and its Stakeholders in Science and Technology Bonn, Germany, May 9-11, Workshop Web Page ( )

Conclusions  Multi-disciplinary interoperability is needed to develop the missing Earth System Science (Digital Earth) infrastructure  Main challenges to fill the gap include:  Build on existing (autonomous) capacities  Lower the present Entry Barrier for Users and resource Producers  Implement Semantic Interoperability  To advance the present SOA approach by developing the necessary Mediation and Brokering functionalities  Bottom-up and Top-down approaches must be considered to Harmonize the GEO S&T and A&D challenges  FP7 EuroGEOSS and EGIDA projects have been working for that

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Low Entry Barrier for SBAs  SBAs (and CoPs) systems  Remain autonomous  Remain unchanged –no new standard must be implemented, no new component or service must be implemented or deployed  SBAs (and CoPs) may use their own standards to:  describe available spatial resources  publish accessible resources  The multi-disciplinary infrastructure must  implement all the necessary mediation and brokering functionalities to interoperate with SBA systems avoiding strong integrations  Implement necessary semantic services to facilitate multi-disciplinary interoperability at the conceptual level Providers & Users Brokering System