Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems Luis Anido-Rifón – University of Vigo (ES) Niall Sclater – University of Strathclyde (Sco) CEN/ISSS Workshop Learning Technologies, January 26-27, Madrid

Project Objectives – To provide interoperability specifications for a range of information exchange, initially aimed at school systems but also applicable in a wider lifelong learning context. This work item will support the outputs of the OASIS (Open Architecture and Schools in Society) project that enable different applications and systems to share information. – OASIS is developing a European version of the US Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF) – The main task of the PT should be to act as a gateway between OASIS and the WS. An overall objective should be to publish one or more CWAs containing results from OASIS. Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Agenda Project objectives Project Schedule and Current State. Decisions from Vienna Final CWA-1 and CWA-2 Final CWA-3 Next Steps Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Project Schedule (i) Organised around the three deliverables: 1.- SIF Infrastructure, Architecture, Message Processing and Transport Layer 2.- Internationalisation of SIF and Harmonisation with other specs/standards 3.- Adaptation of the SIF data model to a European context Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Project Schedule (ii). Current State DocumentDraft version due byFinal version due by Document 1ent 1July 2003October 2003 Document 2cument 2July 2003October 2003 Document 3 3October 2003January 2004 Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Agenda Project objectives Project Schedule and Current State. Decisions from Vienna Final CWA-1 Final CWA-2 Final CWA-3 Next Steps Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Decisions from Vienna (i) The document: "Review on SIF Infrastructure, Architecture, Message Processing and Transport Layer" will be published as a CWA Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Decisions from Vienna (ii) The CWAs - "Review on the SIF Infrastructure, Architecture, Message Processing and Transport Layer" - "Internationalisation of SIF and harmonisation with other specs/standards" had to be delivered to Mariano Sanz (OASIS) and Håvard Hjulstad (ISO TC 37) for an in- depth review. This review would last for 4 weeks inmediately after the meeting. Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Decisions from Vienna (iii) Once the previous review process ended a electronic endorsement process had to begin for both documents. The whole process was expected to end by this meeting. Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Decisions from Vienna (iv) The PT should wait till OASIS produced its version of the SIF data model to continue working on the document "Adaptation of SIF data model for a European context". Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Agenda Project objectives Project Schedule and Current State. Decisions from Vienna Final CWA-1 and CWA-2 Final CWA-3 Next Steps Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Final CWA-1 and CWA-2 As agreed in the Vienna meeting Håvard Hjulstad and Mariano Sanz were selected to review the final version of these two documents. After that meeting, and according to the decisions adopted there, a new version of each document was developed. Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Final CWA-1 and CWA-2 Both documents were delivered to Håvard Hjulstad and Mariano Sanz and they had a revision period that lasted from the 15th October to the 15th November, Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Final CWA-1 and CWA-2 No comments were received from Mariano Sanz and Håvard Hjulstad related to the document: “Review on SIF Infrastructure, Architecture, Message Processing and Transport Layer ” Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Final CWA-1 and CWA-2 The main comments received related to the document “Internationalisation of SIF and harmonisation with other specs/standards” were: ISO/IEC and Unicode need to be used as repertoire character sets without any doubt Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Final CWA-1 and CWA-2 Håvard Hjulstad provided a lot of information about the existing and future parts of the ISO 639 series (Codes for the identification of names of languages) Other minor comments were also received and taken into account. Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Final CWA-1 and CWA-2 After updating both documents with the comments received from the reviewers, the documents have been delivered on the 12th January, 2004 to be endorsed (so far, no messages have been received in the mailing list) Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Final CWA-1 and CWA-2 Can we accept these documents as the final versions? Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Agenda Project objectives Project Schedule and Current State. Decisions from Vienna Final CWA-1 and CWA-2 Final CWA-3 Next Steps Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Adaptation of SIF data model to a European context Two alternatives are proposed for the adoption of a definitive Data Model: The original proposal by this PT. The Model by OASIS (delivered in January) Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Adaptation of SIF data model to a European context There are some differences between both Data Models. A document where these differences are shown has been developed by this PT and delivered to OASIS. The OASIS data model is not final. According to Mariano Sanz they will take into account most of our proposals in the final version. OASIS WP2 meets these days to elaborate a new version, which is expected to be available soon. Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Adaptation of SIF data model to a European context The most important differences between both Data Models are within the common elements group. OASIS common elements are exactly the same as SIF whereas this PT has defined 4 new elements taking into account the recommendations of the CWA “Internationalisation of SIF and harmonisation with other specs/standards” Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Adaptation of the SIF data model to a European context. Data Model Common elements: Dates YYYY-MM-DD, DD-MM-YYYY, MM-DD-YYYY, Different calendars, etc. DateTime: SIF Data Model does not specify how dates should be represented. The ISO 8601:2000 standard could be used as the canonical form to represent dates. This aggregate element maintains this canonical representation and adds the possibility of adding localized versions. Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Adaptation of the SIF data model to a European context. Data Model Common elements: Numbers 1,003 is greater than one thousand? DMESINumber: This is a new object which is used to specify the format of numbers. The solution adopted was to propose a canonical representation (specified in EBNF) together with the option to represent different localized representations. Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Adaptation of the SIF data model to a European context. Data Model Common elements: Measurements Distance: 200 (miles? Kilometers?) Weight: 1,2 (kilos?, pounds?) Measurement: Allows different localised versions for the same amount identifying the unit used (ISO 31). Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Adaptation of the SIF data model to a European context. Data Model Common elements: Money Payment = 50 (dollars? Euros?) MonetaryAmount: An aggregate element (MonetaryAmount) that identifies the currency used (ISO 4217) Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Adaptation of the SIF data model to a European context. Data Model Common elements: Other objects have been changed to fit the European requirements: Address: Some elements have been removed (Street/Line1, Street/Line2, Street/Line3, Street/Complex, Street/Prefix, Street/Suffix, etc.) and other ones have been added (Number, Floor, Gate, etc.) Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Adaptation of the SIF data model to a European context. Data Model Common elements: Demographics: This PT has substituted the element EnglishProficiency by LanguageProficiency, which, in turn, is based on the CWA “Description of Language Capabilities”. The element Ethnicity has also been removed since it does not provide any relevant information in an Educational environment. The elements CountyOfBirth and StateOfBirth have been substituted by a single element AdministrativeTerritorialUnitOfBirth (canton, county, department, district, parish, province, region, state, etc.) Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Adaptation of the SIF data model to a European context. Data Model Common elements: MeetingTime: This common data element defines a time slot for an event within a section or a course. It has been completely changed to harmonise it with the iCalendar specification. Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Adaptation of the SIF data model to a European context. Data Model Common elements: Other objects have been changed to be used in a European context: Name: The element LastName has been substituted by another element, Surname with two parts, being the second one optional. Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Adaptation of the SIF data model to a European context. Data Model Common elements: Other objects have been changed to be used in a European context: PhoneNumber: This object has been completely changed to adapt it to the European format of phone numbers: an area code and a subscriber number (although the area code can be null). Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Adaptation of the SIF data model to a European context. Data Model The other objects apart from the common elements have been updated mainly in their value spaces and data types based on the new elements defined. Also some more significant changes have been done. For example, LowGradeLevel and HighGradeLevel from the SchoolInfo object have been updated to fit the grade levels in each European country taking into account all European educational systems. Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Adaptation of the SIF data model to a European context. Data Model For example Portuguese Educational System is structured as follows (1): First Grade Infant School Second Grade Infant School Third Grade Infant School First Grade Elementary School Second Grade Elementary School Third Grade Elementary School Fourth Grade Elementary School Fifth Grade Elementary School Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Adaptation of the SIF data model to a European context. Data Model For example Portuguese Educational System is structured as follows (2): First Grade Infant School Second Grade Infant School Third Grade Infant School First Grade Elementary School Second Grade Elementary School Third Grade Elementary School Fourth Grade Elementary School Fifth Grade Elementary School Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Adaptation of the SIF data model to a European context. Data Model Another example could be Italian Educational System (1): First Grade Nursery School Second Grade Nursery School Third Grade Nursery School First Grade Elementary School Second Grade Elementary School Third Grade Elementary School Fourth Grade Elementary School Fifth Grade Elementary School Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Adaptation of the SIF data model to a European context. Data Model Another example could be Italian Educational System (2): First Grade Middle School Second Grade Middle School Third Grade Middle School First Grade Upper Secondary Second Grade Upper Secondary Third Grade Upper Secondary Fourth Grade Upper Secondary Fifth Grade Upper Secondary University Grade Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Adaptation of the SIF data model to a European context. Data Model OASIS has also made some changes to the original Data Model: Some financial objects have been added: Purchasing, Lending, GlobalSubsidy, Project_Financials and Budgetary_Declaration, the object StudentMeal has been removed and two new objects related to the student have been added: StudentCurriculum and StudentGradeBook. Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Adaptation of the SIF data model to a European context. Appendixes : New sections included in the PT document: Vocabularies XML bindings Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Agenda Project objectives Project Schedule and Current State. Decisions from Vienna Final CWA-1 Final CWA-2 Final CWA-3 Next Steps Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Next Steps Decide which document should be used as the basis to develop the third CWA and send it to the WS for endorsement. OASIS WP2 team has had a positive reaction to the PT document and they may update their data model using most of the new PT’s elements with, maybe some extensions. Should we wait till they have a final decission? Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems

Thanks Luis Anido-Rifon Niall Sclater CEN/ISSS Workshop on Learning Technologies, December 2002, Copenhagen, Denmark Interoperability frameworks for exchange of information between diverse management systems