1. CORA ESSNet COmmon Reference Architecture starting ...
Carlo Vaccari – ITDG October 2009 1

2. short history
1999 CES study about “Information Systems Architecture for National and International Statistical Offices ”
MSIS : UK paper “Towards a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) for the Statistical Value Chain”
MSIS – 2008: Task Force on Sharing Software
MSIS – 2009: session on “Sharing Software and Components”
Carlo Vaccari – ITDG October 2009

3. short history - 2
Statistical work programme of the Commission for 2009: ESSnet tool launched and first quotation of CORA as “Development and maintenance of shared IT tools for use in Member States”
“to support the development and maintenance of statistical IT tools for use by NSIs, within the general framework of a common reference architecture for the data life cycle”
keywords: standards, open, re-use, portability
Carlo Vaccari – ITDG October 2009

4. ITDG
ITDG 2008: ESSnet with the aim to create the enabling conditions for sharing software within the ESS
- countries involved: ch, dk, it, lv, nl, no, se
Suggestions:
GSBPM model as a basis, besides CES 1999 document
co-ordination with MSIS TF on Sharing Software
based on well defined principles, involve business units
tools based on sound methodologies
adaptation of tools to each environment
Carlo Vaccari – ITDG October 2009

5. 2009 activities
January in Luxembourg ESSnet preparatory meeting between interested countries and Eurostat: besides many administrative clarifications, we started to consider a layer architecture for introducing abstraction levels, ensuring isolation between different layers and topics
In March 2009 METIS dedicated one session to GSBPM model in which the model was described, discussed and approved
Carlo Vaccari – ITDG October 2009

6. ESSnet and SAB
MSIS Task Force on Sharing Software (now Sharing Advisory Board) and CORA ESSnet:
two projects, the same goal
SAB: strategic, long-term, world
ESSnet: tactical, 10 months, europe (but open)
Crucial: cooperation and common work
Carlo Vaccari – ITDG October 2009

7. CORA goals
The aim is to create a culture of exchange of information and knowledge about sharing software, open source and licensing
The architecture has to be very flexible and easily adaptable to change
It has to be modular, so that different parties could
contribute to their implementation and different organisations would also be free to use the modules they really need
Carlo Vaccari – ITDG October 2009

8. CORA goals Common architecture includes:
Business architecture - a common framework to describe the Business Process Model
Information Systems Architecture - data and metadata architecture and overall application architecture on a logical level
Technical Architecture - technical platforms, use of standards
Carlo Vaccari – ITDG October 2009

9. CORA goals
Solutions that are already shared in the statistical community shall be investigated for fitting into the technical architecture
Business models shall be discussed concerning how their maintenance can be assured in the long term, and how they could be adapted to the proposed architecture, without giving extra burdens to individual NSIs
Carlo Vaccari – ITDG October 2009

10. CORA structure Workpackages (coord.): 1. Project Management (it)
2. Requirements collection and SOA (no)
3. Definition of the Technical Architecture (nl)
4. Design of the Organizational Architecture (ch)
5. Project Dissemination (it)
10 months – final meeting open fo dissemination
Carlo Vaccari – ITDG October 2009

11. WP1 Project Management Meetings:
Kick-off meeting - Luxembourg in month M1 (monday and yesterday!)
WP Leaders Meeting - Amsterdam in month M3
Intermediate meeting - Rome in month M6
Final Meeting – Luxembourg M10 (next september)
Carlo Vaccari – ITDG October 2009

12. WP1 Project Management
Internal communication management: mail and wiki
Eurostat communications and cooperation with Steering Committee: Eurostat + some volunteer?
Quality assessment
Project coordination (open to observer!)
Technical Committee
Carlo Vaccari – ITDG October 2009

13. WP2 Requirements collection
Survey on shared software and CORA requirements
NSIs involved
Web survey
ITDG endorsement and support for the survey?
State-of-the-art documents and software repository
Docs with annotations
Final repository on OSOR: co-operation with OSS and Statistics community
Carlo Vaccari – ITDG October 2009

14. WP3 Technical architecture
Layered architecture
definition of the layers of the architecture
definition of interfaces between layers (services and users)
instruction manual for use of the model
Mapping of existing solutions in participating NSIs to layered model as example of correct use (viability: proof of concepts)
Carlo Vaccari – ITDG October 2009

15. WP3 Technical architecture
Context:
Approach towards the recognition and description of statistical activities
Need for the integration of statistical activities
Need for a framework that suits statisticians, methodologists and IT
Lightweight approach: services and interfaces
Carlo Vaccari – ITDG October 2009

16. WP4 Organizational architecture
Licensing models for sharing applications (open source models, joint development consortia, etc.)
Business models for the support of shared applications
Legal frameworks for the shared development: intellectual/commercial property and rights to use
Guidelines and best practices for shared applications, including tools to be used
Carlo Vaccari – ITDG October 2009

17. WP5 Project Dissemination
CORA web site and wiki
Cooperation with the OSOR portal
Training courses on the project products
Presentation of CORA results to international meetings
Organization of a final “CORA ESSnet workshop”, presenting the final results
Carlo Vaccari – ITDG October 2009

18. conclusions CORA just started: intermediate results in MSIS
Final meeting in September: participation!
Final results to next ITDG
Integration with other ESSnets: SDMX and others
CORE (Environment) in 2011? Eurostat decision after Intermediate results (1Q2010)
Carlo Vaccari – ITDG October 2009