1. SOA initiatives at Istat
Marco Silipo
ISTAT (Italian National Statistical Institute)
SERV project - task force meeting
Eurostat
October 28th, 2015

2. 2015/2016: Istat is changing..why?
Istat conducts more than 120 surveys
Design of business processes is strongly base on domain specific silos:
duplications of procedures, limited interoperability, similar tools in use, repeated tasks, limited exploitment of newest technologies, old style data collection systems
Need to exploit also the BIG amount of DATA which is available nowadays through administrative sources
Challenges coming from competitors in the private sector

3. The ‘Modernization project’
The key pillar of the strategy is process industrialisation based on Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and on the standardisation of statistical methods, tools and IT services for data collection, process and analysis, and dissemination.
A centralised data collection system (including web portals) with related tools is provided in order to reduce response burden and supply tailor-based information to users
A new Unified metadata system, integrated with the business architecture
An architecture for dissemination, based on integrated data warehouse for data browsing, accessible micro data for research and Linked Open Data portals
Need for a new organizational model
Improved and more efficient governance model

4. The ‘Modernization project’ goal
The final goal is…
establishing a set of standard methods and tools that would constitute the library (a real Istat Store) to be used by analysts for their tasks,
develop SOA-compliant standard software to perform data processing functions
gradually replace existing instruments, so as to move away from the stovepipe model
This should be supported by an improved and more efficient governance model

5. CORE: A tool for Statistic SOA … A brief history
Common Reference Environment
Environment for:
i) executing standard statistical processes
ii) defining processes in terms of abstract statistical services
iii) mapping services to specific IT tools
CSPA
Common Statistical Production Architecture
Reference architecture based on:
i) existing standard models, such as GSBPM and GSIM, as shared vocabulary
ii) the “plug and play” approach in designing, implementing and sharing statistical software solutions
ESSNet CORA
ESSNet CORE
CORE in Istat
CORE Essnet, CSPA Unece
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
CSPA
specification
implementation
CORE in Istat:
Platform for the execution of statistical processes according to CSPA principles

6. CORE concepts match CSPA ones
Tool
Sas …
Pl/sql
Service definition
Definition of a service at a conceptual level in terms of GSBPM subprocess, of the business function, of GSIM input/output.
Service implementation
Definition of a service at a physical level.
A service definition can have one or more implementations
Process
Compose: compose a process with available service definitions
Configure: bind each service with one of its available implementations
Execute

7. CORE architecture CORE CORE engine R Sas Pl/sql Java Shell tools
CORE is a Java web application
i) implements a workflow engine
ii) stores process executions
iii) allows editing tool scripts
iv) displays runtime logs

8. CORE at work 1. Define: 2. Compose: 3. Configure: 4. Prepare:
- a service definition for each step in your process
- a service implementation for each service definition, choosing a tool
2. Compose:
conceptual design of a process, connecting service definitions
3. Configure:
physical design of a process, starting from a conceptual process
bind each service definition to an implementation
Define a service implementation for each service definition
choose a tool among the available ones
define a new tool
Compose your process, connecting service definitions
Configure your process…
Run…
physical design of a process, starting from a conceptual process bind each service definition to an implementation
4. Prepare:
specify input (data file and configuration parameters) for each service
implementation
5. Execute:
run your process!

9. CORE
engine
Running service
Interruptable service

10. CORE
tools
CORE allows editing tool scripts (R, Sas, Pl/sql, shell) stored on the server, through an editing panel

11. Concluding remarks CORE today CORE tomorrow
i) CORE has been strongly re-engeenered, becoming an “easy to use” product
for non technical users
ii) different surveys (COE, Anvis, Frame) are moving towards a
CORE-compliant design
iii) CORE is becoming a key component in the process of modernization and automation of statistical surveys
CORE tomorrow
i) Implementation enhancements: web services support,
more complex workflow (loop, switch), data
mapping between heterogeneous services
ii) Governance: policies, service and tool catalogue
iii) CORE as a communication platform for CSPA services