Aldo Laudi, Project Officer for the Semantic Interoperability Centre Europe (SEMIC.EU) was interviewed on 18 June 2010 on the occasion of the completion of the first draft of a pan-European exchange model for data on persons.

The initial development phase of the pan-European person data asset is completed. On Friday, 18 June 2010 started the next phase of review by a second group of experts. In conjunction with this reviewing phase, SEMIC.EU has issued an open call for use cases on existing or planned implementations of person data exchange. These cases will be used for the proof of concept of the core person data model and as blueprints for adapted specific implementations of the model.

In this interview posted at originally at SEMIC.EU, Aldo Laudi, in charge of SEMIC.EU at the European Commission, explains what this milestone means for the overall project of semantic interoperability in public services in Europe.
 
As the Project Officer responsible for SEMIC.EU at the European Commission, how do you assess the current development of a "core person" taking place at SEMIC.EU?

After the launch, the collection of assets, their initial improvement and maturity process, this conformance process is a new major milestone in the activities of the Semantic Interoperability Centre.

You mentioned the different groups involved in the process. How is this venture organised?

What we're doing here is developing a prototype, a global schema for data exchange of the highest quality level. This is happening for the first time.

The collaboration aspect is what makes it special. The clearing process (of which this is the final step) for interoperability assets depends on the participation of stakeholders with technical and domain-specific knowledge.

But it also depends on the requirements from projects and administrations.

The conformance process for the core person shows that this works extremely well.

We're happy with the large number of active participants. That gives us hope for the exchange model to be widely used in the future - now is the time to prove that it is useful in hands-on, every-day data exchange involving data on persons.

Why is the person data model a milestone for semantic interoperability in Europe?

The conform person data asset will be critical as a proof-of-concept representing all future conform assets: Exchange formats of this kind are possible, useful and demand-driven.

At the same time, not only the model itself but also the method of development will be quality checked. We want this to go further, to extend the conclusive clearing process phase to models of other kinds as well. If we succeed in collaboratively building multiple conform assets of this kind, then we're a lot closer to our goal of harmonising European eGoverment data exchange.

How exactly can it be used as a proof of concept?

At this stage, we need use cases from the Member States, from projects, but also from other Directorates-General of the European Commission.

I invite everyone who is involved in sharing and exchanging data related to persons to submit their use case so we can use the summer months to validate the suitability of the model that's being developed right now.

We have the basics, but the review phase will certainly bring some changes and additions too.

What is your expectation for the success of the person data model?

Our primary goal for is reuse! And, based on its generic design, I expect this to be very successful. The design of the "core person" as it is defined by the asset designers and the co-authors allows for application in different contexts by additional attributes. The concept is flexible.

Further Information:

• Original interview  - SEMIC.EU
• Related ePractice news item : "SEMIC.EU reaches 1 000 registered users, as conformance process continues"
• Related ePractice news item: "EU: Developing a pan-European scheme for data on natural persons"