Terms of Reference for the INSPIRE MIG subgroup on Controlled Vocabularies
Explore and improvement on the situation of controlled vocabularies in the framework of INSPIRE
https://ies-svn.jrc.ec.europa.eu/issues/2141
Background
Controlled vocabularies (in the following COV) provide commonly agreed content and terms for elements within a conceptual model. This contains thesauri but also code lists, ontologies, glossaries and other sematic repositories. The controlled vocabulary itself is a knowledge model with a specific view and abstraction of reality related to the purpose of its development.
Within conceptual models COV are used to enable a common understanding of meanings and terms and therefore a degree of semantic interoperability. They help to ensure data quality on provider’s side and support the data discovery and integration process on user’s side.
Within Spatial Data Infrastructures the current main use case of COV is to support the thematic classification of data sets and the possibilities of discovery. In the context of INSPIRE the main issue known is the use of COV for keywords in metadata in order to provide a more accurate description than the sole theme name taken from GEMET (Commission Regulation (EC) No 1205/2008 of 3 December 2008 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards metadata). Here we are currently facing two major issues.
The first issue and main issue is that GEMET isn’t providing keywords for all spatial data themes listed by INSPIRE. According to the Commission Regulation (EC) No 1205/2008 GEMET provides the names of all INSPRIE Spatial Data Annex Themes. For many of the Themes GEMET provides no further keywords at all or not sufficient selection which allows a proper description of the datasets and services. GEMET was designed as environmental multilingual thesaurus before INSPIRE Directive became law and added the demand for the Spatial Data Themes. Therefore the requirements of INSPIRE had to be integrated in a later stage and were not fully aligned with the concept of GEMET. The annex themes of the INSPIRE Directive are touching areas which are out of scope for GEMET as they aren’t related to environmental topics (such as road network, buildings, administrative units, etc.) and only included as INSPIRE Spatial Data Themes which aren’t integrated in the thesauri and often without connection to the thematic fields of it. Furthermore GEMET is also rather flat in some other areas, such as geology, where the terminology provided might not be deep enough for proper data set descriptions.
The second issue is that other COV beside GEMET are barely known, difficult to access and search. A wide range of COV has been developed by different communities for different purposes. But information about them are difficult to gather and there are no criteria for their reuse in the framework of INSPIRE developed yet. Some relations to EuroVoc or AgroVoc exist already but furthermore there is no COV (broader or deeper) integrated or linked.
Beside this two issue from the perspective of INSPIRE the work on GEMET is ongoing. UNEP live has adopted GEMET as the de facto standard for tagging content within UNEPLive and beyond. Discussions have also started with the World Meterological Organisation (WMO) to adopt GEMET as a core vocabulary for their Atmospheric Composition Vocabulary.
Mandate
The main objective of this subgroup is to propose to the MIG appropriate updates to use of COV in the framework of INSPIRE. The objective of the proposal is to increase the discoverability of datasets and services through a the more efficient and effective use of keywords. This includes also the governance and discoverability of keywords within COV as such.
In line with Article 5(4) of the MIG ToR, this sub-group shall be disbanded as soon as its mandate has been fulfilled. This shall be assessed periodically by the MIG.
The members of the sub-group are either members of the MIG or registered in “the pool of experts” as foreseen under Article 7(1) of the MIG ToR. Members of the sub-group shall select among themselves a person who will act as facilitator and who will liaise with the MIG.
The sub-group can request guidance from the MIG in the course of its work and can also ask the MIG to involve additional expertise if needed.
Tasks
In order to reach its main objective the following tasks shall be performed:
1. Develop criteria for the decision whether or not a COV should be recommended and used in the framework of INSPIRE
o The criteria should also support the decision whether or not a COV can or has to be taken over by INSPIRE Coordination Team (e.g. for maintenance or governance reasons)
2. Research and list COVs which are of relevance for the INSPIRE Spatial Data Themes
o Updated list of COV should be publicly accessible; Research how the search for keywords across COV can be enabled. If possible this should be implemented as pilot application
o Propose procedures and condition for the establishment of links between identified COV and GEMET; Link or integrate identified further COVs with GEMET
3. Develop proposals on how the semantic quality of the metadata and service description within INSPIRE can be extended
o Develop proposal for adoption of current technical guidelines which affect the use of COV (Link and input to MIWP-8: Update of Metadata TG)
o Research how the INSPIRE community can participate in further development of COV.
Timeframe of work
The sub-group shall submit its project plan to the MIG by 31 August 2014. The implementation starts with Task 1 which shall be finished by 31.12.2014. By the 31st of June 2015 the subgroup shall have presented and discussed all results achieved so far to the MIG and decide if further actions are needed or if the initial issue already evolved.