1 CRIS: Research Organisation View of the e-Infrastructure Keith G Jeffery STFC Anne Asserson UiB

2 Authors Anne Asserson UiB Keith G Jeffery STFC-RAL

3 Structure A little history Current (advanced) ICT infrastructure CERIF-CRIS in an organisation CERIF-CRIS in the ICT Infrastructure CERIF-CRIS and SOA –Metadata –Services CERIF-CRIS and infrastructure: Future Conclusions

4 BACK TO THE FUTURE

5 The problem is: CRISs are not much used compared with other information sources Because: (a) they are difficult to use (different from everything else at client workstation) (b) the data quality is insufficient - timeliness, completeness (c) they do not integrate easily with other information sources (d) they do not integrate easily with local office environment So: They are just not sexy ! From CRIS1998

6 CRIS91: advocated electronic documents  Quality –use of electronic forms for input –electronic documents for output CRIS93: advocated use of WWW  Availability –easy-to use UI –ubiquitous –UI integration with other information sources and desktop CRIS95: ‘ CRIS emerging into the light ’  Integrated –WWW for client environment compatibility with office systems –workflow and cscw for document (e-forms, reports) management –resolving heterogeneity in information access (by metadata) BACK TO THE FUTURE Recapitulation of proposals from earlier CRIS conferences From CRIS1998

7 BACK TO THE FUTURE At CRIS 1998 advocated the use of metadata as the key to ensure CRIS are integrated with their environment –With office environment –With WWW for easy access to information –With workflow for quality input –With other systems in the organisation –With other CRIS (interoperation) But it just did not happen! From CRIS1998

8 CRIS years on are we – the euroCRIS community - in danger again of missing out by not constructing CRIS such that they are ‘sexy’? This presentation introduces an architectural vision and proposes an action plan to place CERIF-CRIS at the centre of modern ICT environments

9 Structure A little history Current (advanced) ICT infrastructure CERIF-CRIS in an organisation CERIF-CRIS in the ICT Infrastructure CERIF-CRIS and SOA –Metadata –Services CERIF-CRIS and infrastructure: Future Conclusions

10 e-infrastructure server detectors e- Physical

11 e-,i-infrastructure server detectors e- i- Information Systems Physical

12 e-,i-,k-infrastructure server detectors e- i- k- Deduction & induction – human or machine Physical Information Systems server

13 Why is this important? e-science (or more generally e- research) e-infrastructure concept adopted by the EC architecture adopted by the NESSI ETP ETSI (European Telecommunications Standardisation Institute) most advanced research now done using this environment: particle physics, molecular biology, astronomy, materials science, physics, chemistry, geoscience, meteorology, environmental science, social science, economics / econometrics, history…… and linked (ESFRI) with research infrastructure e.g. large facilities, databases etc (European Technology Platform) – major European ICT players aiming to standardise – Special Group on GRIDs (Mike Fisher, BT) This infrastructure was initiated in the community we serve and is evolving from R&D to business

14 e-,i-middleware e- i- k- Lower middleware (hides physical heterogeneity) Upper middleware (hides syntactic heterogeneity)

15 i-, k-middleware e- i- k- K- upper middleware (resolves semantic heterogeneity) K- lower middleware (presents declared semantics)

16 Middleware and CERIF-CRIS e- i- k- Lower middleware (hides physical heterogeneity) Upper middleware (hides syntactic heterogeneity) K- upper middleware (resolves semantic heterogeneity) K- lower middleware (presents declared semantics) CERIF- CRIS

17 Structure A little history Current (advanced) ICT infrastructure CERIF-CRIS in an organisation CERIF-CRIS in the ICT Infrastructure CERIF-CRIS and SOA –Metadata –Services CERIF-CRIS and infrastructure: Future Conclusions

18 PROJECTORGUNIT SkillsCV General Facility Particular Equipment Contact Results Publication Results Patent Results Product Service Funding Programme Event Classification Prize/Award PERSON CERIF DataModel

19 CERIF-CRIS at One Organisation CERIF-CRIS Managing Research Information at a researching or research funding organisation: decision support

20 CERIF-CRIS at One Organisation Publication repository CERIF-CRIS With associated scholarly publications providing deeper information on the research; metadata in the CERIF-CRIS

21 CERIF-CRIS at One Organisation Publication repository Dataset Software repository CERIF-CRIS And research datasets and software to allow detailed examination of the research method; metadata in the CERIF- CRIS Note: metadata for products and patents stored in CERIF- CRIS; detail elsewhere (e.g. national or international system)

22 CERIF-CRIS at One Organisation Publication repository Dataset Software repository Finance system CERIF-CRIS With financial information related to research activity to assess value for money

23 CERIF-CRIS at One Organisation Publication repository Dataset Software repository Finance system Human Resources system CERIF-CRIS And human resource information related to the research activity to ensure appropriate skills and resource availability

24 CERIF-CRIS at One Organisation Publication repository Dataset Software repository Finance system Human Resources system Project Management system CERIF-CRIS And project management information including milestones, deliverables and resources of the research to understand the research method This list of organisational ICT systems is not exclusive…

25 CERIF-CRIS at One Organisation Publication repository Dataset Software repository Finance system Human Resources system Project Management system CERIF-CRIS Directory Services And directory services to control research workflow, messaging, authentication, authorisation, access

26 CERIF-CRIS at One Organisation Publication repository Dataset Software repository Finance system Human Resources system Project Management system CERIF-CRIS Web pages Directory Services And generation of intranet (organisation), DMZ (trusted business partners) and extranet (public ) web-pages

27 CERIF-CRIS at One Organisation Publication repository Dataset Software repository Finance system Human Resources system Project Management system CERIF-CRIS Web pages Directory Services This is fine for one organisation but research is international, so…

28 CERIF Interoperation CERIF-CRIS CERIF provides interoperation of CRIS and associated systems with formal syntax and declared semantics so that it is reliable and scalable. Interconnect Backplane

29 Roles of CERIF-CRIS: Re-iteration Research information system for decision-support

30 Roles of CERIF-CRIS: Re-iteration Research information system for decision-support Metadata (index) to scholarly publications (white and grey) in a repository

31 Roles of CERIF-CRIS: Re-iteration Research information system for decision-support Metadata (index) to scholarly publications (white and grey) in a repository Metadata (index) to research datasets and software in a repository

32 Roles of CERIF-CRIS: Re-iteration Research information system for decision-support Metadata (index) to scholarly publications (white and grey) in a repository Metadata (index) to research datasets and software in a repository Access view to financial information of an organisation

33 Roles of CERIF-CRIS: Re-iteration Research information system for decision-support Metadata (index) to scholarly publications (white and grey) in a repository Metadata (index) to research datasets and software in a repository Access view to financial information of an organisation Access view to human resource information of an organisation

34 Roles of CERIF-CRIS: Re-iteration Research information system for decision-support Metadata (index) to scholarly publications (white and grey) in a repository Metadata (index) to research datasets and software in a repository Access view to financial information of an organisation Access view to human resource information of an organisation Access view to project management information of an organisation

35 Roles of CERIF-CRIS: Re-iteration Research information system for decision-support Metadata (index) to scholarly publications (white and grey) in a repository Metadata (index) to research datasets and software in a repository Access view to financial information of an organisation Access view to human resource information of an organisation Access view to project management information of an organisation (and to other relevant organisation systems)

36 Roles of CERIF-CRIS: Re-iteration Research information system for decision-support Metadata (index) to scholarly publications (white and grey) in a repository Metadata (index) to research datasets and software in a repository Access view to financial information of an organisation Access view to human resource information of an organisation Access view to project management information of an organisation (and to other relevant organisation systems) Provision of directory service information for authentication, authorisation, workflow, cooperative working…

37 Roles of CERIF-CRIS: Re-iteration Research information system for decision-support Metadata (index) to scholarly publications (white and grey) in a repository Metadata (index) to research datasets and software in a repository Access view to financial information of an organisation Access view to human resource information of an organisation Access view to project management information of an organisation (and to other relevant organisation systems) Provision of directory service information for authentication, authorisation, workflow, cooperative working… Generation of web pages presenting the organisation on intranet, DMZ and extranet directly or from other organisational systems through the CERIF-CRIS

38 Roles of CERIF-CRIS: Re-iteration Research information system for decision-support Metadata (index) to scholarly publications (white and grey) in a repository Metadata (index) to research datasets and software in a repository Access view to financial information of an organisation Access view to human resource information of an organisation Access view to project management information of an organisation (and to other relevant organisation systems) Provision of directory service information for authentication, authorisation, workflow, cooperative working… Generation of web pages presenting the organisation on intranet, DMZ and extranet directly or from other organisational systems through the CERIF-CRIS Interoperation with other CERIF-CRIS (and their associated systems) to give a global view of research information

39 Take-Home Message #1 Make the CERIF-CRIS the centre of the research organisation to a)Integrate all other systems b)Interoperate with external systems

40 Structure A little history Current (advanced) ICT infrastructure CERIF-CRIS in an organisation CERIF-CRIS in the ICT Infrastructure CERIF-CRIS and SOA –Metadata –Services CERIF-CRIS and infrastructure: Future Conclusions

41 Bringing it Together CERIF-CRIS server detectors e-e- i-i- k-k- Deduction & induction – human or machine Physical Information Systems server

42 CERIF-CRIS and ICT infrastructure A CERIF-CRIS is well- positioned in the i- infrastructure Implication is that it has to interact with –Upper middleware at bottom of i-infrastructure –K-lower middleware at top of i-infrastructure e-e- i-i- k-k- Lower middleware (hides physical heterogeneity) Upper middleware (hides syntactic heterogeneity) K- upper middleware (resolves semantic heterogeneity) K- lower middleware (presents declared semantics) CERIF- CRIS

43 Middleware and SOA Middleware is usually constructed using SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) techniques Each service is discrete with a clearly defined function It is described by metadata which covers its functional and non-functional properties Services can be composed (orchestrated, choreographed) into larger units –based on their metadata SOA replaces ad hoc interfaces between systems with a consistent architectural style

44 Take-Home Message #2 The infrastructure is being constructed now. CERIF-CRIS must be at the heart of the use of the infrastructure for research

45 Structure A little history Current (advanced) ICT infrastructure CERIF-CRIS in an organisation CERIF-CRIS in the ICT Infrastructure CERIF-CRIS and SOA –Metadata –Services CERIF-CRIS and infrastructure: Future Conclusions

46 CERIF-CRIS and SOA So we need to construct CERIF-CRIS so they can fit into this architecture There are two tasks: –Define the metadata to describe the services –Define the services (functions and their non- functional properties) required in a CRIS environment

47 Structure A little history Current (advanced) ICT infrastructure CERIF-CRIS in an organisation CERIF-CRIS in the ICT Infrastructure CERIF-CRIS and SOA –Metadata –Services CERIF-CRIS and infrastructure: Future Conclusions

48 Metadata for SOA-CRIS Fortunately classification and definition –Presented at CRIS1998 Luxembourg –Refined in a full GRIDs environment at a seminar in 2000 (published in Springer-Verlag LNCS) Related to work on publication metadata –Presented at Grey Literature Conference 1999 –And refined at CRIS2004 Antwerpen

49 Classification of Metadata data (document, software, service) SCHEMANAVIGATIONALASSOCIATIVE how to get it constrain it view to users

50 Classification of Metadata data (document, software, service) SCHEMANAVIGATIONALASSOCIATIVE how to get it constrain it view to users e.g. URI Descriptive e.g. formalised DC Restrictive e.g. rights, charges Supportive e.g. thesauri, ontologies To assure integrity

51 Example: Associative Metadata Scholarly Publication UniqueId PersonOrgUnit Security Privacy AccessLevel Charge Restrictive Annotation Classification Quality Assessment OrgUnit Publication Domain of CERIF Person Project ResourceIdentifier Subject Keywords Description Resource Type Coverage Temporal Coverage Spatial Title Descriptive Navigational

52 Structure A little history Current (advanced) ICT infrastructure CERIF-CRIS in an organisation CERIF-CRIS in the ICT Infrastructure CERIF-CRIS and SOA –Metadata –Services CERIF-CRIS and infrastructure: Future Conclusions

53 Services A ServiceComposed Services Functional Program Code (to deliver the service) Service description (descriptive metadata) Input Parameter definitions Output Parameter definitions Restrictions on use of service (restrictive metadata) Multiple Instances Parallel execution

54 Metadata for Services Just as data, information, documents can be characterised by metadata So can software (as services) And hardware And combinations can be wrapped together to form composed services (e.g server plus software plus information) –E.g. institutional repository –E.g. finance system User Interface A composed service

55 Structure A little history Current (advanced) ICT infrastructure CERIF-CRIS in an organisation CERIF-CRIS in the ICT Infrastructure CERIF-CRIS and SOA –Metadata –Services CERIF-CRIS and infrastructure: Future Conclusions

56 Advanced middleware concepts Intelligent Hyperactive Objects –To facilitate intelligent workflow –From Grey Literature Conference 2006 SOKU –To facilitate intelligent software construction –From EU Next Generation GRIDs Expert Group 2005 A glimpse of the future: the current advanced ICT R&D that will become mainstream

57 Intelligent Hyperactive Objects Hyperactive combines both –hyperlinking –active properties of a (grey) object. Hyperlinking implies multimedia components linked to form the object and also external links to other resources. The term active implies that objects do not (only) lie passively in a repository to be retrieved by end–users. They ‘get a life’ and the object moves through the network knowing where it is going. Grey Object (eg hyperlinked Document) metadata Encapsulated object agent Active rules relationships

58 CERIF-CRIS System Workflow authorise author authorise author action relationlink metadata author authorise deposit author authorise deposit review author authorise deposit review publication Push system Relation System author authorise deposit review publication push active rules Scholarly Publications Research Data and Software At author institution Scholarly Publications Scholarly Publications Scholarly Publications Research Data and Software Research Data and Software Research Data and Software At other institutions

59 A utility is a directly and immediately useable service with established functionality, performance and dependability, illustrating the emphasis on user needs and issues such as trust Services are knowledge- assisted (‘semantic’) to facilitate automation and advanced functionality, the knowledge aspect reinforced by the emphasis on delivering high level services to the user Service-Oriented Knowledge Utility NGG3 The architecture comprises services which may be instantiated and assembled dynamically, hence the structure, behaviour and location of software is changing at run-time;

60 Next Generation Grids Report 2005 NGG3 NGG1&NGG2 vision and research challenges Adaptability, Scalability, Dependability Raising the Level of Abstraction Trust and Security in Virtual Organizations Semantic Technologies Lifecycle Management Pervasiveness and Context Awareness of Services Future for European Grids: GRIDs and Service Oriented Knowledge Utilities – Vision and Research Directions 2010 and Beyond, December 2006 Vision and Research Directions 2010 and Beyond, December 2006 Human Factors and Societal Issues End-User – Business/Enterprise –Manufacturing/Industrial Research Topics Driving Scenarios

61 From Web towards SOKU NGG3

62 e- i- k- Lower middleware (hides physical heterogeneity) Upper middleware (hides syntactic heterogeneity) K- upper middleware (resolves semantic heterogeneity) K- lower middleware (presents declared semantics) SOKUs in middleware and application services K-componentI-componentE-componentMiddleware component

63 SOA, Intelligent Hyperactive Documents and SOKU Functional Program Code (to deliver the service) Service description (descriptive metadata) Input Parameter definitions Output Parameter definitions Restrictions on use of service (restrictive metadata) Grey Object (eg hyperlinked Document) metadata Encapsulated object agent Active rules relationships SOKU Software view Data view

64 Take-Home Message #3 There are exciting developments in R&D that can make it easier to use the infrastructure for purposes concerning research. CERIF-CRIS is exactly in line with these developments: get on the ‘train’ now because it is soon leaving.

65 Structure A little history Current (advanced) ICT infrastructure CERIF-CRIS in an organisation CERIF-CRIS in the ICT Infrastructure CERIF-CRIS and SOA –Metadata –Services CERIF-CRIS and infrastructure: Future Conclusions

66 Wake-up Call (again) The glimpse of the future is being developed now in the EC Framework 7 Programme –Challengers, 3S 2008: 10 years on from 1998 are we – the euroCRIS community - in danger again of missing out by not constructing CRIS such that they are ‘sexy’?

67 What Should We Do? We need to get ‘to the starting line’ so that CERIF-CRIS can be in the mainstream Step 1 is to use CERIF as information (for CRIS) and as metadata (for integrating other information) –Because it has formal syntax and defined semantics Step 2 is to define and create a set of services (SOA) to allow composition of higher-level services dynamically to satisfy the user requirements of CRIS and associated systems –So that the architecture is compatible with the developing infrastructure

68 Work to be done: Metadata Provide a strawman proposal for metadata for services, objects –Based on schema / navigational / associative (descriptive, restrictive, supportive) Gain general agreement Test in use-cases Revise as necessary Standardise (ETSI, W3C)  euroCRIS should be active in this to ensure CERIF-CRIS well-represented in the ICT infrastructure

69 CRIS Services The requirement is to define a set of services related to a CERIF-CRIS for its maintenance and use The obvious start-point is the relational algebra –Select, project, difference, union, join, update –Because it is formally defined and based on theory –And because it expects information to be in FoL Supplemented by functions for –Reporting, statistical analysis, prediction/simulation And for –interoperation

70 Work to be done: Services Provide a strawman proposal for CRIS services –Based on relational algebra and additional functions Gain general agreement Test in use-cases Revise as necessary Standardise (ETSI, W3C)  euroCRIS should be active in this to ensure CERIF-CRIS well-represented in the ICT infrastructure

71 Take-Home Messages #1 Make the CERIF-CRIS the centre of the research organisation to a)Integrate all other systems b)Interoperate with external systems

72 Take-Home Messages #1 Make the CERIF-CRIS the centre of the research organisation to a)Integrate all other systems b)Interoperate with external systems #2 The infrastructure is being constructed now. CERIF-CRIS must be at the heart of the use of the infrastructure for research

73 Take-Home Messages #1 Make the CERIF-CRIS the centre of the research organisation to a)Integrate all other systems b)Interoperate with external systems #2 The infrastructure is being constructed now. CERIF-CRIS must be at the heart of use of the infrastructure for research #3 There are exciting developments in R&D that can make it easier to use the infrastructure for purposes concerning research. CERIF-CRIS is exactly in line with these developments: get on the ‘train’ now because it is soon leaving.

74 Forward to the Future euroCRIS must seize this opportunity –Propose a metadata definition for services and objects –Propose the set of services required for a CRIS environment And so define CERIF-CRIS at the centre of the research environment across the e-, i-, k- infrastructure