1. NSF DataNet Initiative
Research Agenda
NSF DataNet Initiative
Site Visit 8 February 2010
DataSpace
Some general comments plus one specific example …
(v8)

2. DataSpace Research: Risk Management Spectrum
Lowest risk: Incremental improvements to starting operational Dspace/Fedora (DuraSpace) platform
Guaranteed useful tool for curation of scientific data
Minor risk: Inclusion of existing and operational components including those suggested by partners, such as XAM (EMC), OpenII (Google), etc.
Risk: Selection, Integration
Modest risk: Adapting existing and evolving research technologies & prototypes (e.g., Context Interchange)
Risks: Make robust, Scaling, and Integration

3. Some Research Areas Listed in Proposal (p.10-14)
Data policy, protection and security (Abelson, Berners-Lee, Pato, Weitzner, White)
Data discovery and data semantics (Madnick, Siegel, Smith)
Data quality & provenance (Madnick, Abelson)
Data analysis and analytics
Model calibration and mediation (Woon)
Operational Scientific Intelligence (Hsu)
High-speed pre-processing and data consistency (Hsu)
Data visualization (Karger)
Workflow for scientific research and archives (Smith)
Data storage (Todd, Milojicic)
Legal issues with data (Wilbanks)
Data interoperability, conversion, integration (Madnick, Smith)

4. Types of Semantic Differences
Representational
Ontological
Temporal
Simple Example
(snow fall)
Temporal
Representational
Meter vs Feet
Feet before 2001,
Meters afterward
Ontological
“Snow fall” – using standard "snowboard” method or other method (e.g., liquid)
“Snowboard” before 1990, liquid method afterward
Given recent situation – measuring “snow fall” seems like a very relevant example.
Q: How many familiar with “snowboard” method?
Briefly describe: "snowboard“ method.
Essentially this is a piece of wood about 16" by 16" that is painted white.
The snowboard should be wiped clean every six hours or so to prevent the natural settling of fallen snow from occurring.
In addition, these should be placed well away from structures and obstructions -- about 20 to 30 feet if possible -- in order to prevent drifting from inflating the totals as well.
NOAA – has some differences.
Another approach uses liquid precipitation (melted snow): in general an inch of water is equal to about 10 inches of snow.
Snow Depth is a Different Measurement
CoCoRaHS, a network of precipitation observers, describes it this way: "For example, if half the ground has 2" of old snow and the other half of the ground is already bare, the average snowdepth would be 1"."

5. COntext INterchange (COIN) Approach to Resolving Semantic Differences
Concept: Depth
Modifiers: Meters Feet
f()
Meters Feet
Specialized symbolic equation solving techniques used to dynamically create comprehensive conversion programs from small conversion components
Light-weight
Ontologies with
Context Modifiers
Shared
Ontologies
Conversion
Creation
Mediation & Transformation uses an integrated framework of abductive and constraint logic programming
Context
Mediator
Declarative description of Source’s actual semantics
Source
Context
Declarative description of Receiver’s desired/expected semantics
Receiver
Context 2 1
Select depth x 3.35
From dataset A
Where id =“12AY”
Select depth
From dataset A
Where id =“12AY”
Note animation …
Steps:
SQL Query
Gets raw data and checks on source context (Meter)
Sees if matches receiver context (Feet)
Sees if knows how to do conversion (Meters -> Feet)
If so, converts to feet (e.g., about 55 feet) and returns data to receiver.
depth
Context
Transformation 17
55.25 3
Source
(Data set A)
Receiver 10

6. Intuition – Capability for automatic determination of complex conversion programs
Dataset A context
Depth notion
std 1
meters
Scale factor
Depth units
Component conversions are provided along modifier axes
Composite conversions between any cubes in the space can be composed automatically
std
std
1000 1
meters
feet

7. Research Agenda DataSpace
Will draw on extensive research experience and on-going efforts of the entire DataSpace team, including research by our corporate partners
Much more details on these research efforts to date can be found in the more than 200 papers, written by the research team, and listed in the References section of the DataSpace Full Proposal
Collectively the proposed research efforts represent an ambitious research agenda.
We will present two more examples …