1. Metadata
Data & Services
Informatie Vlaanderen (BE)

2. Metadata – data & services
Use case
How can one find our
data and
services?
Metadata Data & Services

3. Search >> Catalogue >> Geoportal
Only when you describe your data and service through metadata your data sets & services enter the catalogue on the Geoportal in Flanders (BE)
Metadata Data & Services

4. Search >> Catalogue >> Geoportal
Proposal
In case of the proposed simplification : no one will be able to find services independantly but will be obliged to look for them via data
Metadata Data & Services

5. Search >> Catalogue >> Geoportal
Need for service catalogue exists
Developers need a service catalogue  current proposal ignores this use case
Services that combine several datasets are not discoverable without service catalogue
E.G. : Geolocation Service:
When implemented a user can search via adresses, parcels, cross border …  a search over a combination of data sources
The existence of such services is best described through a service catalogue (without having to go through all data that might be served through this service).
Metadata Data & Services

6. Search >> Catalogue >> Geoportal
W3C … : there is a need for service catalogues
W3C via it’s Dataset Exchange Working Group is looking into the use case of how developpers can directly find services instead of finding them as distributions of datasets !
Extract from the Use Case Description:
“Users often access datasets via web services. DCAT provides constructs for associating a resource described by dcat:Dataset with dcat:Distribution descriptions. However, the Distribution class provides only the dcat:accessURL and dcat:downloadURL properties for users to access/download something. It would be useful for users to gain more information about the web service endpoint and how users can interact with the data. If information about the web service is known with appropriate identifiers for the data, then users can understand additional context then invoke a call to the web service to access/download the dataset resource or subsets of it.” >> DCAT Distribution to describe web services [ID6]
Metadata Data & Services

7. Search >> Catalogue >> Geoportal
W3C via it’s Dataset Exchange Working Group is looking into the use case of how developpers can directly find services instead of finding them as distributions of datasets !
Metadata Data & Services

8. Search >> Catalogue >> Geoportal
Is there an alternative ?
Simplification
capabilities of geo-services = “source” + mapping these to metadata
providing future services with a standardisation for MD elements/capabilities
=> IV is currently drafting an API standard (DCAT-AP to MD)
This offers a way to ensure that services can be discovered individually in a catalogue
Simplification
by considering the capabilities of the current geo-services (WMS, WMTS, WFS, CSW, …) as “source” and mapping these to metadata (IV reads out the capabilities to service MD)
by providing geo-services (& other services like API’s) with a standardisation for crucial MD elements/capabilities so that these can be mapped to MD => we are currently drafting an API standard to ensure that the API’s themselves have enough MD elements that are conformant to DCAT-AP so that a mapping to service MD is possible.
Metadata Data & Services

9. Questions ?
CC: Ouns Kissiyar:

10. End User (data provider, developer, …)
Search >> Catalogue >> Geoportal
End User (data provider, developer, …)
- SEARCHING FOR -
Operates on:
UUIDREF: id van data UUID + xLINK: href: ID v metadata UUID MD DS MD
SRV MD DS
ISO-coupled R = id v data UUID DS
SRV DS FC FC
DISTR
DISTR
Metadata Data & Services