1. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 1 Introduction to the SIF Steven F. Browdy, IEEE steven.browdy@ieee.org

2. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 2 Topics to Discuss Role of the SIF within GEOSS The SIF’s mission A Brief history of the SIF The Terms of Reference The Operating Procedures Composition of the SIF SIF Accomplishments Current Activities Near-Term Plans Roles for SIF participants Pressing technical matters for this workshop

3. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 3 The SIF’s Role The SIF serves as the interoperability advocate, both within GEOSS and with respect to GEOSS providers The SIF acts to: –facilitate interoperability and its understanding –perform technical analysis in support of recommendations on standards and interoperability –advocate for interoperability within and outside GEOSS –educate the GEOSS community with respect to standards and interoperability

4. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 4 The SIF’s Mission The Standards and Interoperability Forum will facilitate the interchange of information, and the development of recommendations, for standards and interoperability in GEOSS. In support of this mission, the SIF will provide advice, expertise and impartial guidance on issues relating to standards and interoperability for GEOSS.

5. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 5 The SIF – A Short History Formed by the ADC in 2007, and reports to the ADC 2007 –First meeting in Barcelona in 2007 –Terms of Reference and Operating Procedures created 2008 –Teleconferences begin in earnest –Overall workflow process discussed –Regional teams begin formation 2009 –Regional teams operating –Workflow system deployed –Review of SIR entries begin –Outreach to other related GEOSS tasks –CFP 2 released

6. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 6 Terms of Reference Speaks to the objectives of the SIF: –to address situations where GEOSS components cannot interoperate using one of the registered standards or other special arrangements –to encourage the broader use of existing standards and support consensus-seeking in matters of GEOSS interoperability –etc… Discusses composition and organization Found at http://seabass.ieee.org under “Operating Documents”http://seabass.ieee.org

7. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 7 Operating Procedures Approach and functions Primary activities Meetings and reporting Criteria for acceptance of nominated standards and special arrangements into the Standards and Interoperability Registry (SIR) Draft workflow for SIR entry review Found at http://seabass.ieee.org under “Operating Documents”http://seabass.ieee.org This document will be revisited Friday

8. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 8 Modified Draft Workflow

9. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 9 Composition of the SIF Experts nominated by GEO Members and Participating Organizations Subject matter experts who possess an understanding of the protocols, standard arrangements and other technological practices specific to a particular domain of knowledge, community of practice or other endeavor in support of the GEOSS designated Societal Benefit Areas. The roles that members fill will be discussed in a bit…

10. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 10 Accomplishments Regional teams formed and operating Design and development of SIR Review of standards and special arrangements via formal process Deployment of workflow system Design and deployment of interoperability between CSR and SIR Call for broader participation

11. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 11 CSR – SIR Interoperability CSR users can nominate SIR entries while registering services at the CSR SIR registration form, taxonomy, and standards are updated dynamically at the CSR based upon checksums Notifications are used between the SIR and CSR to notify CSR users of SIR modifications

12. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 12 Current Activities Assessing the current status of GEOSS interoperability –Participation in other GEOSS tasks Determining convergence to a reduced set of GEOSS-registered standards –Involves special arrangements, as well as standards, from the SIR –Options to be discussed Friday Pursuing opportunities to advance semantic interoperability –GEO Ontology task (AR-09-01d) –Harmonization task (DA-09-01b) –Data Integration and Analysis Systems (DA-09-02a) –Architecture Implementation Pilot (AR-09-01b) Establishing cooperative arrangements with other standards groups –NASA Standards Process Group –IEEE-SA –IOOS DMAC –OGC

13. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 13 Near-Term Plans Develop a set of recommendations on standards and interoperability for GEOSS Develop a controlled vocabulary for interoperability advocacy Establish outreach and education program Begin a formal process of involvement with other interoperability-related GEO tasks Review of Version 2 of the Standards Taxonomy

14. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 14 Current Standards Taxonomy Metadata Data Format Catalog/Registry Service Data Access Streaming Protocols Semantics Portrayal and Display Service Data Acquisition Engineering Process Data Transformation Services QA/QC Schema Modeling, Simulation, or Analytic Processing Service Archival Communications and Telecommunications Development Environments and Software Languages Technical Documentation

15. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 15 Map of New Taxonomy

16. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 16 SIF Participation The SIF has identified a set of key roles that possess responsibilities necessary for carrying out the mission of the SIF. These roles are: –Core Management Team – this is the main management role, involved with the fundamental issues of the SIF. This includes analysis, management, and oversight of all SIF duties, activities, and plans. Individuals in this role take part in bi-weekly teleconference meetings, and contribute to task execution, as necessary. –Regional Team Member – this role operates within the Regional Team and supports the Core Management Team in dispensing with actions and responsibilities of the SIF. –SIR Overseer - this role is responsible for reviewing the SIR entries as they are submitted. Each entry is reviewed for correctness of information provided, as well as appropriateness for inclusion in the registry. Individuals in this role are engaged in ongoing oversight of the SIR in order to maintain its integrity.

17. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 17 SIF Participation Continuing with the roles: –Registry and Interoperability Tester - this role is responsible for the ongoing analysis and testing of the SIR and related GCI components. As changes are made to the evolving GCI, regression tests, as well as testing of new functionality and usability must be undertaken. This effort will result in periodic reports to the SIF Core Team regarding existing bugs with the GCI components, usability issues, and suggestions for new features or enhancements. There is a database maintained for test scripts and test results. –Interoperability Advocate - this role is responsible for the education of, and the outreach to, GEOSS providers and consumers regarding interoperability within GEOSS. Individuals in this role will gather information on interoperability activities from related GEO tasks, Work Groups, and Communities of Practice, and facilitate cross- communication between task groups. The information gathered will be used to generate appropriate documentation for dissemination in support of GEOSS interoperability.

18. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 18 SIF Participation Continuing with the roles: –Interoperability Advisor / Domain Expert - this role is responsible for technical assistance to GEOSS providers. Individuals in this role will act as consultants to organizations involved with making their data and services available to GEOSS. Activities include assistance with the registering of components, services, standards, and special arrangements, assistance with metadata, and assistance with the use of standards and special arrangements to offer a service to GEOSS.

19. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 19 Pressing Matters Convergence on “recommended” standards for GEOSS Data access –Authentication/single login –Digital Rights Management (DRM) –Provenance/Attribution –Billing Usage of GEOSS resources –Automation –Publish-Find-Bind use case Alternate search mechanisms Semantic interoperability Taxonomy of GEOSS Standards and Special Arrangements

20. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 20 To Become a SIF Contributor Respond to the SIF Call for Participation –Participate in any of the roles discussed –A Core Management Team member must submit a CV/Resume –ftp://ftp.wmo.int/Projects/GEO/SIF_CFP/GEO-SIF-CFP-2009.pdf Fill in SIF Contribution form by navigating to http://seabass.ieee.org and clicking on “Register as SIF Contributor”http://seabass.ieee.org

21. GEOSS Interoperability Workshop November 12-13, 2009 21 Thank You… Q&A