Interoperability Working Group

It is increasingly becoming important to query and exchange geological information between geological data providers for legal, social, environmental and geoscientific reasons. Coincidentally, technological opportunities arising from the evolution of geospatial and geological information standards are making interoperability a viable endeavor.

In recognition of these trends the Interoperability Working Group was formed, which aims to develop relevant and timely standards and test them within the context of individual agency activities. The ultimate objective of the working group is to enable seamless web integration of select information hosted at different agencies in varied formats.

More specific objectives are

• to develop a conceptual model of geoscientific information drawing on existing data models
• to implement an agreed subset of this model in an agreed schema language
• implement an XML/GML encoding of the model subset
• develop a testbed to illustrate the potential of the data model for interchange
• identify areas that require standardised classifications in order to enable interchange

The working group has set up six task groups to address specific aspects of the work:-

• UseCases and Requirements task group is developing technical goals for GeoSciML by describing new use-cases and requirements;
• GeoSciML Design task group is working on the design of GeoSciML;
• Service Architecture is developing and documenting the formal architecture required to deliver GeoSciML services
• Implementation Test Bed task group is working on interoperability testbeds using GeoSciML;
• Outreach and Technical Assistance task group provides advice and assistance to direct collaborators, assisting them to deploy conformant GeoSciML Services;
• Geoscience Concept Definitions task group is responsible for designing vocabulary services that satisfy the requirements of GeoSciML.

Materials developed by the Interoperability Working Group, including the GeoSciML UML schema, XML/GML schema, conformance criteria, instance documents and documentation, will be made available from the GeoSciML page.

GeoSciML development work is mainly carried out on a Twiki site where detailed information about all aspects of the work can be found. We welcome participation in these discussions from all those interested in the development of geoscience interchange standards. A password is required for such participation and you can apply for one by mailing John Laxton (jll@bgs.ac.uk) giving your accreditiation and outlining your interest and involvement in geoscience interoperability.

Occasional face to face meetings are also held. These are by invitation to those who have been active in the relevant Twiki discussions and are designed to provide a concentrated period of development and decision making.