Status Report on SIF to GEO ADC

1. Status Report on SIF to GEO ADC 6 Feb 2008 Siri-Jodha Singh Khalsa IEEE

2. Contents • Background • Recent Meetings • Current work • Regional Teams • Outstanding Issues • Schedule and Future Plans

3. GEOSS Interoperability Process • The purpose and design of the GEOSS architecture is centered on the goal of enabling and promoting synergy among diverse and independent systems • Thus the emphasis in GEOSS on interoperability • The first task in the first GEO Workplan in the Architecture category (Task AR-06-01) was to “Establish and maintain a process for reaching interoperability arrangements,...” • Includes process for recognizing existing standards in use by GEOSS components, and promoting and encouraging their adoption by other participants • helps extend and broaden whatever consensus has been achieved on common solutions.

4. GEOSS Standards Registry • The GEOSS Standards Registry is the reference database of interoperability arrangements for GEOSS • Contains information on service types, access protocols, data formats, schemas, and other information necessary to access and utilize the resource • Services registered in the Service Registry reference standards, or other interoperability “Special Arrangements,” registered in the Standards Registry

5. Special Arrangements(link from http://geossregistries.info)

6. The SIF • Although GEO encourages the use of open international standards, GEOSS must also accommodate the use of non-standard practices • So the Standards Registry also contains information on these non-standard practices, what are called “special arrangements.” • The process for entering special arrangements into the Standards Registry is handled by the Standards and Interoperability Forum or SIF

7. SIF Purpose and Goal • The Standards and Interoperability Forum provides advice, expertise and impartial guidance on issues relating to standards and interoperability for GEOSS. • The SIF’s goal is to enable ever greater degrees of interoperability among GEOSS components through facilitation, technical analysis, advocacy and education

8. SIF Objectives • The primary function of the SIF is to address situations where GEOSS components cannot interoperate using one of the registered standards or other interoperability arrangements. • The SIF will perform analyses and make recommendations to GEO Members and Participating Organizations that come to it for assistance with interoperability issues. • The ADC will call upon the SIF to support consensus-seeking in matters of GEOSS interoperability. • The SIF will support education and outreach to increase awareness of standards used in GEOSS.

9. GEOSS Clearinghouse GEOSS Component and Service Registries Community Catalogs Services Registry Components Registry Standards and Interoperability Forum GEO Portal GEOSS Contributor GEOSS Components& Services GEOSS Standards and Interoperability Registry Standards Special Arrangements Users

10. SIF Terms of Reference and Ops Procedures • The SIF Terms of Reference approved by co-chairs • distributed to ADC in September 2007 • The SIF Draft Operating Procedures reviewed by co-chairs • Available on SIF ftp site

11. Recent Meetings • Three meeting (Webex) since CapeTown • 6th SIF, 2007 Nov 11 • 7th SIF, 2007 Dec 20 • 8th SIF, 2008 Jan 24 • Averaging 11 participants • Minutes, other documents on ftp site • ftp://ftp.wmo.int/Projects/GEO/SIF

12. Registry Scrub • Seventy-two service entries analyzed • Looked for standards and special arrangements listed in service registry • Some match entries in standards registry, many don’t • Some don’t have contact information! • Requires contacting submitter for clarification, ask to fix entries as needed • Encourage to submit SAs as candidate entries for standards registry • Will soon have service registry standards picklist updated automatically from standards register

13. SIF Workflow • Developing workflow for SIF deliberation process • Every step of the process tracked, as an official workflow, and stored in a task database for easy review. • Regional teams are free to use SMEs as necessary. • At the end of handling a task, it is possible that the SCC may need to be involved.

14. Regional Teams - Established • SIF-China • Dr. Jiashen Zhang, co-chair, w/ Dr. Wenxiu Gao • SIF-Japan • Prof. Shibasaki, co-chair, w/ Mr.Takagi • SIF-S. America • Mrs. Patricia Alvarez, CONAE

15. Regional Teams – in Development • SIF-Europe • Stay tuned... • SIF-N. America • Martha Maiden, NASA HQ, • SIF-India • Vjay Jayaraman, ISRO, awaiting reply • SIF-Africa? • SIF-Australia?

16. Issues • Reconciliation of regional standards/profiles with GEOSS interoperability objectives • Granularity in standards registration • Registration of draft standards, before formal standardization process complete • Periodic reports on referenced standards and Special Arrangements from Services Registry • Linkages with Best Practices Wiki

17. Future Plans • Continue monthly telecons of core group • Initial meeting of Regional Team Leads proposed for 1st week of March • Begin transfer of tasks to RTs • Opportunities for face-to-face meetings • Rotate between RT locations (Japan, Europe, India, China, S. America, U.S.) • At GEOSS Workshops? • International conferences?