Universal Data Element Framework (UDEF)

The Semantic DNS and a Disaster Response Pilot Use Case

Ron Schuldt, ChairRon Schuldt, ChairThe Open Group UDEF ForumThe Open Group UDEF Forum

December 6, 2005December 6, 2005

AgendaAgenda• The Problem• The UDEF

• The Open Group UDEF participants• UDEF current status• The problem and associated UDEF business value• What the UDEF is and what it is not• A brief description of the UDEF• A metadata managed architecture that UDEF supports

• UDEF – Like A Semantic DNS• The UDEF Disaster Response Pilot Use Case

• A brief description of a UDEF pilot to support disaster response teams• Video clip of the UDEF disaster response pilot demo as of December 1, 2005

The ProblemThe Problem

Problem – Global PerspectiveProblem – Global PerspectiveEach organization is attempting to set its own semantics standardEach organization is attempting to set its own semantics standard

Each must interface with organizations they do not controlEach must interface with organizations they do not control

The problem is the The problem is the lack of common semanticslack of common semantics and and schema between organizationsschema between organizations

DoD

NASA

DHS

Ship Retail

Trans

Aero

ChemElecBanks

Other

Organization

Problem – Internal PerspectiveProblem – Internal Perspective

<PARTNUMBER>111-222-333</PARTNUMBER>

<partNumber>111-222-333</partNumber>

<PartNumber>111-222-333</PartNumber>

<partnumber>111-222-333</partnumber>

Though semantically equal, the following are 4 different XML tag names

App B App C

App A

Other Apps

Legacy Data

Conflicting semantic overlaps between back-office systems

The Legacy Applications IssueThe Legacy Applications Issue• Across the globe there are millions of legacy applications that

need to be Web enabled – in preparation for Web Services and SOA- XML and associated W3C standards address the syntax

requirements but an adopted semantics standard does not exist yet

• Users of the legacy applications consistently resist changing the names of the fields- The semantics solution needs to be non-intrusive to the application

user

The UDEFThe UDEF

The Open Group StaffThe Open Group Staff Lockheed MartinLockheed Martin UnicornUnicorn Safyre SolutionsSafyre Solutions IBMIBM RaytheonRaytheon BoeingBoeing CapgeminiCapgemini SICoPSICoP BEA SystemsBEA Systems AdobeAdobe ContivoContivo CemanticaCemantica OMGOMG OAGiOAGi NDIA-AFEINDIA-AFEI GEIAGEIA CompTIACompTIA

W3C Semantic WebW3C Semantic Web RosettaNetRosettaNet POSCPOSC SWIFTSWIFT Dublin Core MetadataDublin Core Metadata Global Exchange ServicesGlobal Exchange Services Chevron TexacoChevron Texaco Proctor & GambleProctor & Gamble Northrop GrummanNorthrop Grumman SAICSAIC ManTechManTech MITREMITRE EnvisionEnvision MetamatrixMetamatrix EricssonEricsson DLADLA Canadian GovernmentCanadian Government Penn State UniversityPenn State University

The Open Group UDEF ParticipantsThe Open Group UDEF Participants

And others

UDEF Current StatusUDEF Current StatusAs of May 2005, UDEF Officially Adopted by The Open GroupAs of May 2005, UDEF Officially Adopted by The Open Group• Goal - establish the UDEF as the universally-used categorization

system for data • Develop and maintain the UDEF as an open standard• Advocate and promote it• Put in place a technical infrastructure to support it• Implement a Registry for it, and• Set up education programs to train information professionals in its

use. Actual UDEF Trees are Viewable Online Actual UDEF Trees are Viewable Online

http://www.opengroup.org/udefinfo/defs.htm UDEF Pilot Submitted to Federal Semantic Interoperability UDEF Pilot Submitted to Federal Semantic Interoperability

Community of Practice (SICoP)Community of Practice (SICoP)• To enable manufacturing industry to support disaster response teams• Live UDEF Disaster Response use case demo shown October 20,

2005 at The Open Group Semantic Interoperability Conference in Houston – captured on video – updated on December 1, 2005

The Goal

Current Point-to-Point Approach --- n(n-1)

Global Semantics Standard Approach --- 2n

$$

Savings

GlobalSemanticsStandard

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Reduce Requirements and Design-Time Phase Semantics Analysis Time and Cost

UDEF Value Proposition

Typical Interface Build TasksTypical Interface Build Tasks Analyze and document the Analyze and document the

business requirementsbusiness requirements..

Analyze and document the Analyze and document the data interfaces (design time)data interfaces (design time) Compare data dictionariesCompare data dictionaries Identify gapsIdentify gaps Identify disparate forms of Identify disparate forms of

representationrepresentation

Perform data transformations Perform data transformations as required at run timeas required at run time Transform those data that Transform those data that

require itrequire it

API 1

Sys 1

API 2

Sys 2

UDEF ID Sys 2 Data NamesSys 1 Data Names

UIDUID

Part PricePart Price

Part UOMPart UOM

Ship QtyShip Qty

Part SerPart Ser

Part DescrPart Descr

Part NumPart Num

PO Line NumPO Line Num

Ship To IDShip To ID

Ship From Bus IDShip From Bus ID

Business IdBusiness Id

Accept LocAccept Loc

Date ShipDate Ship

PO NumPO Num

Part UIDPart UID

Prod Unit PriceProd Unit Price

Prod UnitProd Unit

Qty ShipQty Ship

Prod SerProd Ser

Prod DescrProd Descr

Prod NumberProd Number

Order LineOrder Line

Ship To CodeShip To Code

Ship From CodeShip From Code

Company CodeCompany Code

Accept PointAccept Point

Ship DtShip Dt

Order IDOrder ID

9_54.89_54.8

9_1.2.19_1.2.1

9_1.18.49_1.18.4

9_10.119_10.11

9_1.1.31.89_1.1.31.8

9_9.14.149_9.14.14

9_9.35.89_9.35.8

d.t.2_1.17.8d.t.2_1.17.8

a.a.v.3_6.35.8a.a.v.3_6.35.8

3_6.35.83_6.35.8

3_6.35.83_6.35.8

i.0_1.1.71.4i.0_1.1.71.4

9_1.32.69_1.32.6

d.t.2_13.35.8d.t.2_13.35.8

Reduces dependency on system expert

Allows automated compare

UDEF Value

Reduce design time labor

Step toward automated transform

UDEF – Is and Is NotUDEF Is Not ……

• A software application

• However, software applications need to adopt UDEF within their APIs

• Another data standard

• It acts as the glue to tie data standards together

• Another ontology

• It could help build the bridge between ontologies

UDEF Is ……

• A “loose coupling” method for integrating semantics across disparate systems

• Allows automation to help align disparate systems – thereby reducing the design-time phase that is typically manual

• A standards compliant rules-based naming convention

• Conforms to ISO/IEC 11179 and to ebXML Core Components

• Evolving to become a global open standard – a Semantic DNS

UDEF Built on Standards

Data Element Name

Object Class Term

0...n qualifiers +1 or more required

Object Class+

Example UDEF-Based Data Element NamesDocument Abstract TextEnterprise NameProduct Price AmountProduct Scheduled Delivery DateEngineering Design Process Cost Amount

UDEF ObjectClass List• Entity• Document• Enterprise• Place• Program• Product• Process• Person• Asset• Law-Rule• Environment• Condition• Liability• Animal• Plant• Mineral• Event

Property Term

0..n qualifiers +1 required Property

ebXMLProperty List• Amount• Code• Date• Date Time• Graphic• Identifier• Indicator• Measure• Name• Percent• Picture• Quantity• Rate• Text• Time• Value• Sound• Video

An Instantiation of ISO 11179-5 Naming Convention and Supports ebXML

UDEF names follow the rules of English – qualifiers precede the word they modify

ISO 11179-5 Naming Convention

ISO/IEC 11179 – Data Element Concept

DataElementConcept

DataElement

ValueDomain

ObjectObjectClassClass

PropertyProperty RepresentationRepresentation

CoreData

Element

ApplicationData

Element

UDEF Maps Data Element Concepts

Creating UDEF IDsUDEF Trees

17 Object Class Trees 18 Property Trees

Entity Asset Document Amount Code… …

Order

ChangeWork Technical

t

Purchase

20 1

a b c d

Type Defined…Region …

41…

1 33 66

…

Purchase Order Document_Type Code has UDEF ID = d.t.2_33.4

See http://www.opengroup.org/udefinfo/defs.htm

Example Mappings

PDM Sys APart No

OAGIS 7.1ItemX

X12 (EDI)Product/Service ID

STEP AP 203Product ID

PDM Sys BPart Num

RosettaNetProprietaryProductIdentifier

EDIFACTItem Number

xCBLPartID

9_9.35.8

UDEF Universal IdentifierProduct(9)_Manufacturer(9).Assigned (35).Identifier(8)

N (N-1) mapping effort instead becomes a 2N mapping effort

Organizations cannot avoid multiple data standards** Need global semantics standard **

A Metadata Managed Architecture

EAI

Transformation Engines

Interfaces to Back-Office

Systems

• Data Dictionary

• Mapping Matrices

• Std XML Schema

UDEF-Indexed Metadata Registry/Repository

InterfaceDevelopers

Run Time

Data ModelersAnd Apps Developers

Design Time

Internet

UDEFChange Board

Global UDEF Registry

Vendors with Canonical Models

Software Vendors

with UDEF IDAPIs Web

Public

Extend Matrices

UseMatrices

Std Schema

UDEF-Indexed Metadata Registries

Build/Extend Schema

Centralized metadata registry/repository• Enables reuse to reduce costs• Encourages standardization

UDEF – Like A Semantic DNSUDEF – Like A Semantic DNS

Like A Semantic DNS

Emergency Management

Inventory

Transportation

Geographic Location

Electrical Goods

A Few Example Domain Ontologies

UDEFDomain Concept

Service

Realizing The UDEF RegistryUDEF Registry in Unicorn

UDEF Term

UDEF Object

UDEF Property

Unicorn Semantic Mapping

Semantic Class Mapping

Semantic Property Mapping

UDEF Disaster Response Pilot UDEF Disaster Response Pilot Use CaseUse Case

The Open Group StaffThe Open Group Staff Lockheed MartinLockheed Martin UnicornUnicorn Safyre SolutionsSafyre Solutions

UDEF Pilot ParticipantsUDEF Pilot Participants

Pilot SummaryPilot SummaryNatural disaster response team shows up lacking batteries to Natural disaster response team shows up lacking batteries to

operate GPS system and walkie-talkie for 200 search and rescue operate GPS system and walkie-talkie for 200 search and rescue workers – need eight hundred 9-volt batteries to even begin the workers – need eight hundred 9-volt batteries to even begin the search and rescue effortsearch and rescue effort

• Assumes that UDEF has been adopted globally and that UDEF IDs are exposed at company portals

• Goal – determine if resources might be available nearby within a manufacturer’s or supplier’s inventory

• Uses two UDEF tags (IDs) to locate available resources in a battery manufacturer’s inventory near the response team command center – an ad hoc query since formal interface not previously defined

• Use UDEF ID tags to support semantic integration of disparate procurement applications that use different purchase order semantics

• Two vendors currently involved – Unicorn and Safyre Solutions

UDEF Disaster Response Architecture

HTTP/XML

NineVolt.Lithium.Battery.PRODUCT_Inventory.QUANTITY a.a.aj.9_36.11 NineVolt.Lithium.Battery.PRODUCT_Postal.Zone.CODE a.a.aj.9_1.10.4

Two UDEF IDs in outbound message

Open Group Global UDEF

Registry/Repository

Battery Manufacturers’ Industry UDEF Registry

UDEF Disaster Response Video

UDEF – Like A Semantic DNS Index

Domain Ontologies

UDEFDomain Concept

Service

For Additional InformationISO/IEC 11179 – Specification and standardization of data elements

http://isotc.iso.ch/livelink/livelink/fetch/2000/2489/Ittf_Home/PubliclyAvailableStandards.htm

The OPEN GROUP UDEF Forum Web Sitehttp://www.opengroup.org/udef/

Videos of the live UDEF Disaster Response Pilot demohttp://www.opengroup.org/udefinfo/demo0511/demos.htm Oct 20, 2005

http://www.opengroup.org/projects/udef/doc.tpl?CALLER=index.tpl&gdid=9189 Dec 1, 2005

For Possible Follow-up Implementations - ContactDr. Chris Harding – c.harding@opengroup.org

Ron Schuldt – ron.l.schuldt@lmco.com

Loren Osborn – loren.osborn@unicorn.com

Al Slater – aslater@safyre.com