Interoperable Management Research Articles

CropScape: A Web service based application for exploring and disseminating US conterminous geospatial cropland data products for decision support

The Cropland Data Layer (CDL) contains crop and other specific land cover classifications obtained using remote sensing for the conterminous United States. This raster-formatted and geo-referenced product has been widely used in such applications as disaster assessments, land cover and land use research, agricultural sustainability studies, and agricultural production decision-making. The traditional CDL data distribution channels include paper thematic maps, email data requests, CD/DVD media, and ftp bulk downloading. To effectively and efficiently meet the growing needs of our customers, CropScape (the name invented for a new interactive Web CDL exploring system) was developed to query, visualize, disseminate, and analyze CDL data geospatially through standard geospatial Web services in a publicly accessible online environment. CropScape not only offers the online functionalities of interactive map operations, data customization and downloading, crop acreage statistics, charting and graphing, and multitemporal change analysis as well in an interoperable manner, but also provides Web geoprocessing services such as automatic data delivery and on-demand crop statistics for uses in other applications. This system delivers dynamic user experiences with its comprehensive capabilities in an open geospatial context, and facilitates delivery and analysis of geospatial cropland information for decision support and various research endeavors. More than 17,000 users around the world have visited CropScape in its first 5months of availability.

ONTO-PDM: Product-driven ONTOlogy for Product Data Management interoperability within manufacturing process environment

This paper proposes an approach for facilitating systems interoperability in a manufacturing environment. It is based on the postulate that an ontological model of a product may be considered as a facilitator for interoperating all application software that share information during the physical product lifecycle. The number of applications involved in manufacturing enterprises may in fact refer to the knowledge that must be embedded in it, appropriately storing all its technical data based on a common model. Standardisation initiatives (ISO and IEC) try to answer the problem of managing heterogeneous information scattered within organizations, by formalising the knowledge related to product technical data. The matter of this approach is to formalise all those technical data and concepts contributing to the definition of a Product Ontology, embedded into the product itself and making it interoperable with applications, thus minimising loss of semantics.

PROTECTRAIL – The Railway-Industry Partnership for Integrated Security of Rail Transport

Devastating events such as the 9/11 attacks, as well as the London and Madrid bombings have magnified the need for enhancement in security, particularly in areas of high civilian density. Rail transport is one of those areas and combined with the “globalisation” of security risks, the need for rail security stakeholders to work together and share knowledge has been heightened.PROTECTRAIL is a research project, which seeks to provide a range of integrated railway security solutions. The project follows on directly from the TRIPS project, which sought to design and demonstrate an anti-terrorist detection system.PROTECTRAIL aims to provide a future-proof approach, which can be practicably applied in a realistic context; therefore the project focuses on integrating technologies in an interoperable manner. To achieve this, PROTECTRAIL has agreed on a common architectural design framework, which will ensure that the solutions developed can interface with each other and behave as decoupled Services orchestrated to create systems that are suitable for complex threat scenarios.The principle objectives of this project are to address the security requirements in a future-proof approach in a rail industry where life expectancy of systems is of several decades, while threats and unsocial behaviours change on a daily basis. Accordingly, the project develops a host Service Oriented based architecture and the first elements of a “toolbox” (processes and technologies) to take care of the prominent current needs.The document concentrates on this future-proof architecture, consistent with the current ICT visions, with the aim that the results from this project provide the basis for the future design of homogenous security systems.

Gateway to Improving ERM System Deliverables: NISO ERM Data Standards and Best Practices Review

Seven years after the Digital Library Foundation's (DLF) pioneering 2004 Electronic Resources Management Initiative (ERMI) report, challenges with electronic resource management (ERM) system implementation, interoperability, management, and workflow issues remain. In 2009 the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) formed the ERM Data Standards and Best Practices Review Steering Committee to undertake a gap analysis of ERM-related data, standards, and best practices with current and future e-resources management needs in mind. In this session a member of the Steering Committee presented an overview of the project and focused on initial results of the review, including mappings from the DLF ERMI data dictionary to a range of other current standards and best practices. This presentation was based on the draft of an unpublished discussion paper authored by the members of the NISO ERM Data Standards and Best Practices Review Steering Committee.

Quality of service provisioning in worldwide interoperability for microwave access networks based on cooperative game theory

Quality of service (QoS) is a critical issue in the design and management of worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WIMAX) networks. In this study, the authors propose a novel two-tier QoS framework and a scheduling scheme for QoS provisioning in WiMAX networks based on the Nash bargaining solution (NBS) obtained from cooperative game theory. The framework cannot only offer Pareto optimality for the entire system, but also assure fairness for each service and connection. They apply the NBS into the issue of QoS service in WiMAX networks. They utilise the equivalent optimisation problem to obtain the bargaining point. The parameters of the optimisation model have been verified by analysing the characteristics of each service flow in the WiMAX networks. A heuristic scheduling algorithm has been designed to implement the optimised solution. The effectiveness of the proposal has been verified by experimental results, which can show much better performance in terms of delay, loss rate and throughput.

User-centric identity management: An oxymoron or the key to getting identity management right?

There are many drivers for strengthening identity management (IdM) in the digital environment. They include: countering identity fraud, identity theft or identity takeover, border control and traveler identification; individual convenience; or better customer service for individuals. A range of approaches are being considered in the public and private sector. Experience is showing that IdM succeeds best where it builds in two way trust and is not perceived by users as yet another policing action. The challenge is even greater if individuals believe that IdM will put all the powers and discretions in the hands of the institution to collect more personal information which is then linked, used, or disclosed. For IdM, the key to success is increasingly to understand and design with individual interests, as well as government or organisation interests, in mind. This paper looks at the concept of user-centric IdM and suggests some defining features. It will draw on experience and developments in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Scandinavia to highlight issues that may help or hinder the delivery of effective user centric IdM. These include choices about centralised versus distributed identity, the impact of each country's culture and history, the approach taken to risk allocation and the importance of keeping agendas simple and transparent. Recognition of the importance of these issues is gathering pace. It has moved from the realm of the advocate, through academia and into mainstream, commercial development, even to the point of creating a unique effort at building interoperable ID management systems that respect user centric principles. User centric IdM is possible with the right mix of individual control, fair risk allocation and accountability.

E-invoicing in Europe: Now and the future

This paper describes the current state of electronic invoicing in Europe and the key elements of the proposal by the European Commission’s Expert Group to move this important issue forward and gain huge benefits for Europe’s economy. It shows how the planned European e-Invoicing Framework is expected to establish a common conceptual structure, including business models and standards, and proposes solutions supporting the provision of e-invoicing services in an open and interoperable manner across Europe. It also outlines a set of actionable recommendations and proposals. Finally, perspectives for the future beyond e-invoicing are outlined.

INFELT STEP: An integrated and interoperable platform for collaborative CAD/CAPP/CAM/CNC machining systems based on STEP standard

Integrated product development is comprised of CAD, process planning and CNC code generation based on an integrated data structure. To make various CAD/CAM software solutions with different internal product data structures interoperable, it is necessary to realise reliable and robust information exchange capability in a manufacturing environment. To enable interoperability amongst integrated product development processes, management of collaboration of diverse CAD/CAM software packages is of outmost importance. In this article, the fundamental requirements for achieving interoperability and collaboration management in an integrated, enterprise-wide, product development process environment are discussed. Based on these requirements, the present prominent integrated, interoperable and collaborative CAD/CAM information system platforms are comparatively reviewed. There are two main paradigms for development of such platforms – viz. neutral-file based and procedure based. The merits and limitations of each paradigm are discussed. To overcome the limitations of the current present platforms, a three-layered integrated and interoperable platform, named INFELT STEP, for collaborative and interoperable product design/development using different and diverse CAD/CAPP/CAM/CNC software is proposed. This platform conjugates the capabilities of both main paradigms to eliminate their limitations. The layered structure of INFELT STEP caters for the requirements of an integrated, interoperable and collaborative computer-based manufacturing and supports the entire range of software packages in the CAD/CAPP/CAM product development chain. In this platform, each software package can send product data based on its own internal data structures to other packages that are linked to and communicate with this platform. Different layers of INFELT STEP convert software packages' processed data to its structured data models, which are based on the STEP standard-and then store them in its database. Conversely, INFELT STEP layers can retrieve structured data stored in its database and convert them to the format acceptable by a specific CAD/CAM/CAPP software package that is cooperating in a production workflow. This proposed platform manages the collaboration of CAD/CAM software packages, maintains the integration of CAD/CAM/CNC operations based on STEP data models, and also enables interoperability of such packages with different local data structures. The capabilities of INFELT STEP are demonstrated by using it in a prototype implementation.

Interoperability for First Responders and Emergency Management: Definition, Need, and the Path Forward

AbstractA definition of a culture of interoperability between members of the first responder community is the subject of this review. The justification for, keys to, and roadblocks preventing the creation of an interoperable culture within emergency response are considered. Also considered is how such a culture may be cultivated. Finally, the public policy context of training in the first responder community as a tool to create interoperable communities is discussed.

Approaching the rights management interoperability problem using intelligent brokerage mechanisms

The digital content industry is facing significant challenges. One of the most significant challenges is the Intellectual Property protection. This challenge has been addressed technologically by using Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems that on a first stage ensured the appropriate management over digital content. However, rights management systems, as they are today, are completely non-interoperable, creating immense problems to the digital content final users. Perhaps one of the biggest problems is the fact that the same digital content that is governed by different rights management systems cannot be exchanged between different rights governance systems. This paper presents some of the work that has been performed under the framework of the VISNET-II Network of Excellence (NoE) to address some of the rights management systems interoperability problems. The approach followed by the proposed work consists on the usage of service description and service-oriented architectures as a mean to create a common and interoperable environment between the different systems.

An open repositories network development for medical teaching resources.

The lack of interoperability between repositories of heterogeneous and geographically widespread data is an obstacle to the diffusion, sharing and reutilization of those data. We present the development of an open repositories network taking into account both the syntactic and semantic interoperability of the different repositories and based on international standards in this field. The network is used by the medical community in France for the diffusion and sharing of digital teaching resources. The syntactic interoperability of the repositories is managed using the OAI-PMH protocol for the exchange of metadata describing the resources. Semantic interoperability is based, on one hand, on the LOM standard for the description of resources and on MESH for the indexing of the latter and, on the other hand, on semantic interoperability management designed to optimize compliance with standards and the quality of the metadata.

The LEMO annotation framework: weaving multimedia annotations with the web

Cultural institutions and museums have realized that annotations contribute valuable metadata for search and retrieval, which in turn can increase the visibility of the digital items they expose via their digital library systems. By exploiting annotations created by others, visitors can discover content they would not have found otherwise, which implies that annotations must be accessible and processable for humans and machines. Currently, however, there exists no widely adopted annotation standard that goes beyond specific media types. Most institutions build their own in-house annotation solution and employ proprietary annotation models, which are not interoperable with those of other systems. As a result, annotation data are usually stored in closed data silos and visible and processable only within the scope of a certain annotation system. As the main contribution of this paper, we present the LEMO Annotation Framework. It (1) provides a uniform annotation model for multimedia contents and various types of annotations, (2) can address fragments of various content-types in a uniform, interoperable manner and (3) pulls annotations out of closed data silos and makes them available as interoperable, dereferencable Web resources. With the LEMO Annotation Framework annotations become part of the Web and can be processed, linked, and referenced by other services. This in turn leads to even higher visibility and increases the potential value of annotations.

Interoperability of Learning Objects Copyright in the LUISA Semantic Learning Management System

Semantic Web technology is able to provide the required computational semantics for interoperability of learning resources across different Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Learning Object Repositories (LOR). The EU research project LUISA (Learning Content Management System Using Innovative Semantic Web Services Architecture) addresses the development of a reference semantic architecture for the major challenges in the search, interchange, and delivery of learning objects in a service-oriented context. One of the key issues, highlighted in this paper, is Digital Rights Management (DRM) interoperability. A Semantic Web approach to copyright management has been followed, which places a Copyright Ontology as the key component for interoperability among existing DRM systems and other licensing schemes like Creative Commons. Moreover, Semantic Web tools like reasoners, rule engines and semantic queries facilitate the implementation of an interoperable copyright management component in the LUISA architecture.

Interoperable Internet Mapping—An Open Source Approach

The development of geographic information systems (GIS) is now being accompanied by an increasing popularity of Internet GIS mapping services. This study concerns two important issues with Internet GIS interoperability and Open source resources. Centering on the interplay of these two issues, we provide a systematic overview of techniques that have been used to deliver Internet GIS mapping and the relevance of the two issues with regard to these techniques. We then present a standard-and-open-source-based framework for Internet GIS mapping services to achieve data interoperability and high visual quality. The framework employs the Web Feature Service (WFS) to handle vector data and raster data. The Geography Markup Language (GML) standard is used for interoperable data storage and management. The Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG) standard is used to visualize GML data in web browsers. Two preliminary prototypes have been developed to demonstrate the capabilities of the framework. We conclude that using standard-based solutions is an important and viable direction of interoperable Internet GIS services. Advances in standardization and technology have significant implications for Internet GIS mapping. There are many powerful open sources tools which, when coupled with open standards, may be used to develop high-quality online GIS services. Importantly, these solutions require no investment in software, yet achieve excellent interoperability and visualization quality; they are excellent alternative approaches to Internet mapping.

Security governance by internationals: The case of Kosovo

This analysis of the achievements and shortcomings of the international community in coping with the security situation in Kosovo supports the contention that UNMIK and KFOR have made a substantial contribution to the establishment of a home-grown security apparatus. The Kosovo Police Service and to a lesser degree the Kosovo Protection Corps have become professional agencies. However, a fundamental deficiency consists in the mismatch between principles exposed by the international community and the flawed democratic control mechanisms in its own workings. An essential institutional problem concerns the overlapping of competencies or competing roles of international organizations. The case of Kosovo demonstrates the growing need for police forces specially trained for international operations that are quickly deployable and capable of acting in an interoperable manner and in keeping with basic democratic standards.

A metadata model for e-markets

The objective of this paper is to present a specialised metadata model that has been developed in order to store e-market characteristics in a systematic, interoperable and reusable manner. The proposed model is based on the Dublin Core (DC) metadata standard, and termed as the DC E-Market (DC-EM) metadata model. The paper describes the DC-EM metadata model elements, providing guidelines for their encoding in the eXtensible Markup Language (XML). It also presents the prototype of a DC-EM metadata repository, and its application for the analysis of a sample of Greek agricultural e-markets.

XMLNET: An Architecture for Cost Effective Network Management Based on XML Technologies

XML technologies have been recently introduced in network management towards alleviating limitations of SNMP. The XML W3C standard, along with XML technologies has the potential to boost open, interoperable, cost-effective and standards-based management solutions. This paper highlights recent efforts towards XML network management and introduces an architecture supporting XML-based network management applications. This architecture specifies a runtime environment that parses XML documents containing composite operations for individual devices, as well as for heterogeneous mutli-vendor networks. Management operations in the scope of XML documents are defined in a programmable fashion based on an XML-based composition language supporting aggregations of elementary operations, looping commands, conditional statements, as well as simple rules signifying the occurrence of specific events. The introduced environment allows network managers to define management operations featuring high-level semantics and accordingly produce sophisticated applications through XML authoring. Following the illustration of the architecture, its composition language and issues relating to security and error handling, the paper ends up presenting a prototype implementation, along with associated performance evaluation results.

Building Grid Communities

Building Grid Communities

Special Issue on Web Services Management: Introduction

from the IEEE Conference on E-Commerce (CEC’03), held in Newport Beach, California on June 24–27, 2003. The papers selected for this special issue show a very good coverage of the technical challenges, which need to be met to enable seamless integration and management of business processes across enterprises. Business activity management is becoming one of the most critical areas to transform a business into an adaptive enterprise. J. Jeng et al use web services and policies to develop an interoperable and adaptive business activity management system. A policy framework for web service based business activity management is presented. The business activity management policy framework is based on the requirements gathered from real-world cases in supply chain management. McGregor and Schiefer introduce a web service framework to provide business decision makers with comprehensive information about the status and performance of business processes. Their approach supports a near realtime integration of audit trail data from the executed processes and can reduce the latency for obtaining key performance indicators. The event processing container is used to provide a high performance event processing environment and can handle a large number of process events in near realtime. A travel agency case study is presented. For enterprises to collaborate at the business process level, they must handle the public conversation processes specifying inter-enterprise document flows, and the private business processes specifying internal document flows. Q. Chen et al implemented a collaborative process manager to support inter-enterprise business collaboration. Their approach is based on peer-topeer process interaction model. Hung and Qiu discuss one of the classical security policies that deals with conflict of interest – the Chinese wall security policy. They use the WS-Policy to specify and implement conflict of interest assertion. They demonstrate how to specify security assertions for preventing conflict of interest in the web services matchmaking process. They also describe a web service matchmaking process for assigning activities to web services. ISeB (2004) 2:57–58 DOI 10.1007/s10257-004-0040-8

Cost effectiveness of joint multilayer protection in packet-over-optical networks

The recent advances in generalized multiprotocol label switching/multiprotocol label switching (GMPLS/MPLS) and extensive study and understanding of packet-over-optical network architecture have made it possible to manage the resources of the packet network and underlying optical transport network in an interoperable manner. This opens up the possibility for coordinated actions across the two networking layers. In this context, we propose and evaluate a novel joint protection scheme for future packet-over-optical networks. There are two aspects that make the proposed joint scheme novel and, furthermore, cost effective: 1) It captures the best tradeoff between the finer grooming granularity of the packet layer and the cheaper port cost of the optical layer, and 2) it reuses network resources from both the primary paths and paths that exist for link failure protection by the optical layer. To examine the proposed approach, a mixed-integer optimization model was developed. In particular, we observe that overlaying joint packet-optical router protection with transport-layer link protection permits strong synergy of protection capacity reuse. Indeed, our case studies show that the proposed joint packet-optical router protection is low- or no-cost when it is overlaid on an existing transport-layer protection scheme.