Information Models Coordination and Governance: Standardisation Recommendations

Information Models Coordination and Governance: Standardisation Recommendations November 2024 Information models coordination and governance INT:NET – AIOTI 2 DOCUMENT JOINTLY PRODUCED BY INT:NET AIOTI NOTE This document is still a draft. An official version will be released shortly. This document was initiated by Trialog (Antonio Kung, Olivier Genest) in September 2024 further to • the JRC CoC workshop1, • the IEC Syc Smart Grid workshop on semantic interoperability2, and • the ETSI digital twin and SAREF workshop3. The following persons have provided comments to this document: • Eric Lambert (EDF), • Bruno Traverson (EDF), • Maxime Lefrançois (EMSE), • Raul Garcia (UPM), • Eric Simmon (NIST), • Svet Mihaylov (EC). A review of the document was carried out with Laurent Guise (IEC expert, EnergySemantic). INT:NET has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme, under Grant Agreement no 101070086. 1 September 18th, 2024 : https://ses.jrc.ec.europa.eu/development-of-policy-proposals-for-energy-smart-appliances 2 September 19th, 20th, 2024: IEC Syc Smart Energy Plenary - Saclay 3 September 26th, 2024 : https://www.etsi.org/events/2429-enhancing-semantic-interoperability-by-saref-for-digital-twins Information models coordination and governance INT:NET – AIOTI 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This document explains and highlights the need for coordination on information models promoted by IEC, ISO or ITU-T standardization organizations. It first describes the main concepts and details the required coordination specifically for information models and then at the cross-domain level, which leads to 3recommendations on interoperability: Concern Recommendation Information models R: Standardisation committees should engage in coordination and governance activities on information models selected as relevant. Crossdomain R: Standardisation committees should set up cross-domain coordination. SDO R: SDOs should adapt their ecosystem to better handle standardised information models across their whole life cycle (from their creation, to their publication including their maintenance) Then, it focuses on the specific case of SAREF and the required coordination, in particular around energy and smart grid, which leads to 2 additional recommendations for coordination: Concern Recommendation SAREF R: Create a SAREF information model coordination and governance. SAREF R: Host the SAREF information model coordination by an existing structure, e.g. AIOTI Information models coordination and governance INT:NET – AIOTI 4 CONTENTS Executive Summary ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Contents -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 1 Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5 2 Concepts ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 2.1 Information Models ...................................................................................... 6 2.2 Domains ...................................................................................................... 6 2.3 Interoperability Profiles ................................................................................ 7 2.4 How the Terms are Used ............................................................................ 7 3 Coordination and Governance Approach -------------------------------------------- 9 3.1 Interoperability Profile Level ........................................................................ 9 3.2 Information Models Level ............................................................................ 9 3.3 Cross-domain Level .................................................................................. 10 4 Using Ontologies --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 4.1 Information models used in an Interoperability Profile .............................. 11 4.2 Maintenance of information models .......................................................... 11 5 Gaps -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 6 Global Recommendations Concerning Interoperability ----------------------- 14 7 Recommendations Concerning SAREF --------------------------------------------- 15 7.1 Information Model Level ............................................................................ 15 7.2 Cross-domain Level .................................................................................. 15 7.3 Recommendations .................................................................................... 16 Information models coordination and governance INT:NET – AIOTI 5 ! Introduction This document provides recommendations on information models coordination and governance, with a specific section taking the viewpoint of SAREF. This version includes recommendations related to the EC research program. A version without these recommendations will be submitted to ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 41 for discussion. Note Most of this text is under discussion for inclusion in ISO/IEC 21823-5 (IoT behavioural and policy interoperability) Information models coordination and governance INT:NET – AIOTI 6 , Concepts In this document, we use the following terms: information model, domain, interoperability profile !.# Information Models Information model: formal representation of a set of concepts which can include data models, ontologies, dictionaries, taxonomies. Note This definition is derived from the following definitions: - ISO 27790:2009 (Health informatics — Document registry framework defines information model as a structure specification of the information requirements of a project - ISO/IEC 19763-1:2023 (Metamodel framework for interoperability (MFI) — Part 1: Framework) defines information model as a graphical and textual representation of entities and the relationships between them. !.! Domains Domain: field of special knowledge Note Some domain can be defined as a set of assets and resources subject to policies associated with the use of selected information models. Note This definition is derived from the following definitions: - ISO 24644-1:2023 (Mass customization value chain management – part 1: framework) defines domain as a functional area; - ISO/IEC 26560:2019 (Tools and methods for product line product management) defines a domain as a distinct scope, within which common and variable characteristics are exhibited, common rules and binding mechanisms are observed, and over which a distribution transparency is preserved; - ISO/IEC 18012-2:2012 (Home Electronic System — Guidelines for product interoperability) defines interoperability domain as a logical space where interoperable objects seamlessly interact with one another using an event bus; - ISO 24634:2021 (TBX-compliant representation of concept relations and subject fields) defines a domain as a field of special knowledge; - ISO 19150-4:2019 (Geographic information — Ontology — Part 4: Service ontology) defines an ontology domain as a restriction to constrain the subject class which participants to a subject-predicate-object triple; - ISO 27561:2024 (Privacy operationalisation model and method for engineering (POMME)) defines domain as a set of assets and resources subject to a common privacy and security policy. Information models coordination and governance INT:NET – AIOTI 7 !.4 Interoperability Profiles Interoperability profile: agreed-upon selection of relevant parts of applicable standards and specifications (including information models), intended to be used as building blocks for interoperable user/project/system specification agreed: Note interoperability profiles are common prerequisites for systems to reach semantic interoperability by design Note This definition is derived from the following definitions: - IEC TR 62361-103 (Power systems management and associated information exchange - Interoperability in the long term - Standard profiling) defines profile as an agreed-upon subset of [requirements] derived from a specification. A common profile is required for achieving interoperability especially in those cases when a specification could have more than one interpretation and there are probably many optional features - IEC TR 61850-7-6 ED2 (Communication networks and systems for power utility automation – Part 7-6: Guideline for definition of Basic Application Profiles (BAPs) using IEC 61850 defines profile as a user/user group agreed-upon selection and interpretation of relevant parts of the applicable standards and specifications, intended to be used as building blocks for interoperable user/project specifications - ISO 15784-1:2008 (Intelligent transport systems (ITS) — Data exchange involving roadside modules communication — Part 1: General principles and documentation framework of application profiles) defines profile as a standard that defines rules by only combining requirements of other standards; - ISO/IEC 9646-1:1994 (Open Systems Interconnection — Conformance testing methodology and framework — Part 1: General concepts) define a protocol profile as ISO/IEC 23643:2020 (Capabilities of software safety and security verification tools) defines application domains as well-defined set of applications. !.9 How the Terms are Used The terms are used as follows: • Some domains are called application domains or sometimes vertical domains. Example The energy domain, the health domain. • Some domains are called technical domains or sometimes horizontal/transversal /cross-cutting domains. Example The AI domain, the IoT domain, the virtual world domain, the DLT domain, the data domain, the data space domain, he security domain, the privacy domain, the safety domain, the resilience domain. Information models coordination and governance INT:NET – AIOTI 8 • Most information models are progressively crossing domains Example SAREF originally designed for SMART appliances is now available across many domains • Domains can include (sub)domains. Example A smart city is a domain which includes energy, transportation, building and even industry domains. Example The energy domain includes the generation, transmission, or distribution distributed Energy resource (DER), customer premises subdomains. Example The smart home domain includes the entertainment, home control, energy management subdomains. • Systems of an application domain can use interoperability profiles. Example An interoperability profile within a given system set up between customer premises, DERs and flexibility service providers with the goal of a flexible energy offer in the energy domain • An interoperability profile associated with a system can refer to information models of many domains. Example The interoperability profile within a system supporting a flexible energy offer can refer to a DER, a building, a security, a privacy, and an AI information model. Information models coordination and governance INT:NET – AIOTI 9 1 Coordination and Governance Approach This section identifies several levels of coordination and governance: • The interoperability profile level, • The information models level, • The cross-domains level. 4.# Interoperability Profile Level Participants at this level are stakeholders that are involved in the definition and maintenance of a given system, as well as the ones who are de facto bridging this activity with the information models levels as described in 3.2. The coordination objectives are the following: • Ensure that interoperability profiles defined are consistent with the selected information models. Example A communication profile in an electrical substation automation system is conforming to a given version of IEC 61850 information model. • Ensure that interoperability profiles can be easily tested against the rules of selected information models. Example IEC provides XSD schemas and OCL rules to support users in verifying the conformity of their profiles against IEC 61850 information rules • Assess the SRL (standardisation readiness level) of the interoperability profiles (SRL1: proprietary, SRL2: community, SRL3 standard) and facilitate the move to standardised interoperability profiles. Example ENTSO-e (the European association of European Transmission utility) has defined an interoperability profile for european energy market information exchange, stable enough to be submitted as a standardized interoperability profile and as well feeding back the IEC 62325 standard 4.! Information Models Level Participants at this level are stakeholders that are involved in the definition and maintenance of selected information models. The coordination objectives are the following: • Ensure that evolutions of information models address backward compatibility requirements to favour seamless evolution and/or to document incompatibilities. Example New versions of smart home appliance for energy management integrate information models on AI to comply with the AI act, while maintaining backward compatibility. Information models coordination and governance INT:NET – AIOTI 16 o IoT domain § SmartM2M domain: ETSI SmartM2M is the committee developing and standardizing SAREF and its extensions. This is where the SAREF Technical Specifications (TS) are approved and published. ETSI members can contribute to ETSI SmartM2M. o Energy domain § BRIDGE gathers 100+ EU R&I projects around smart grid and digitalisation. Many of these projects are using SAREF and/or similar approaches. A BRIDGE Standards User Group (BSUG) is active to bridge the gap between EU R&I and standardisation committees, in particular through liaisons. However BRIDGE projects have a limited duration (3-4 years) and therefore can hardly build long-term strategies. § EU R&I “Coordination and Support Actions” (CSAs) aim to strengthen the coordination and impact of EU R&I projects. A good example is int:net, focusing on data spaces and interoperability for the energy sector. However these projects have a limited duration (2-4 years). § Some initiatives rely on SAREF and its extensions, such as the JRC Code of Conduct for Energy Smart Appliances interoperability. § CEN/CLC/ETSI Coordination Group on Smart Grids (CG-SG) focuses on the smart grid domain and performs coordination between EU-wide groups (SEEG, BRIDGE, TCs, …) and worldwide SDOs (IEC, ISO, …). § IEC SyC Smart Energy focuses on system-level coordination for the smart energy domain, by developing methodologies, building a “smart energy roadmap” and ensuring coordination between various IEC TCs. § IEC TC13 and TC57 develop the core information model standards of the IEC, namely DLMS/COSEM, CIM and 61850. § ISO/IEC JTC1/SC41 develops standards related to Internet of Things, Digital Twins and interoperability. E.4 Recommendations The following recommendations are made concerning SAREF: • R: Create a SAREF information model coordination and governance. • R: Host the SAREF information model coordination by an existing structure, e.g. AIOTI