INSPIREInfrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe

Discussion paper for managing the externally governed items of the INSPIRE Registry

Title Discussion paper for managing the externally governed items of the INSPIRE Registry

Creator JRC registry team

Date of last update 2016-10-20

Subject Externally governed items: issues and possible solutions

Status Draft for discussion at the MIG-T face-to-face meeting on 25-26 October 2016

Publisher JRC

Type Text

Description Discussion paper for managing the externally governed items of the INSPIRE Registry

Format MS Word (doc)

Source MIG-T sub-group MIWP-6 on registers and registries, Thematic Clusters platform

Rights Reuse is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged. The reuse policy of the European Commission is implemented by a Decision of 12 December 2011.

Language EN

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Table of contents

1 Introduction.................................................................................................................................... 3

2 References.................................................................................................................................... 3

3 Terms and abbreviations...............................................................................................................3

3.1 Terms..................................................................................................................................... 3

3.2 Symbols and abbreviations....................................................................................................4

4 Externally governed register items.................................................................................................4

5 INSPIRE externally governed code lists........................................................................................5

5.1 Externally governed code lists in the INSPIRE registry..........................................................5

5.2 INSPIRE rules to encode the externally governed code lists.................................................8

6 Issues and proposed solutions related to the externally governed items.......................................9

6.1 Which identifiers to use?........................................................................................................9

6.1.1 External code list values with (resolvable) http URIs......................................................9

6.1.2 External code list values without http URIs....................................................................9

6.1.3 Summary of proposed approach and identifiers...........................................................11

6.2 Technical issues.................................................................................................................. 14

6.2.1 Issues related to content..............................................................................................14

Table of tables

Table 1:List of the INSPIRE externally governed code lists with their URI..........................................10

Table 2:Content differences among the externally governed code lists...............................................14

Table 3:Overview of the different approaches to manage the externally governed items....................15

Table of figures

Figure 1: Different types of register profiles. The original register is shown in light blue, the register profile in dark blue................................................................................................................................. 4

Figure 2: Example of reuse of externally governed items......................................................................5

Figure 3: Example of an externally governed code list as currently displayed in the INSPIRE registry. 7

Figure 4: Example of a document were the externally governed code list values are defined available in the INSPIRE reference document register.........................................................................................7

Figure 5: Example of "Authoritative Source" information for some of the BR externally governed code lists........................................................................................................................................................ 8

Figure 6: Example of "Availability" information for some of the BR externally governed code lists........8

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Figure 7: Example of “rules for code lists” regarding identifiers for some of the BR externally governed code lists................................................................................................................................................ 8

Figure 8: Example of “rules for code lists” regarding labels for some of the BR externally governed code lists................................................................................................................................................ 9

Figure 9: Mock-up for a user interface for implementation options (1) and (2)......................................1

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1 IntroductionSome of the code list values included in the central code list register1 are not defined and maintained by INSPIRE, even if they are included in the INSPIRE IRs and/or TGs, i.e. they are endorsed for being used in INSPIRE. These code list values are managed externally, usually by other standard bodies or organisations; this is why we refer to them as “externally governed” register items.

This approach has often been adopted to reuse already available codes lists defined by well-known authoritative sources, when they fit or were appropriate for the different thematic domains of the Data Specifications (DS).

The JRC registry team has already worked on extracting these values, in order to publish them in the INSPIRE Registry. However, the code list register does not include them yet because of organisational and technical reasons that require the collaboration and agreement of other parties.

We are aware of the fact that this situation has led to open several issues in the Thematic Clusters2 platform.

This document therefore aims at agreeing on the next steps to be able to unlock the current situation and thus, allowing data providers to continue their implementation as required by INSPIRE.

2 ReferencesINS DIR Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2007

establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE), OJ L 108, 24.4.2007, p. 1

ISO 19135-1 ISO 19135-1:2015, Geographic information – Procedures for item registration – Part 1: Fundamentals. URL:http://www.iso.org/iso/home/store/catalogue_ics/catalogue_detail_ics.htm?csnumber=54721

BP REG Best Practices for registers and registries & Technical Guidelines for the INSPIRE register federation, version 1.0rc3, https://ies-svn.jrc.ec.europa.eu/issues/2853

3 Terms and abbreviations

3.1 Terms(1) register: set of files containing identifiers assigned to items with descriptions of the associated

items [ISO 19135-1]

(2) registry: information system on which a register is maintained [ISO 19135-1]

(3) registry service: Service that provides access to a register

(4) externally governed code lists: items that have been endorsed by the MIG but that have been defined and maintained outside the INSPIRE project, usually by other standard bodies or

organisations

1 http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist 2 https://themes.jrc.ec.europa.eu/groups/activity/208

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3.2 Symbols and abbreviationsBR Bio-geographical Regions

EEA European Environment Agency

ISO International Organization for Standardization3

DS Data Specification

MS Member state

PID Persistent Identifiers

RoR Registry of Registers

URL Uniform Resource Locator

4 Externally governed register itemsAs stated in [ISO 19135-1, 4.1.9], a register is a set of files containing identifiers assigned to items with descriptions of the associated items.

There are two types of items that can be part of a register:

- items defined inside the register and - items defined externally, in other registers or documents.

Including externally governed items in a register can also be seen as reuse of values from another register, as defined in [BP REG, section 4.3]. Several cases of reuse can be distinguished – see Figure 1.

Sub-set Extension Sub-set + extension 1:1 reuse

Figure 1: Different types of register profiles. The original register is shown in light blue, the register profile in dark blue.

In the “1:1 reuse” case, all values defined in an external register are reused. This is the most common case for externally defined code list values in the central INSPIRE registry.

In the “subset” case, only a sub-set of the values defined in an external register are reused. In the “extension” case, all values defined in an external register are reused, and additional values are defined in the local register. These two cases can obviously also be used in combination (“sub-set and extension” case).

The example below in Error: Reference source not found is showing the different scenarios related to the relation between registers.

3 http://www.iso.org/iso/home.htm

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Figure 2: Example of reuse of externally governed items

The tables in Error: Reference source not found are representing some example of reuse of externally governed items in the context of the different relation described in Error: Reference source not found.

Details of this example are described below.

RegA is the original register managed by some external organisation RegAExt is an example of an INSPIRE register that reuses all of the items defined in RegA,

with the addition of some other elements defined (internally) in the INSPIRE register. RegASubset is an example of an INSPIRE register that reuses only some of the items

defined in RegA, without the addition of other elements. RegAReuse is an example of an INSPIRE register that relies reuses all items of RegA, but

does not add any additional items.

5 INSPIRE externally governed code lists

5.1 Externally governed code lists in the INSPIRE registryINSPIRE has defined 29 code lists that reused externally governed code list values. Table 1, provides the full list of them together with their respective URI in the INSPIRE registry.

Table 1:List of the INSPIRE externally governed code lists with their URI.

Code list name URI in the INSPIRE registryAquacultureSpeciesValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/

AquacultureSpeciesValue Article17CountingUnitValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/

Article17CountingUnitValue CFStandardNamesValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/

CFStandardNamesValue CODValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/CODValue CountryCode http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/CountryCode EconomicActivityNACEValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/

EconomicActivityNACEValue EconomicActivityWasteStatisticsValue

http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/EconomicActivityWasteStatisticsValue

EnvironmentalStratificationClassifica http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/

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tionValue EnvironmentalStratificationClassificationValue EunisHabitatTypeCodeValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/

EunisHabitatTypeCodeValue EunisSpeciesCodeValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/

EunisSpeciesCodeValue EuNomenCodeValue  http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/EuNomenCodeValue

FAOHorizonMasterValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/FAOHorizonMasterValue

FAOHorizonSubordinateValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/FAOHorizonSubordinateValue

FAOPrimeValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/FAOPrimeValue HabitatsDirectiveCodeValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/

HabitatsDirectiveCodeValue ICDValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/ICDValue LivestockSpeciesValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/

LivestockSpeciesValue MarineStrategyFrameworkDirectiveClassificationValue

http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/MarineStrategyFrameworkDirectiveClassificationValue

MarineStrategyFrameworkDirectiveCodeValue

http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/MarineStrategyFrameworkDirectiveCodeValue

Natura2000AndEmeraldBio-geographicalRegionClassificationValue

http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/Natura2000AndEmeraldBio-geographicalRegionClassificationValue

NaturalVegetationClassificationValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/NaturalVegetationClassificationValue

NatureDirectivesCodeValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/NatureDirectivesCodeValue

ProductCPAValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/ProductCPAValue WasteRecoveryDisposalValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/

WasteRecoveryDisposalValue WasteValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/WasteValue WRBQualifierPlaceValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/

WRBQualifierPlaceValue WRBQualifierValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/WRBQualifierValue WRBReferenceSoilGroupValue http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/

WRBReferenceSoilGroupValue WRBSpecifierValue  http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/WRBSpecifierValue

Currently, the INSPIRE registry only displays the information of the externally governed code lists at the code list level, no code list values are available yet (Figure 3).

If in the description page there is a field “Values defined in”, which indicates that the code list is managed externally. This field is populated with a reference to the INSPIRE reference document register where the information on the authoritative source is provided (Figure 4).

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Figure 3: Example of an externally governed code list as currently displayed in the INSPIRE registry.

Figure 4: Example of a document were the externally governed code list values are defined available in the INSPIRE reference document register.

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5.2 INSPIRE rules to encode the externally governed code listsThe DS are the reference documents where appears the information related to the externally governed code lists, more specifically:

- Governance and authoritative sources, - Availability, and - Rules for code lists values for extracting and building both the identifiers and the labels.

For example, in the chapter 5.3.4 of the INSPIRE Data Specification on Bio-geographical Regions – Technical Guidelines4 we can find the information related to the externally governed values for the Bio-geographicalRegions Application schema.

Figure 5: Example of "Authoritative Source" information for some of the BR externally governed code lists

Figure 6: Example of "Availability" information for some of the BR externally governed code lists

Figure 7: Example of “rules for code lists” regarding identifiers for some of the BR externally governed code lists

4 http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/file/1522/download?token=lc0x45aC

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Figure 8: Example of “rules for code lists” regarding labels for some of the BR externally governed code lists

6 Issues and proposed solutions related to the externally governed items

6.1 Which identifiers to use?One of the main discussion points on the Thematic Clusters is what identifier shall be used for externally governed code list values, in particular in cases where the external registers already define URIs and these are already being used.

6.1.1 External code list values with (resolvable) http URIs A specific example are the INSPIRE code lists referring to codes to be also used for environmental reporting, that are published in the EIONET Data Dictionary.

EXAMPLE The values included in the INSPIRE code list Natura 2000 And Emerald Bio-geographical Region Classification are also published in the EIONET Data Dictionary vocabulary Biogeographical regions, Europe 2011 and includes e.g. the following values:

alpine: http://dd.eionet.europa.eu/vocabulary/biodiversity/biogeographic-regions2011/alpine arctic: http://dd.eionet.europa.eu/vocabulary/biodiversity/biogeographic-regions2011/arctic etc.

Proposal

In such cases, we would propose to use these established identifiers also for sharing data in the scope of INSPIRE, rather than coining our own INSPIRE-specific identifiers (e.g. http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/Natura2000AndEmeraldBio-geographicalRegionClassificationValue/alpine etc.). In this way, we would avoid that two different ids are being used for the same concept and would (in the specific case of environmental reporting) ensure that INSPIRE data can also be used in the reporting context.

In cases, where http URIs exist for externally governed values, but these are not (yet) resolvable, the same approach could be followed. However, the http URIs could not be used by clients (or users) to obtain information about the code list value. Therefore, we work with the organisations providing the code lists and try to convince them to provide resolvable URIs in the future.

6.1.2 External code list values without http URIsThere are several externally governed code lists that do not define http URIs for their values.

EXAMPLE The values included in the INSPIRE code list EU Economic Activity Classification are defined in the NACE classification published by Eurostat. Even though the values are accessible through HTML pages on the web, there are no current plans to publish resolvable http URIs for the values.

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Proposal

In such cases, we would propose to use create INSPIRE-specific identifiers based on local identifiers contained in the externally governed code lists (e.g. http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codeList/EconomicActivityNACEValue/01.11). The information from the source register / code list would then need to copied into the relevant representations in the INSPIRE registry. Since all references to external code lists in INSPIRE are to a specific version, there should not be any issues with keeping the INSPIRE registry copy consistent with the source.

Note that, if in the future, the organisation managing the external code list decides to publish their own http URIs, we will end up in a situation where we have two ids for the same item. Therefore, it is important to investigate future development plans of external register managers before coining INSPIRE-specific ids.

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6.1.3 Summary of proposed approach and identifiersTable 2: Proposals for the approach and identifiers to use for the externally governed code lists in the INSPIRE registry.

Code list name Proposed approach Example value CommentAquacultureSpeciesValue import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/

codelist/AquacultureSpeciesValue/LAU

Article17CountingUnitValue use external http URI http://dd.eionet.europa.eu/vocabularyconcept/art17_2012/population_units_restricted/i

CFStandardNamesValue use external http URI http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P07/current/CFV10N4/

CODValue import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/CODValue/1

CountryCode import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/CountryCode/BE

Alternatively, we could use the Publications office’s codes (e.g. http://publications.europa.eu/mdr/resource/authority/country/ DK ), but they are still not resolvable and, this case of reuse would be not 1:1 but a subset (only EU countries).

EconomicActivityNACEValue import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codeList/EconomicActivityNACEValue/01.11

EconomicActivityWasteStatisticsValue

import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/EconomicActivityWasteStatisticsValue/1

EnvironmentalStratificationClassificationValue

import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/EnvironmentalStratificationClassificationValue/ALN

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EunisHabitatTypeCodeValue import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/EunisHabitatTypeCodeValue /A1

Originally, the rules in the DS indicate that the URI should be as follows, but this is not working yet: http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/nationally-designated-areas-national-cdda-3/eunis-habitat-classification/eunis_habitats_level4/A1 We could change the approach to “use external http URI” if the EEA sets up an appropriate register.

EunisSpeciesCodeValue use external http URI http://eunis.eea.europa.eu/species/125

EuNomenCodeValue  use external http URI http://www.eu-nomen.eu/portal/taxon.php?GUID=urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:137076

FAOHorizonMasterValue import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/FAOHorizonMasterValue/H

FAOHorizonSubordinateValue import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/FAOHorizonSubordinateValue/a

FAOPrimeValue import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/FAOPrimeValue/prime

HabitatsDirectiveCodeValue import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/HabitatsDirectiveCodeValue/1110

Originally, the rules in the DS indicate that the URI should be as follows, but this is not working yet: http://bd.eionet.europa.eu/activities/Natura_2000/Folder_Reference_Portal/Habitat_Directive_habitats/1110 We could change the approach to “use external http URI” if the EEA sets up an appropriate register.

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ICDValue import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/ICDValue/A00

LivestockSpeciesValue use external http URI http://dd.eionet.europa.eu/vocabularyconcept/eurostat/livstock/PC1000

MarineStrategyFrameworkDirectiveClassificationValue

import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/MarineStrategyFrameworkDirectiveClassificationValue/balticSea

MarineStrategyFrameworkDirectiveCodeValue

No document / values available

Natura2000AndEmeraldBio-geographicalRegionClassificationValue

use external http URI http://dd.eionet.europa.eu/vocabulary/biodiversity/biogeographic-regions2011/alpine

NaturalVegetationClassificationValue

import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/NaturalVegetationClassificationValue/polarDesertNival

NatureDirectivesCodeValue import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/NatureDirectivesCodeValue/1001

Unless there is an appropriate register in EEA.

ProductCPAValue import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/ProductCPAValue/A

WasteRecoveryDisposalValue import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/WasteRecoveryDisposalValue/D.1

WasteValue import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/WasteValue/1

WRBQualifierPlaceValue import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/WRBQualifierPlaceValue/prefix

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WRBQualifierValue import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/WRBQualifierValue/ap

WRBReferenceSoilGroupValue import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/WRBReferenceSoilGroupValue/AC

WRBSpecifierValue  import external values http://inspire.ec.europa.eu/codelist/WRBSpecifierValue/..d

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6.2 Technical issues

6.2.1 Issues related to contentThe INSPIRE externally governed code list values are defined in documents and information systems which present great differences in size, format, the level of detail of the description and whether individual values are directly accessible through an http URI.

The size of external code lists range from one single value (FAOPrimeValue code list) to 279666 values (EunisSpeciesCodeValue code list).

The format of externally governed code lists can be PD, Excel or Access files, but also in some cases well-maintained registries with different representations accessible through RESTful APIs (and content negotiation).

The level of detail of the description is very much related to the format in which the values are provided. While the label is always present, it is not the case for other attributes.

In many cases, individual code list values are not accessible through a resolvable http URI, and such an ID would have to be created within the namespace of the INSPIRE registry. In some cases, URIs are defined for values, but the code list is only accessible as a whole (not the individual values).

There are different ways to include externally governed items that have resolvable http URIs in the INSPIRE registry (see also Figure 9):

1) include only the URI of an item in the INSPIRE register,2) replicate a subset of the information available from the external items (e.g. at least the label).

Figure 9: Mock-up for a user interface for implementation options (1) and (2)

Open questions:- Is it useful (and usable) to provide all externally governed values through the INSPIRE registry, in

particular for large external code list (e.g. on species or habitats)?

- For approach 2, what attributes should be replicated?