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ECCF Training 2.0

Introduction

ECCF Training Working Group

January 2011

Training Scope

• In Scope:

• Summarize how the ECCF fits into SAIF

• Clarify when the ECCF should be applied

• Provide the necessary knowledge and training to create an ECCF specification stack

• Out of Scope:

• Overarching information related to SAIF, CBIIT’s SAIF IG, and the other SAIF Frameworks

• Governance• Details on the ECCF specification stack submission, review, and approval

process

• Justification of the use of SAIF or ECCF

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Target Audience

• CBIIT Cross-Cutting Workspace Participants

• Take this knowledge back and train teams on creating ECCF specifications

• CBIIT Enterprise Service Project Leaders

• Creating the specifications and implementations of the specifications

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Assumptions and Prerequisites

• Assumptions

• This training is based on a draft of the CBIIT SAIF ECCF Implementation Guide for January 17th 2010. Because this document is still in development, we’ll point out important updates or changes that will impact this training.

• The CBIIT Enterprise Compliance and Conformance Framework implementation is defined by CBIIT and is required to be applied to CBIIT enterprise services (definition to come).

• Prerequisites

• Read HL7 SAIF Introduction [1]

• Read CBIIT’s SAIF Implementation Guide [2]

• Experience specifying software services• Storyboarding and use case development• Interface development• UML Modeling

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What is a CBIIT Enterprise Service?

• The following criteria will be used to identify CBIIT enterprise services:

• Helps to satisfy a CBIIT enterprise use case or business objective.

• Has significant reuse potential within the CBIIT enterprise

• Is used across system boundaries, by an external organization, application, or both

• Information exchanged requires rich semantics and has to be computable (provide the ability to reason with the information)

• Because the criteria can be subjective, the NCI Enterprise Architecture Review Board (NEARB) will provide additional guidance as required.

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Training Plan

• Overview of ECCF

• Three Modules corresponding to:

• Conceptual Perspective Specification

• Logical Perspective Specification

• Implementable Perspective Specification

• Modules adhere to the following format:

• Walk through the specification artifacts for each RM-ODP Viewpoint

• Review artifact examples from the caBIO Molecular Annotation Service

• Class-wide exercises based on the Subject Registration Service

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What is ECCF?

• One of four sub-frameworks within CBIIT’s SAIF Implementation guide

• Enterprise Compliance and Conformance Framework (ECCF)

• Governance Framework (GF)

• Information Framework (IF)

• Behavioral Framework (BF)

• Specification Stack

• Organized as a matrix of:

• Reference Model Open Distributed Processing (RM-ODP) viewpoints

• Model Driven Architecture (MDA) layers

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SAIF Quick Look

• Architecture for achieving interoperability

• Create and manage Interoperability Specifications that are:

• Easy-to-use

• Traceable

• Consistent

• Coherent

• Focus on artifacts which explicitly express characteristics of services that affect interoperability

• Developed by HL7 [3]

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How does ECCF fit into CBIIT’sSAIF Implementation?

• Relationship among frameworks:

• Behavioral Framework [2a]• Provides an in-depth description of the content, and some description of the

representation, of each artifact that expresses one or more aspects of the behavioral or dynamic semantics of a system or system component.

• Information Framework [2b]• Provides and in-depth description of the content, and some description of the

representation, of each artifact that expresses one or more aspects of the informational or static semantics of a system or system component.

• ECCF [2c]• Provides a brief description of the content and a specific description of the

representation of each artifact that must be developed by members of CBIIT-funded software project teams.

• Governance Framework [2d]• Expressing “what’s important” in terms of items including but not limited to

policies, processes, metrics, standards, and guidelines

• SAIF relationship diagram produced by HL7 [4]

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Consumers of the ECCFSpecification Stack

• Implementers of the services specified in the stack

• Used, with a focus on the Implementable Perspective Specification, to ensure the implementation conforms with the approved specification

• Governance

• Used to verify that an implemented service is conformant with the Conceptual, Logical, and Implementable Perspective Specifications

• Clients of the service implementations

• Anyone who wants to know how a service works and fits in with the enterprise

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ECCF Organization Matrix

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RM-ODP Viewpoints

• Enterprise Viewpoint• WHY?

• Concerned with the purpose, scope, and policies governing the activities of a specified system within the bounds of that enterprise.

• Information Viewpoint• WHAT?

• Concerned with the kinds of information handled by the system and constraints on the use and interpretation of that information.

• Behavioral Viewpoint• HOW?

• Concerned with the functional decomposition of the system into a set of objects that interact with interfaces, enabling system distribution.

• Deployment Viewpoint• WHERE?

• Concerned with the distribution of both computing resources and infrastructure required to support the system.

• Technology Viewpoint (NEW: More to come)12

MDA Layer Specifications

• Conceptual Perspective Specification

• Focuses on the environment of the system, and the requirements for the system.

• The details of the structure and processing of the system are hidden or as yet undetermined.

• Bridges the gap between those that are experts about the domain and its requirements on the one hand, and those that are experts of the design and construction of the artifacts that together satisfy the domain requirements, on the other.

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MDA Layer Specifications

• Logical Perspective Specification

• Focuses on the operation of a system while hiding the details necessary for a particular platform.

• Shows that part of the complete specification that does not change from one platform to another.

• Transforms the analysis model defined in the Conceptual Perspective specification, into a logical model without binding to a specific technology stack.

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MDA Layer Specifications

• Implementable Perspective Specification

• Combines the specifications in the Logical Perspective Specification with the details that specify how that system is implementable within a particular type of platform.

• A technology binding of the Logical Perspective Specification

• Results in a clear-cut interface that is tied to a technology platform

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About the Artifacts

• ECCF:

• Identifies the artifacts that impact working interoperability

• Indicates where the artifacts fit into our matrix

• Tells us which artifacts are always required and which are optional for each perspective specification:

• Conceptual Perspective Specification

• Logical Perspective Specification

• Implementable Perspective Specification

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CBIIT ECCF Best Practices

• CBIIT has created templates for each ECCF specification.

• Templates are used as an exemplar when created new specifications.

• You may download the templates for Conceptual, Logical, and Implementable Perspective specifications from the NCI Enterprise Services (NES) - Processes and Standards page [5].

• Service Specification Standards Document [6]

• These standards provide very tactical details for various service developers to follow.

• Conformance Statements Guidance Document [7]

• Contains standardized conformance statements developed by CBIIT for use in specifying services.

• Other project specifications can also be used as examples:

• Molecular Annotation Service• Relatively mature service• Already implemented and approved by CBIIT as an example of how to do

ECCF in practice

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References

1. HL7 SAIF Introduction - http://goo.gl/jFOmh

2. CBIIT’s SAIF Implementation Guide - https://wiki.nci.nih.gov/x/iJr9AQ

a. Behavioral Framework - https://wiki.nci.nih.gov/x/p5v9AQ

b. Information Framework - https://wiki.nci.nih.gov/x/pZv9AQ

c. ECCF - https://wiki.nci.nih.gov/x/oZv9AQ

d. Governance Framework - https://wiki.nci.nih.gov/x/o5v9AQ

3. HL7 SAIF Main Page - http://goo.gl/ATgLO

4. HL7 SAIF Relationship Diagram - http://goo.gl/L0xwg

5. NCI Enterprise Services - Processes and Standards - https://wiki.nci.nih.gov/x/EIA1AQ

6. Service Specification Standards Doc - http://goo.gl/yjZQV

7. Conformance Statements Guidance Doc - http://goo.gl/fJyFz

8. OMG MDA Guide Version 1.0.1 - http://goo.gl/SiIAJ

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