This is the deck from my talk at SEMANTiCS 2021 in Amsterdam, within the Workshop on Rethinking Asset Information Management. --- The European Interoperability Framework (EIF) identifies four levels of interoperability, two of which are semantic and technical interoperability. Technical interoperability in the context of EIF is that between digital services. In the transport domain, however, the main need is for technical interoperability between physical assets. And it is crucial for safety. The role of semantic interoperability is also somewhat different. It doesn't enter as an upper layer but as enabler. The first Linked Data pilot at the EU Agency for Railways addressed a problem of interoperability between physical assets – track and trains – by increasing the interoperability of their datasets. And while many Linked Data projects focus on the backend and publication, this one delivered a full-stack solution in a very short time that convinced the board to adopt Linked Data as the default paradigm for data management.

1. 1
S L I D E
SEMANTICS FOR
TECHNICAL INTEROPERABILITY
AND SAFER TRANSPORT
SEMANTiCS 2021 | 8 SEPTEMBER | IVO VELITCHKOV
THE CASE OF THE EU AGENCY FOR RAILWAYS

2. 2
S L I D E
About me
LD projects
LD training LD community

3. 3
S L I D E

4. 4
S L I D E

5. 5
S L I D E
EU AGENCY FOR
RAILWAYS
EST. 2004 TO DEVISE THE
TECHNICAL AND LEGAL
FRAMEWORK FOR CREATING A
SINGLE EUROPEAN RAILWAY AREA
TASKS
• Create a harmonized approach to railway
safety
• Remove technical barriers
• Advance the single European Train
Control and Communication System
(ERTMS)
• Promote simplified access for customers
for the European rail sector
• Issue vehicle authorizations and safety
certificates in the European Union

6. 6
S L I D E
STAKEHOLDERS
Infrastructure managers
Railway Undertakings
Vehicle Manufactures
Wagon Keepers
National Safety Agencies
National Registration Entities

7. 7
S L I D E
REGISTERS
Register of change requests for ERTMS and TAF/TAP
European Centralised Virtual Vehicle Register
European Railway Agency Database of Interoperability
and Safety
European Railway Accident Investigation Links
European Register of Authorised Types of Vehicles
European Vehicle Register
Information Sharing System
Notification of National Railway Safety and Technical
Rules
Organisation Code Register
One-Stop Shop
Reference Document Database
European Register of Infrastructure
Risk Management Platform
Safety Alert IT tool
Single Rules Database
Vehicles Keeper Marking Register
EU AGENCY FOR
RAILWAYS

8. 8
S L I D E
TYPICAL SITUATION
APPLICATION-CENTRIC DESIGN
HYPER-LOCAL IDENTIFIERS
DATA MODELS BURIED IN THE
IMPLEMENTATION LAYER
REGISTERS
Register of change requests for ERTMS and TAF/TAP
European Centralised Virtual Vehicle Register
European Railway Agency Database of Interoperability
and Safety
European Railway Accident Investigation Links
European Register of Authorised Types of Vehicles
European Vehicle Register
Information Sharing System
Notification of National Railway Safety and Technical
Rules
Organisation Cod Register
One-Stop Shop
Reference Document Database
European Register of Infrastructure
Risk Management Platform
Safety Alert IT tool
Single Rules Database
Vehicles Keeper Marking Register
High cost of:
1. Maintenance
2. Interoperability
3. Innovation

9. 9
S L I D E
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
IDENTIFIERS
hyper-local → hyper-links
RELATIONS
secondary & context-dependent → primary & independent
SEMANTICS
implicit & local → explicit & global

10. 10
S L I D E
INTEROPERABILITY
Technical Parameters
gauging profile
train detection system
rail inclination
wheel set gauge
minimum wheel
diameter
minimum horizontal
radius
temperature range
contact strip material
Register of
Vehicle Types
Register of
Infrastructure
PHYSICAL SEMANTIC

11. 11
S L I D E
INTEROPERABILITY
Register of
Vehicle Types
Register of
Infrastructure

12. 12
S L I D E
ROUTE COMPATIBILITY
Technical Parameters
gauging profile
train detection system
rail inclination
wheel set gauge
minimum wheel
diameter
minimum horizontal
radius
temperature range
contact strip material
Register of
Vehicle Types
Register of
Infrastructure
Legal basis: 2016/797, 2019/773

13. 13
S L I D E
LEVELS OF ABSTRACTION
Corridor
Macro
Meso
Micro

14. 14
S L I D E
DATASETS
GRAPH
16 mln. quads
REFERENCE DATA
28 SKOS vocabularies
ONTOLOGY
18 classes*
317 properties*
MAPPINGS »
YARRRML⇀ RML

15. 15
S L I D E
STAGES OF TRANSFORMATION
SQL RDF
RML
XML
GRAPH APP

16. 16
S L I D E
STAGES OF TRANSFORMATION
RDF
RML
XML
SQL RDF
RML
XML
SQL RDF
RML
XML

17. 17
S L I D E
STAGES OF TRANSFORMATION
RDF
RML
XML
ERA
IM
SHACL
RDF
RML
RDF
IM
LINKED DATA EVENT STREAMING RDF
RML
RDF
IM

18. 18
S L I D E
Findings
Run innovation and implementation projects ___________
Even if you get support from the board, introduce change ____________
To show the value of the data-centric approach you need to build a good __________

19. 19
S L I D E
CREDITS
Julián Andrés Rojas
Marina Aguado
Polymnia Vasilopoulou
Pieter Colpaert
Bryan De Smaele
Kris Van Vlaenderen
David Dowey
MORE INFORMATION
eu-kg:Q2837746
@prefix eu-kg: <https://linkedopendata.eu/entity/>