Notes from the HUMBOLDT Project
Dear Reader,
In December 2010 the INSPIRE Schema Transformation Network Service Technical Guidance has been published. As Schema Transformation is one of the core aspects that HUMBOLDT has been working on, this report is of high relevance. The HUMBOLDT project has been involved in the project which led to the Technical Guidance, and this is documented in the accompanying Prototype Report as well as the Development Report. For the purpose of drafting the Technical Guidance, HUMBOLDT documentation on Schema Transformation has proven helpful. The core of the collaboration was however the usage and extension of HALE for the prototyping activities, with a positive evaluation that "The prototype has demonstrated that the interface is capable of expressing a wide range of mapping definitions" (INSPIRE Schema Transformation Prototype Report, pg. 18).
The collaboration with the team around 1Spatial and Rob Walker was very fruitful and positive, and ended with the contribution of the developed components to the HUMBOLDT Open Source Framework. Meanwhile, the developed RIF exporter component has been taken up again for a new scientific project, with the goal of ensuring full coverage of the Technical Guidance.
With this Newsletter of the HUMBOLDT project, we provide you with a report on the current status of project's developments, as well as on other ongoing activities and upcoming events.
Enjoy reading and please do not hesitate to give us your feedback!
Dr. Joachim Rix, Co-ordinator of the HUMBOLDT Project
Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research, Darmstadt, Germany
Project News
HUMBOLDT Alignment Editor (HALE)
In December, the most successful HALE release 2.1.0-M1 so far was published, and downloaded almost 2.000 times since then! That was a very positive surprise, and we are looking forward to repeating this success with the release 2.0.2, which is now available from the HUMBOLDT community website:
http://community.esdi-humboldt.eu/projects/hale/news
As per popular request, this new version of HALE now has full round-trip capabilities, i.e. the transformation results of declared schema mappings can now be stored as GML. The new GML export functionality supports GML 2.1.2, GML 3.1 and GML 3.2.1. This export functionality is based on a new approach into which all the lessons learnt from handling GML in the past two years have went and has been tested with a test suite of 26 different source to target transformations. Nonetheless, we are sure you will find some persisting issues, so please try the functionality out and tell us if you encounter difficulties.
Please don't hesitate to tell us what you think of the most current release and report about problems you are encountering and/or features that you are missing. For more information, please visit the HALE News at the Community Website.
All components of the HUMBOLDT Framework as well as full specifications are available for free download on the Community Website. Please use the forum on the community website to discuss any new issues or difficulties you are encountering.
Customisation of HUMBOLDT Results
Users from within the project as well as external users were demanding specific updates and tailoring of the Software, related documentation and training material according to their individual requirements and issues. Among others this includes the translation of user documentation, graphical user interfaces (GUI) and training material into the following languages: German, Italian, Czech and Spanish. In addition, some training material will also be soon available in Greek and French.
HUMBOLDT Survey on the Geographic Information Market in Europe
In order to reveal future market trends and developments in the GI area we are currently conducting a market survey. In order to reach a picture as diversified as possible, please, complete the online questionnaire and also feel free to distribute this information to related communities and other interested parties.
The given deadline of February 28, has been extended to Tuesday, 8 March 2011.
HUMBOLDT Customer Relationship Management
In order to support and improve the existing user involvement processes a custom-made Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system has been developed and installed. This enables all partners to document contacts and follow-up activities. This platform will also serve as first-level input to the technical work.
HUMBOLDT at the Symposium GIS Ostrava 2011
In the context of the Symposium GIS Ostrava 2011 the HUMBOLDT workshop "Harmonization and Integration Tools supporting INSPIRE implementation" took place on 26 January 2011 in Ostrava, Czech Republic. The programme was organised by the Help Service Remote Sensing and VSB-Technical University of Ostrava.
The workshop was focused on presentations of different issues on data harmonisation and a detail introduction to selected tools intended for modification of spatial data and its model to be compliant with requirements of the INSPIRE Directive. It demonstrated selected results of the HUMBOLDT project. The practical part of the workshop included computer exercises with selected tools (especially HUMBOLDT Alignement Editor and Conceptual Schema Translation Service) using real data from the Transboundary Catchment Scenario.
The workshop attracted more than 35 particpants dealing with data harmonisation issues as well as developers, end users and persons who are involved in the INSPIRE Initiative.
Workshop on the HUMBOLDT project for BRISEIDE: "Harmonisation tools"
On Wednesday, 23 February 2011, a workshop on HUMBOLDT project outcomes was conducted at the BRISEIDE project meeting in Lisbon, Portugal. The workshop was organised by Sapienza University of Rome (LABSITA) and GISIG. It aimed to spread the project results and conclusions obtained in HUMBOLDT and had a special focus on harmonisation tools that may be helpful for the community of interest, such as BRISEIDE project partners.
HUMBOLDT Workshop for the Center of Italian Regions for GI
The Sapienza University of Rome (LABSITA) organised another workshop with the purpose to distribute HUMBOLDT project outcomes in the Italian community. This event took place on Wednesday, 23 February 2011, in Rome, Italy and was aimed at informing and awareness-raising of members and professionals of CISIS (Center of Italian Regions for GI) who are Italian responsibles of Regions.
Upcoming HUMBOLDT Events
AGISEE SDI Conference 2011 in Sofia, Bulgaria
"Methods and Tools for the implementation of the European Directive INSPIRE"
The conference will inform about possibilities of realising spatial data infrastructures and will present tools, practical experiences and results necessary for the realisation of INSPIRE and how to align existing geospatial data with the INSPIRE requirements. It will take place in Sofia on Wednesday, 16 March 2011.
The conference is organized by GISIG and the Sapienza University of Rome (LABSITA) in cooperation with URSIT Ltd. and the Association for Geospatial Information in South-East Europe (AGISEE) in the context of HUMBOLDT and its partner project Nature-SDIplus.
Target group:
The targeted participants for the HUMBOLDT Conference are SDI Stakeholders and more generally users dealing with heterogeneous geodata. In particular the Conference is addressed towards end users, data providers and persons concerned with data integration and harmonisation who are involved in the INSPIRE and GMES initiatives, but it will also be useful for GIS users working in any relevant application field, GIS developers or educators.
Date & Location:
16 March 2011, 09:00 - 17:00 CET (registration deadline: 14 March 2011)
Park-hotel Moskva, Nezabravka Str. 25, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
Further information and registration information can be found here.
Training course "Data harmonisation in the context of INSPIRE" on 22 March 2011 in Munich, Germany
With the adoption of spatial data infrastructure laws in all states, the INSPIRE implementation phase has already begun in Germany. In addition, requirements for the harmonisation of spatial data are emerging with the publication of first INSPIRE data specifications. In this one-day course, the attendants will learn about the basic principles of INSPIRE and different data harmonisation challenges. Practical experience and results gained in the HUMBOLDT project will be used, focusing on the European Risk Atlas (ERiskA) application scenario in the field of flood information systems. Using data from the Lake Constance cross-border region, participants will investigate different data harmonisation tasks and learn about solutions provided by the HUMBOLDT framework tools.
Target group:
GIS managers, GIS users, data providers, data integrators
Prerequisites:
Basic knowledge of UML and XML is an advantage but not absolutely necessary. Course documents in German and English are used. The course will be taught in German.
Date & Location:
22 March 2011, 09:00 - 17:00 CET (registration deadline: 14 March 2011)
Technische Universität München, Arcisstraße 21, 80333 Munich, Germany
Further information and registration at www.rundertischgis.de/fortbildungsseminar.
INSPIRED BY ESDIN - ESDIN Closing Workshop on 29th March 2011 Brussels, Belgium
Our partner project ESDIN is coming to the end of a very successful project collaboration after 30 months of concentrated and focussed activity by 20 consortium partners including 12 National Mapping and Cadastral Agencies. They invite you to the ESDIN closing workshop on 29 March 2011 in Brussels, Belgium. Experts from the ESDIN team, many of them members of the INSPIRE Implementation Rules Drafting teams, will present and demonstrate the results and achievements of the project.
Target group:
Pan-European/cross-border geoinformation users, ESDIN reference group members, other SDI stakeholders and data providers including National Mapping and Cadastral Agencies (NMCAs).
Date & Location:
29 March 2011, 9.00 - 16.00 CET or to attend via a web cast.
Hotel Marivaux, Boulevard Adolphe Max 98, Brussels, Belgium.
Find more details including the agenda and registration on the ESDIN closing workshop webpage.
The HUMBOLDT Project in brief
The EU project HUMBOLDT contributes to the implementation of a European Spatial Data Infrastructure (ESDI) that integrates the diversity of spatial data available for a multitude of European organisations. It is the aim of this project to manage and advance important parts of the implementation process of this ESDI.
The main goal of the HUMBOLDT project is to enable organisations to document, publish and harmonise their spatial information. The software tools and processes created will demonstrate the feasibility and advantages of an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe as planned by the INSPIRE initiative, meeting the goals of Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES).
Learn more about HUMBOLDT by visiting our Website.
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