Witin the framework of the FEDERATED project, two papers were written to contribute to the Transport Reseach Agenda (TRA) 2022 Conference in Lisbon 14-17 November 2022.
On 14 November, Trafikverket of Sweden presented its paper : a federative approach to digital transport ecosystem innovation . The paper stresses the importance to strengthen situation awereness and sustanability in the supply chain through LivingLabs than can be successfully executed through data sharing demonstration platforms, The paper was written in close collaboration with RISE.
During the TRA Conferenced the paper was presented by Annica Roos, FEDeRATED Activity 3 - LivingLabs leader) and Jan Bergstrad of Trafikverket. Trafikverker is running 9 FEDeRATED Living Labs, using the Deplide as its data sharing demonstration platform. Deplide is developed and hosted by RISE.
A second paper was written by researchers from TNO participating as advisors to the FEDeRATED project and IT Architectuer Board. The paper, called Towards a Mobility Data Space , elaborates on the need to apply the concept of linked data as a stepping stone towards data sharing practices leading up to a concise Mobility Data Space framework. The importance of the linked data approach for a successful the ongoing implementation of the FTI Regulation is a major focus area for the years to come..
On 18 and 19 October 2022, the FEDeRATED partners met in Brussels to discuss various issues, i.e.:
The Milestone 10 report - major stepping stone towards a future proof Masterplan for federated data sharing in logistics - was agreed. The report
Translates the FEDeRATED Reference data Sharing Architecture into the functional requirements and the technical specifications which, in connection to the organisational requirements, constitute the basis of the upcoming FEDeRATED Masterplan: the FEDeRATED data sharing grid. (Part 1 of Milestone 10)
Assesses the FEDeRATED LivingLabs (Part 2 of Milestone 10) against:
Extending the FEDeRATED after 2023 - implementing the current data sharing business cases, developing new business cases, inviting new partners, and constituting a knowledge base assisting the EU DTLF executing its upcoming mandate;
Continuation of a focus towards interoperability (especially LivingLab collaboration - common LivingLabs); and
Actively promote the FEDeRATED results and insights. Concepts as data at source, harmonized semantic interoperability, and the connection of the implementation of the eFTI Regulation with federated data sharing and the FEDeRATED semantic model need more attention.
The practical knowledge acquired by the FEDeRATED partners through their LivingLabs is important to be communicated to a wide audience. Especially, because an increasing number of organisations have started to embrace the idea of data sharing as a policy goal, while lacking structurally acquired knowledge and experience. FEDeRATED can play an important role in preventing many organisations to reinvent the wheel. Preferably, data sharing solutions should neither be based on the promotion of propriety data spaces solutions, nor the idea that supply chain bottlenecks can be solved through developing new standards. In data sharing for logistics, a one size fits all perspective is not the road to take.
Photo: The 18 FEDeRATED partner representatives united around the pink FEDeRATED banner on 19 October (hereunder)
On 15 and 16 June, 14 FEDeRATED project partners and many LivingLab project leaders met in Málaga at the premises of ADIF, hosting the 12th Consortium Board meeting and a workshop. The major issues being:
Speed up the current progress towards delivering factual output - tangible LivingLabs, a concise Reference Architecture and a shared vision on the content of a (to be validated) FEDeRATED MasterPlan and data sharing prototype .
Seek for interopability and collaboration between the LivingLabs
Agree the basic (Reference) data sharing Architecture
Keep loading the mental engine of the participants also identifying the generic engines that can enable LivingLabs to effectively share data in a collaborative way
To streamline FEDeRATED partner engagement, an overarching Action Plan was developed to assist all partners executing their share of the FEDeRATED workflow management. This plan will be further detailed while executing. A template to measure the progress of the project in connection to the various topics identified in the Grant Agreement is also developed - Grant Agreement Audit List (federatedplatforms.eu).
During the meeting, the IT Architecture Board agreed on a document covering the Reference Data Sharing Architecture (Basic Data Sharing Architecture Mitchell Out IT Architecture Group June 2022 (federatedplatforms.eu). An important challenge to the FEDeRATED project will be to describe the Reference (baseline) data sharing Architecture in “simple words”. Words that should not only provide sufficient meaning and context to IT Architects, but preferable also to a multitude of various stakeholders (logistic operators, public authorities – law enforcement/policy people – and stakeholder organisations). Therefore, the DTLF federative network of platforms policy approach might be explained as an EU data sharing grid for logistics and freight transport enabling Distributed Data Resources (DDR) - i.e. IT systems/platforms that provide or use data aimed at delivering services - to connect. On a local or national scale this implies DDR's will be empowered to scale their activities onto an overarching – interoperable - EU grid. The EU grid enables millions of IT systems/platforms to draw data at some times and supply data at other aimed at providing tailor made services to all participants in the grid, including compliance with legislation. The FEDeRATED mission is to identify the required DDR competences leading to full fletched, thus sustainable EU grid interoperability. Very complex to plan for, orchestrate and keep in balance. Innovative and transitional at the least.
In 2022, high on the FEDeRATED agenda is the development of the FEDeRATED Milestone 10 report (due 31 October). This will serve as a follow up from the Interim MasterPlan - Milestone 2. The basis being the DTLF Building Blocks and FEDeRATED Core Operating Framework (elaborated in 37 Leading Principles). The follow up will be to identify and elaborate the functional requirements of a federated network of platform approach, being:
The LivingLabs will illustrate how the functional requirements of the DDRs can be technical implementated through real life business use cases. A next step will be to define the organisational requirements for actual federated data sharing between DDR's. This should be done through interoperability protocols - a set of arrangements between the participants of the grid - regarding:
Connectivity
Security
Presentation
Linked Event Data
Business processes
During the FEDeRATED Málaga meeting, the partners and LivingLab managers showed their commitment to give it a try – both from a top-down as well as a bottom-up perspective - and assist the EC developing and establishing the minimum building conditions.
If you want to share data, you should be able to understand another: semantic interoperability. This is a major issue within the FEDeRATED project. Since 2019 FEDeRATED has done a lot of working on semantics, i.e. the FEDeRATED Semantic model. The importance being to enable any logistics stakeholder to access various (standard based) data silos through a FEDeRATED bridge.
To illustrate our semantic work, a number of presentations - developed by Henk Mulder (Chairman Semantic Data Model/IATA Digital Cargo lead) is available:
On 29 and 30 March, 52 people participated in the EU CEF FEDeRATED workshop "The Soul of the Machine", including 5 representatives of the EU CEF FENIX project. The workshop took place in Delft (the Netherlands). After 2 years of Covid-19 isolation, an important goal of the meeting was to compare notes between the achievements of the architecture and semantics groups and the developments within the 23 FEDeRATED Living Labs.
The images of workshop, including its participants, are available here WeFEDeRATED
A major focus of the Workshop was to allow the participants to structurally connect and seek for opportunities to collaborate. Some energetic discussions took place between the particiants on how to foster collaboration between the LivingLabs. eCMR in connection to eFTI, the definition of the interfaces in relation to semantics, and Identity and Access Management proved to be important issues.
In the workshop 5 participants of the EU CEF FENIX project participated. A presentation on data sharing in the Trieste Port pitot side area was given. by Maria Pia Fanti (Poliba) . This presentation opened the floor to discuss the differenence between the general concept of the FENIX and FEDeRATED CEF projects. The primary FENIX focus is on the development and piloting of technology based connectors - brokers, ID management, access control - between different platforms. FEDeRATED focus on an overall system interoperability, with a short term focus on the integration of semantics into the interfaces.
For the general part of the workshop, two major presentations were delivered:
Between 2020-2021, the FEDeRATED project seems to have developed a two-speed approach. On a conceptual level, FEDeRATED advanced very well regarding semantics and architecture issues. These insights are fully shared and acknowlegde by the EU DTLF. The question emerged, whether these insights sufficienly meet the both-feed-on-the-ground project approach. On a practical application level, the Covid-19 period proved to be a period of rather stand alone functioning for many LivingLabs. Thereby, they missed several opportunities to fully connect with the conceptual FEDeRATED architecture framework developments. In addition, fostering full stakeholder engagement within the LivingLabs proved to be difficult.
An important FEDeRATED project challenge for the upcoming period is to reduce the current gap between the architectural and semantics framework and its concrete translation in actual FEDeRATED LivingLabs. To reduce this gap a dedicated workshop was given on how to deal with sematics in a LivingLab. See
During the meeting, the IT Architecture Board agreed on a document covering the Reference Data Sharing Architecture (
