Smart Data Models

Umbrella Repository for Data Models

Note: This Repository does not accept Pull Requests concerning Data Models. Pull Requests concerning Data Models shall be made against the corresponding Data Model Repository

🎯 Roadmap

The availability of widely adopted (de-facto standard) information models is key for creating a global digital single market of interoperable and replicable (portable) IoT-enabled smart solutions in multiple domains (smart cities, smart agrifood, smart utilities, smart industry, …). Such models provide an essential element in the common technical ground needed for standards-based open innovation and procurement.

Data Models play a crucial role because they define the harmonised representation formats and semantics that will be used by applications both to consume and to publish data.

The FIWARE Foundation and TM Forum are leading a joint collaboration program to support the adoption of a reference architecture and compatible common data models that underpin a digital market of interoperable and replicable smart solutions in multiple sectors, starting with smart cities.

The Reference Architecture and Data Models use the FIWARE NGSI API and TM Forum Open APIs for interoperability and scalability of smart solutions. The FIWARE Context Broker technology, implementing the FIWARE NGSI APIs (NGSI v2 and NGSI-LD), provides the basis for breaking information silos in organizations aiming at becoming smart. Actually, it enables a real-time (or close to real time, i.e., right-time) view and foundation for the development of governance systems at global organization level. Examples of such organizations include cities, factories, hospitals, airports, farms, etc.

Combined with TM Forum Open APIs, data publication platforms can support organizations to realise the potential of real-time (or right-time) open data, easing development of innovative solutions by third parties. In addition, organizations can evolve their current data sharing policies towards a vision which, shared with other organizations, brings support to a Data Economy. This way, the proposed Reference Architecture is ready to solve the needs of organizations today while future-proofing for tomorrow’s requirements.

This GitHub organization structure contains JSON Schemas and documentation on harmonized Data Models for different Smart Domains, starting with Smart Cities. The following repositories are available:

• data-models repository which is an umbrella repository that contains all the Data Models from different verticals (e.g., Parking, Street lighting, etc.). This Repository does not admit Pull Requests.

• For each Vertical there is a Repository containing the Data Models related to that vertical. These repositories do admit pull requests.

General Principles

• Driven-by-implementation approach: Specifications will be considered stable as soon as enough end user organizations (e.g., cities) have validated them in practice. Stable specifications may become TM Forum formal deliverables by following TM Forum’s defined processes.

• Open-closed. Breaking changes to already approved specs are not allowed. Instead, new versions shall deprecate attributes, add new attributes, extend enumerations, etc.

• Public and royalty-free nature of specifications. Data Model Licensing mode. Creative Commons by Attribution 4.0

• Open contribution. Contributions open to anybody (not only members), while final decision making corresponds to TM Forum and FIWARE Foundation members

Lifecycle

Specifications evolve over time through versions generated after RFC (Request for Comments) periods, of a typical duration of 6 months, in between.

The way to handle new Data Models is administrated by the different topics and domains:

• FIWARE foundation and TMForum will check for th consitency and updating of the different data models in this group of repositories

• It is possible to request a new data model through the link.

How to contribute

Contributions should come in the form of pull requests made against the corresponding Vertical Data Model repository.

A Data Model specification shall contain the following artefacts:

• README.md Markdown specification in accordance with this template.

• schema.json JSON Schema associated to the specification. Such JSON Schema should be based on Base Schemas, see for instance schema.json of WeatherObserved

• examples encoded in FIWARE NGSI v2 and NGSI-LD, see for instance example.json, example-normalized.json and example-normalized-ld.jsonld of WeatherObserved.

The artefacts referred below should be under a folder structured as follows:

• NewModel/ - doc/ - README.md: A data model description based on the data model template, e.g. spec.md of WeatherObserved. - README.md: A summary file (as an extract from the spec file), e.g. README.md of WeatherObserved - schema.json: The JSON Schema definition, e.g. schema.json of WeatherObserved - example.json: One or more JSON example file, e.g. example.json of WeatherObserved - example-normalized.json: One or more JSON example file in NGSI v2 normalized format, e.g. example-normalized.json of WeatherObserved - example-normalized-ld.jsonld: One or more JSON example file in NGSI-LD normalized format, e.g. example-normalized-ld.jsonld of WeatherObserved

To facilitate contributions and their validation, we developed a tool that is also used for the Continuous Integration.

To achieve a better performance, we need to break down silo’s of data, ensuring that artificial intelligence can be applied across aggregated datasets and to ensure that individual citizen experience can be optimized across different services.

To achieve this, TM Forum and FIWARE launched this initiative, which seeks to harmonize data models across Smart applications and with the Data Models of TM Forum which have been deployed globally.

By agreeing across different communities, the common definition of smart data models, this will empower innovators and companies to develop solutions that adhere to this common definition and ultimately help enable interoperability of services.

By way of example, the data models that have been harmonized to date can be found in the submodules in the specs directory and in their submodules.

a full list of the data models in json format can be found in the file official_list_data_models.json and a list only for the subrepositories containing data models can be found in the file official_list_repositories.json there are new data models in progress for the following areas:

• Tourism
• Water Management
• Energy
• Robotics
• Agrifood