Last update: 01/10/2024
GovTech Connect
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In this interview with Denis Dechandon, Head of the Metadata Sector at the Publications Office of the European Union, we will dive into the VocBench and ShowVoc projects that he oversees and understand the benefits that the Interoperable Europe Portal offers to his work and the two platforms.
Please introduce yourself to our audience
As an experienced tool and business manager with a strong background in government administration, I have dedicated my career to advancing multilingualism, linguistics and, ultimately, semantic technologies. My professional journey has been deeply rooted in language technologies, natural language processing, knowledge organisation systems and process automation. In my current role at the Publications Office of the European Union, I lead efforts to enhance semantic interoperability and expand the use of semantic technologies across EU institutions. My work focuses on providing essential support through multilingual reference data assets, from their creation, through their improvement and dissemination, to corporate services aiming at their effective and efficient management, and IT applications, with a particular focus on providing support to EU institutions and agencies, as well as national public services.
In addition to these responsibilities, I oversee the development of two major semantic applications, VocBench and ShowVoc. These platforms are crucial for managing and sharing multilingual reference data, fostering collaboration and ensuring interoperability across various sectors. My goal is to continue driving innovation in this space, leveraging my expertise to support the evolving needs of public administrations. While I speak of these achievements in the first person, it is important to highlight that this is the result of real teamwork, involving the dedicated efforts of the teams within my Sector and collaboration with numerous colleagues throughout the Publications Office and beyond.
Could you briefly describe your solution and mention some of its highlights?
Our solution relies on two key semantic applications: VocBench and ShowVoc, both designed to manage and disseminate multilingual reference data assets, which are fundamental for achieving semantic interoperability. Additionally, we are developing a third application, a semantic elicitation platform, which is expected to be available in about a year. This new platform will (semi-) automatically tag content and enrich existing multilingual reference data assets, further integrating with VocBench.
VocBench is a powerful, open-source platform used for the collaborative management of multilingual controlled vocabularies, thesauri, ontologies and other semantic assets. It supports advanced semantic web standards like OWL, SKOS and RDF, making it an essential tool for organisations aiming to produce and publish Linked Open Data. A key highlight of VocBench is its ability to centralise the management of multilingual vocabularies, ensuring consistency and interoperability across various systems. It also offers a collaborative environment where multiple users can work together, maintaining a high level of accuracy and governance.
| ShowVoc, on the other hand, is a complementary platform designed for the publication, consultation and validation of reference data. It provides a user-friendly interface for browsing and retrieving multilingual datasets, making it accessible to both technical and non-technical users. A standout feature of ShowVoc is its native integration with VocBench, which enables seamless editing and management of data, ensuring that the most accurate and up-to-date information is available for public use. |
Together, these tools support the European Union’s goals for semantic interoperability by offering powerful, flexible and open-source solutions that enhance the management and sharing of reference data across multiple domains and languages. They are critical not only for ensuring collaboration across sectors but also for enabling the consistent and interoperable use of data throughout the EU.
How do you typically use the Interoperable Europe Portal?
The data assets we manage with VocBench are disseminated across multiple platforms, including the EU Vocabularies website, data.europa.eu and the Interoperable Europe Portal, ensuring broad accessibility and usability. To further enhance the user experience, we have integrated ShowVoc into the EU Vocabularies website as a powerful data visualisation tool. ShowVoc is also continuously being developed to meet the specific needs of professional communities, such as statisticians, through our ongoing collaboration with Eurostat.
Moreover, VocBench is increasingly adopted by a growing number of Directorate-Generals (DGs) and users across the European Commission and other EU institutions, who rely on it to maintain reference data assets, controlled vocabularies, code lists, authority lists and ontologies. Our corporate instances of VocBench and ShowVoc are accessible to all Commission DGs and EU institutions, providing a centralised and efficient solution for managing semantic assets. We also invite national public administrations to connect with us to explore how our services and solutions can support their needs.
We actively use the Interoperable Europe Portal, particularly the ENDORSE Exchange Platform, as a crucial resource for advancing our projects, including VocBench and ShowVoc. The platform serves as a central hub where we engage with a wide range of stakeholders, including public administrations, semantic web specialists and knowledge managers across Europe.
Our interaction with the platform involves direct engagement with the professional community of users through events like ENDORSE conferences, workshops and tutorials. These events are invaluable for showcasing the capabilities of our tools, gathering feedback and fostering collaboration. Additionally, we actively support the open-source community, which plays a critical role in the ongoing development and refinement of our solutions.
The EU Vocabularies website is becoming increasingly central to the dissemination of our multilingual reference data assets, making them accessible and reusable across various domains. This effort is further complemented by our growing collaboration with the SEMIC community and our increasing engagement with national public services, all of which expand the reach and impact of our tools.
The Portal represents a strategic opportunity that allows us to seamlessly integrate these various efforts. By linking our work on the EU Vocabularies website with our interactions on the ENDORSE platform and our collaborations with SEMIC and national public services, we create a cohesive ecosystem that supports the broader goals of semantic interoperability and digital transformation across the EU.
Looking ahead, we are eager to not only enhance interaction with the platform's visitors and users but also encourage them to adopt our solutions. We welcome users to contact us for any questions they might have and to explore how we can further support them. By fostering more dynamic exchanges and feedback loops, we can continuously improve our tools, ensuring they meet the evolving needs of the community. This active engagement will help create a more vibrant and participatory environment on the platform, driving innovation and collaboration even further.
In summary, the Interoperable Europe Portal is an essential tool for us. It enables engagement, collaboration and the adoption of our solutions, ultimately supporting a more interoperable, efficient and connected public sector in Europe.
How has the Portal helped you with your project? What are some of the benefits it has brought?
The Interoperable Europe Portal has been instrumental in advancing our work on managing and disseminating multilingual reference data assets. By providing a central platform for sharing and reusing interoperability solutions, the Portal has significantly streamlined our efforts to ensure that the tools we develop, such as VocBench and ShowVoc, align with the broader EU objectives for cross-border cooperation and semantic interoperability.
- One of the key benefits the Portal has brought is the facilitation of collaboration with other EU institutions and Member States. It has enabled us to share our solutions more broadly and to incorporate feedback from a diverse range of public administrations, ensuring that our tools meet the specific needs of various sectors, including statistics, where our collaboration with Eurostat has been particularly fruitful.
- Additionally, the Portal’s emphasis on mandatory interoperability assessments has helped us ensure that the changes and updates we implement in our IT systems and digital services are fully aligned with the EU's interoperability goals. This not only improves the quality and consistency of our reference data but also enhances the overall user experience for both public sector entities and the citizens they serve.
- Furthermore, the Interoperable Europe Portal, particularly through the ENDORSE Exchange Platform, has provided us with a valuable space to engage with a broad audience of public administrations, semantic web specialists and knowledge managers across Europe. We have leveraged this space through various events, such as ENDORSE conferences, presentations, workshops in multiple fora, and tutorials, where we have showcased the capabilities of these tools.
- Our engagement with the SEMIC community, which also accesses the platform, has grown significantly. We have established increasing links with SEMIC, providing support and aligning our efforts with their focus on semantic interoperability. This collaboration has been key in refining and enhancing our tools to better meet the needs of different professional communities, including statisticians in partnership with Eurostat.
The platform’s role in facilitating these connections has extended the reach of VocBench and ShowVoc beyond the Publications Office, encouraging adoption across other EU institutions, national public administrations and international organisations. This has promoted the reuse of these semantic tools, ensuring consistent and interoperable data management across Europe.
In essence, the Interoperable Europe Portal, through the pages dedicated to VocBench and ShowVoc, and the ENDORSE Exchange Platform, its associated events, and our growing collaboration with the SEMIC community, has provided us with a powerful avenue for driving the adoption and continuous improvement of our semantic tools. This ultimately contributes to a more interoperable and efficient public sector in Europe.
Any last thoughts you would like to share with the Portal’s users?
As we continue to develop and refine our tools, we see immense value in the active participation and feedback of the community. The Interoperable Europe Portal is not just a platform for dissemination but a space for collaboration, innovation and shared growth. We encourage all users to explore the solutions we offer, engage with us through the platform and be a part of this journey toward greater interoperability and digital transformation across the EU. Your input is invaluable to us, and we are here to support you in leveraging these tools to their fullest potential. Together, we can build a more connected, efficient and innovative public sector in Europe.
For more information from Denis and the two projects, visit the ShowVoc solution or the VocBench solution on the Portal or browse the ShowVoc and VocBench websites.
You can also visit Denis' profile on the Portal to keep up to date with his latest contributions.
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