mobilityDCAT-AP
Metadata is a crucial building block for the accessibility and reusability of datasets, as offered on NAPs and other mobility data portals.
So far, there has been no established common metadata approach specific to mobility data portals. mobilityDCAT-AP aims to fill this gap. It provides a structured, interoperable and harmonised approach to describing and exchanging metadata about datasets (and about access for such datasets) related to mobility, and in particular related to Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS).
Its primary goal is to enhance the cross-border and cross-sectorial discoverability of ITS- and mobility-related datasets published on relevant data portals.
mobilityDCAT-AP provides precise and unambiguous metadata designations for any data offering with mobility relevance, e.g., for representing the data topic, the data provider or the data format. It is built as a mobility-related extension of DCAT-AP, a well-known metadata scheme for data portals in Europe. Analogue to DCAT-AP, mobilityDCAT-AP enables harmonised, platform-independent metadata descriptions both in human-readable and machine-readable formats. At the same time, it is leveraging semantic technologies via the Resource Description Framework (RDF).
mobilityDCAT-AP is based on an extensive preparation phase, including a detailed requirement analysis and a conceptual data model, involving experts and mobility-data stakeholders. This preparation phase is explained here: https://napcore.eu/providing-a-baseline-for-a-new-metadata-scheme-for-european-naps/
Furthermore, the mobilityDCAT-AP editors have established a close relationship with the editors of DCAT-AP, to ensure interoperability between these two metadata specifications.
A major outcome is a technical specification of the mobilityDCAT-AP data model, provided as an online documentation:
https://w3id.org/mobilitydcat-ap/releases
This documentation includes a human-readable vocabulary description; a set of usage notes; a set of machine-readable serialisation formats to allow IT systems process the vocabulary; and schemas for automated conformance validation. In addition, user support is provided via a dedicated GitHub repository where users can interact with the editors, as well as a Wikipage with practical guidelines for implementers:
The metadata specification is maintained and governed by the NAPCORE Metadata Working Group. The Working Group is taking care of, among others, regular updates of the technical specification, and dissemination and support activities for implementers of mobilityDCAT-AP.
Check the NAPCORE website for news about advances and activities by mobilityDCAT-AP!
