RE: [ebsoa] SOA and Shared Semantics

["Ann Wrightson" <ann.wrightson@csw.co.uk>]

egov TC has started some work on this, so we need to co-ordinate. There is
also work ongoing in the UK in connexion with the UK e-govt metadata
standard, that will feed into egov TC.

Also, ontologies are not the only way to broker common understanding -
please don't wire them in, but make them one way to do it. 

Which raises a bigger issue, relative to packaging ebSOA output as (only)
relevant to the "ebXML way" (rant approaching :) 

The bigger and more comprehensive a standard, the more useful it looks to
its creators, *and the less useful it is likely to be on the ground* since
adopting it entails grabbing larger "territory" within a solution. The last
thing I need is comprehensive standards (I do most of my work in projects
trying to build stuff that works rather than in standards). I need neat and
usable solutions to specific interoperability problems that I can introduce
*alongside divers other approaches in a clean way*. If a collection of neat
solutions also fit together well to build a bigger picture when they are
adopted incrementally, this is good, but in a project context, in my
experience, needs to manifest (be sellable) as a "nice to have" future
opportunity bonus, not a present necessity. 

Fit-for-purpose standards: 0) do something useful 1) work with a v. wide
range of tools 2) are simple and modular 3) do not change (!!) 4) are easy
for adopters from a wide range of IT backgrounds to understand and use.

End of rant.

Ann W.

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