19 january 2005plans for derived xml registry prototype 1 plans for derived xml registry prototype...

19 January 2005 Plans for Derived XML Registry Prototype

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Plans for Derived XML Registry Prototype

Problem: Proliferation of Narrowly-Focused

Standards, Policies, Legislation, Registries, Portals, etc.

Adoption Uneven Across Federal Government Departments & Agencies.

Reaction TO vs. Setting Requirements FOR IT Standards.


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XML & XML-based StandardsOffer Solution, but No Panacea

XML Salvages Legacy Databases, Applications, Crosses Platforms, but … XML Schema Standard is Complex. Inconsistent Validation Remains. Work-arounds for Toolsets cause Backward

Compatibility Issues when Standards are Refined and Toolsets Improved.

Lack of Best Practices & Risks of Duplicate Terms in Vocabularies Possible.

Still, Improvement Continues.


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Needs Drive Rush for Domain-Specific Standards

Similar Concerns Breed Similar Standards.

Overlap & ‘Scope Creep’ Inevitable. Specialization Standards Can be

Separate from the Generalized Standards in the Same Domain, such as Optometry in Healthcare.

Key Terms can have many Standards, such as ‘Person.’


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Government Cross Department, Cross Agency Effort Small,

Voluntary but Growing.

Presidential Management Agenda for ‘Citizen-Centric Government’ Emphasizes Importance of E-Government, Continues Second Decade of IT Efficiency Effort.

Transition Underway from ‘Early Adoption’ to ‘Leadership’ in Open Standards Adoption Post Y2K.


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Interrelated Legislation, Policy Mandates Continue...

Government Performance & Results Act-1993. Requires Strategic Plan with Periodic Reviews. Requires ‘Outcome-Related’ Goals & Objectives.

Government Paperwork Reduction Act-1995. Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)

in OMB Reviews ALL Governmental Agency Information Collection.

Requires ONLY Information Collection ‘Necessary for Proper & Practical Utility for Agency.’


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Clinger-Cohen Act-1995. Information Technology Management Reform Act

Repeals 1949 Brooks Act Section 111-- GSA No Longer Responsible for Government-Wide Automated Data Processing Purchasing.

Requires Agencies to use Capital Planning & Investment Control Policies (GPIC).

Government Paperwork Elimination Act-1998. Allows ‘Electronic Information Submission &

Transmission’ in Government Agency Interactions. Agencies Allowed Electronic Records Maintenance.


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Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA) Clinger-Cohen-Based FEA Framework Formed-1999-CIO

Council (CIOC), Program Management Office (FEAPMO)-2002 under OMB, Returning to CIOC.

Zachman-Based, Promotes Interoperabilty, Sharing Common Federal Processes, Information.

Aids Capital Planning & Investment Control Policies (CPIC). Common Federal Reference Models Provided-2002

Performance Reference Model (PRM) Business Reference Model (BRM) Service Component Reference Model (SRM) Data Reference Model (DRM) Technical Reference Model (TRM)


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OMB Circular A-11 Part 7 - 2002 Planning, Budgeting, Acquisition, and

Management of Capital Assets for Reaching Strategic Results-Based Goals at Lowest Life-Cycle Cost and Least Risk.

Section 300 Requires: CPIC & FEA-Based Documentation of Business Case

Justification for IT Investments. Performance Measurements. Using FEA Reference Models in Relation to Specific

Lines of Business (Implied. Not Explicit). Identifying Cross-Agency Resources to Share.


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OMB Identified Lines of Business-2004 Lines of Business for CPIC & FEA-Based Reports

2004-2005 Financial Management. Data & Statistics. Human Resources. Monetary Benefits. Criminal Investigations. Public Health Monitoring.

2006 Financial Management. Human Resources Management. Grants Management. Federal Health Architecture. Case Management.


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OMB Circular A-119 Federal Participation in the Development &

Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards & in Conformity Assessment Activities.

National Technology Transfer & Advancement Act-1995:

NIST Coordinates Conformity Assessment. OMB Revised Circular “Directing Agencies to use

Voluntary Consensus Standards in lieu of Government-Unique Standards Except Where Inconsistent with Law or Otherwise Impractical.

Purpose: Reduce to Minimum Government Reliance on Government-Unique Standards.


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Legislation & Policy Results:

Well-Intended, very Smart in some Specifics, Overly Specific in others.

Creates Confusion-What to do First? Duplicated Provisions, Restated

Objectives, Unstated Implications. Specifies Process and Outcomes such

as Sharing Resources among Agencies without Clear Priorities & Criteria.

Overall: Normal, Improving.


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A Start: XML Registry of Existing Standards & Specifications

Using Firstgov.gov: Evaluate Methods to Automate or Assist in

Populating an XML Registry of Governmentally-Used or -Related Documents, Standards.

Evaluate Making the Registry Selectively Available using ebXML Registry and eXtensible Access Control Markup Language (XACML) to Restrict Access by Identity Authentication and Role-Based Permissions.

Evaluate the Extent of the Task of Using a Prototype Process to Develop a Centralized and Federated XML Standards Registry to Support the IT Investment Tasks of Governmental Agencies.


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Using Firstgov.gov: Method 1: WSRP Standard- Plumtree Web Crawler

Portlet Makes Results Available by Web Browser in Humanmarkup.org Public Service Portal.

Method 2: Use OWL to Search site by Ontological Rules to identify and sort .xml and .xsd files by Relationships to Criteria Keywords or Phrases, such as Healthcare Services or Emergency Event Types.

Method 3: Use Strawman Search Standard(s) to Discover Requirements for an XML-Specific Search Standard from this Registry Use-Case to be used in a Prototype Government XML Standards Registry.


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Using Firstgov.gov: How many & which documents? Are or Refer to XML? Are or Refer to XSD?

Identify, Sort, Index. XSDs that are Standards. XSDs that are Agency- or Company-Specific. Extract XSD Elements, Attributes,

complexTypes, simpleTypes, etc. Check for Duplicate Terms & Definitions-

Compare and Contrast.


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What does Our Search Tell Us? Apply Ontological Categorization

Make Ontology of Lines of Business. Make Ontology of Cabinet Departments and

their constituent Agencies. Search by Ontological Criteria for Terms. Identify Similar or Identical Terms. Identify Number of Occurrences of Terms. Identify Departments & Agencies using

Specific Terms.