Universal Data Element Framework
(UDEF)
Overview
GEIA – DHS Workshop
Phoenix – April 11-14, 2005
Ron Schuldt
April 13, 2005
UDEF Background
CALS ISG - Developed UDEF
EIA - Applied UDEF
in the late 80s – early 90s
Industry
Ron Schuldt (Chair) - Lockheed Martin
Barbara Barman (Vice Chair) - Raytheon
Rob Bryant - DynCorp
Ruey Chen - David Taylor Research Center
Bob Hodges - Texas Instruments
Neal McNamara - Analysis & Technology Inc.
Bud Orlando - TRW
Madelyn van der Bokke - ASEC
George Walther - Lockheed Martin
in the mid 90s and 2002
Industry
Ron Schuldt (Chair) - Lockheed Martin
Rick Lang - Texas Instruments
Pam Stanfield - Lockheed Martin
Gary O’Hara - Hughes Space and Comm
Tony DiPerna - Ericsson Communications
Ken McTee - Texas Instruments
Cindy Hauer - Mevatec Corp
Fred Bahrs - CMstat Corporation
Doug Drury - ITT Federal Services
Lee LeClair - Texas Instruments
Government
Norma Kornwebel - PM JCALS
Dinah Beres - NAWC
Steve Waterbury - NASA
Government
Deborah Cornelius - US Army Missile Cmd
C. H. VanLandingham - NOAA Nat’l Wea
Svc
Today AFEI (formerly CALS ISG) holds the Intellectual Property Rights to the UDEF
UDEF Recent Background
UDEF Global Host Request For Information (RFI) by AIA and AFEI –
Oct 2003
• Sought candidate global non-profits interested in hosting the
UDEF tree structures
• Responsible for managing extensions to the trees and for
conducting global UDEF training and promoting adoption of
UDEF
• RFI response submitted jointly by CompTIA, OAGi and
Contivo – later backed away for variety of reasons but all three
are still interested
• Draft Agreement and Performance Specification developed
Once Global Host is Selected (Agreement Signed)
• Pilot will be conducted to demonstrate that UDEF helps
reduce costs of developing interfaces
• Once pilot is completed successfully and the Performance
Spec requirements are satisfied, then the non-profit will be
given approval to formally launch the UDEF Global Host
Problem – Global Perspective
Each organization is attempting to set its own semantics standard
Each must interface with organizations they do not control
Elec
Banks
Chem
Aero
DoD
NASA
Trans
Organization
DHS
Other
Ship
Retail
The problem is the lack of common semantics and
schema between organizations
Problem – Supply Chain Perspective
• Today’s reality… point-to-point
solutions introduce excessive cost,
complexity and time
• Examples of gaps and/or
inefficiencies:
- Increasing number of unique portals
adding cost to suppliers
- Multiple, redundant, incompatible
“portal systems”
- Incompatibilities in information
exchange contribute to delay, rework,
and error
• Excessive cost, complexity and time
impeding supply chain agility
Supply Chain Perspective
Cost of a single interface ranges from $10K
to $1M depending on scope and complexity
~ N (N-1) mapping problem & expense
Industry
Members
Business
Partners
Contractor
Government
Customer
Public
Exchange
OEM
Tier-1
Supplier
excessive
cost,
complexity
and time
Commercial
Customer
n-Tier
Supplier
Logistics
Provider
Problem – Internal Perspective
Conflicting semantic overlaps between back-office systems
OAGIS
XBRL
HR-XML
Other XML Standards
Legacy Data
Though semantically equal, the following are 4 different XML tag names
<PARTNUMBER>111-222-333</PARTNUMBER>
<partNumber>111-222-333</partNumber>
<PartNumber>111-222-333</PartNumber>
<partnumber>111-222-333</partnumber>
The Impact on Integration
To interface two or more applications either within the
enterprise or between enterprises ---• Middleware vendors build and sell “adaptors” for interfaces
between major commercial applications (i.e., SAP - PeopleSoft)
- As the version of a given application changes it typically drives the
need for changes to the adaptors
• Application interface developers (data architects) spend
considerable time and effort analyzing the semantics of data that
need to be exchanged between systems
- Semantics analysis requires up to 35-40% of the requirements and
design-time phase labor cost of building a given interface
- To minimize the semantics analysis effort typically requires support
(availability) from the “experts” of each application since most
applications are poorly documented
The Goal
Reduce Requirements and Design-Time Phase Semantics Analysis Time and Cost
Current Point-to-Point
Approach --- n(n-1)
Global Semantics Standard
Approach --- 2n
Global
Semantics
Standard
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Derived XML Schema Requirements
XML Schema “Structure” Requirements
• All new XML Schema used or built by an organization must conform to W3C
XML and XML Schema specifications
» http://w3.org/TR/2004/REC-xml11-20040204/
» http://w3.org/XML/Schema#dev
• Adopt global naming convention standard – ISO/IEC 11179-5
» http://isotc.iso.ch/livelink/livelink/fetch/2000/2489/Ittf_Home/PubliclyAvailableStandards.htm
• Adopt United Nations XML schema naming and design rules
» http://www.disa.org/cefact-groups/atg/downloads/index.cfm
XML Schema “Payload” Requirements
• Adopt global set of basic data representation terms and their definitions –
e.g., Amount, Date, Name, Quantity
» Tables 8-1 and 8-3 in United Nations Core Components Technical Specification (CCTS) – ISO
15000-5
• Adopt global and industry XML schema “payload” standards whenever
possible before building organization unique XML schema – see example
list on next slide
Example “Payload” Standards
•
OAGIS – Open Applications Group http://www.openapplications.org/
» Participants - ERP and middleware vendors and end users
» Example payloads – RFQ, purchase order, invoice, bill of material
•
HL7 - Health Care http://www.hl7.org/
» Participants – health care providers across the globe
» Example payload – health records
•
ACORD – XML for the Insurance Industry http://www.acord.org/
» Participants – insurance providers across the globe
» Example payload – insurance claim
•
XBRL – Business Reporting - Accounting http://www.xbrl.org/
» Participants – accounting firms across the globe
» Example payload – financial reports to SEC
•
EIA-836 – Configuration Management Data Exchange and Interoperability
http://63.249.145.5/836/default.htm
» Participants – DoD and aerospace and defense industry (AIA and GEIA)
» Example payload – engineering change
Derived XML Schema Requirements
XML Schema “Infrastructure Support” Requirements
• Organization adopted and internally developed XML schema must be easily
discovered for reuse – requires a centralized registry/repository
• Use Universal Data Element Framework (UDEF) as means to index
the points of intersection between various XML schema “payloads”
and XML instances AND to improve data interoperability. UDEF
directly supports and enhances an organization’s metadata
management strategy.
XML Schema “Standards” Architecture
XML Schema “Infrastructure Support” Standards
Cross Standard Semantics and Metadata Alignment – UDEF*, RDF, OWL
XML Schema “Payload” Standards
Organization Specific Implementation Conventions (subsets & extensions)
OAGIS
ACORD
XBRL
HL7
EIA-836*
PLCS
….
Others
XML Schema “Structure” Standards
ISO/IEC 11179-5, ebXML CCTS, UN Naming and Design Rules
W3C – XML, XML Schema
* Not quite ready for full adoption
UDEF – Similar to Dewey Decimal System
The Dewey Decimal Classification or DDC was invented in 1876 by a young
American librarian, Melvil Dewey.
1. Divided human knowledge into ten major Classes
2. Subdivided these classes into ten Divisions
3. Division subdivided into ten Sections.
4. These sections subdivided, etc
How to classify a book on Radio Short Waves
10 Main Classes
000 Generalities
100 Philosophy
200 Religion
300 Social Sciences
400 Languages
500 Science
600 Applied science
700 Arts
800 Literature
900 History
500 Natural
sciences
510 Mathematics
520 Astronomy
530 Physics
540 Chemistry
550 Earth sciences
560 Paleontology
570 Life sciences
580 Botany
590 Zoology
530 Physics
531 Solid mechanics
532 Fluid mechanics
533 Gas mechanics
534 Sound
535 Light
536 Heat
537 Electricity
538 Magnetism
539 Modern physics
537.5
537.534
537.5342
537.5343
Electronics
Radio waves
Long waves
Short waves
UDEF – Scope
Transactions – Structured Data
• Purchase Orders
• Purchase Order Changes
• Purchase Order
Acknowledgements
• Purchase Order Change
Acknowledgements
• Invoices
• Remittance Advice
• Request for Quote
• Request for Quote Response
• Shipping Schedule
• Etc.
Heavily influenced by finance and
procurement functions and ERP type
applications
Relevant open standards – X12,
EDIFACT, ebXML, OAGIS, RosettaNet
Collaboration – Unstructured Data
• Mission Requirements
• Concept of Operations
• Specifications
• Product Designs
• Engineering Change Proposals
• Trade-off Studies
• Test Reports
• Meeting Minutes
• Plans
• Schedules
• Presentations
• Etc.
Heavily influenced by engineering,
manufacturing and program
management functions and
PDM/Document Management type
applications
Relevant open standards – STEP,
PLCS, EIA-836
UDEF transcends the transaction and collaboration worlds
UDEF Built on Standards
An Instantiation of ISO 11179-5 Naming Convention and Supports ebXML
UDEF Object
Class List
• Entity
• Document
• Enterprise
• Place
• Program
• Product
• Process
• Person
• Asset
• Law-Rule
• Environment
• Condition
• Liability
• Animal
• Plant
• Mineral
ISO 11179-5 Naming Convention
Data Element Name
Object Class Term
0...n qualifiers +
1 or more required
Object Class
Property Term
+
0..n qualifiers +
1 required Property
Example UDEF-Based Data Element Names
Document Abstract Text
Enterprise Name
Product Price Amount
Product Scheduled Delivery Date
Engineering Design Process Cost Amount
ebXML
Property List
• Amount
• Code
• Date
• Date Time
• Graphic
• Identifier
• Indicator
• Measure
• Name
• Percent
• Picture
• Quantity
• Rate
• Text
• Time
• Value
• Sound
• Video
UDEF names follow the rules of English – qualifiers precede the word they modify
ISO/IEC 11179 – Data Element Concept
Object
Class
Property
Representation
Data
Element
Concept
UDEF Maps Data
Element Concepts
Data
Element
Core
Data
Element
Value
Domain
Application
Data
Element
Creating UDEF IDs
UDEF Trees
16 Object Class Trees
0
Entity
1
Asset
2
Document
18 Property Trees
…
t
Order
a
Work
b
c
Change Technical
1
Amount
1
Region
d
Purchase
4
… Code
33
… Type
…
…
66
Defined
…
Purchase Order Document_Type Code has UDEF ID = d.t.2_33.4
See http://www.udef.org/
Example Mappings
Organizations cannot avoid multiple data standards
** Need global semantics standard **
PDM Sys A
PDM Sys B
Part No
Part Num
OAGIS 7.1
RosettaNet
ItemX
ProprietaryProductIdentifier
9_9.35.8
X12 (EDI)
EDIFACT
Product/Service ID
Item Number
STEP AP 203
xCBL
Product ID
PartID
UDEF Universal Identifier
Product(9)_Manufacturer(9).Assigned (35).Identifier(8)
N (N-1) mapping effort instead becomes a 2N mapping effort
Mapping Concepts to UDEF
1. Identify the applicable UDEF property word that characterizes the dominant attribute
(property) of the data element concept. For example, Name, Identifier, Date, etc.
2. Identify the dominant UDEF object word that the dominant property (selected in step
1) is describing. For example, Person_Name, Product_Identifier, Document_Date,
etc.
3. By reviewing the UDEF tree for the selected property identified in step 1, identify
applicable qualifiers that are necessary to unambiguously describe the property
word term. For example, Last Name
4. By reviewing the UDEF tree for the selected object identified in step 2, identify
applicable qualifiers that are necessary to unambiguously describe the object word
term. For example, Customer Person
5. Concatenate the object term and the property term to create a UDEF naming
convention compliant name where it is recognized that the name may seem
artificially long. For example, Customer Person_Last Name
6. Derive a structured ID based on the UDEF taxonomy that carries the UDEF inherited
indexing scheme. For example <CustomerPersonLastName GUID=“as.5_5.10”>
DHS Typical Example
Data Element Concept Name
United States Passport Number
UDEF ID
1.
Object Type or Role
Object Class
Property Type
Property
Identify the applicable UDEF property word that characterizes the dominant
attribute (property) of the data element concept. For example, Name, Identifier,
Date, etc.
DHS Typical Example
Data Element Concept Name
United States Passport Number
UDEF ID
Object Type or Role
Object Class
Property Type
Property
Identifier
2.
Identify the dominant UDEF object word that the dominant property (selected in
step 1) is describing. For example, Person_Name, Product_Identifier,
Document_Date, etc.
DHS Typical Example
Data Element Concept Name
United States Passport Number
UDEF ID
Object Type or Role
Object Class
Document
3.
Property Type
Property
Identifier
By reviewing the UDEF tree for the selected property identified in step 1, identify
applicable qualifiers that are necessary to unambiguously describe the property
word term. For example, Last Name
DHS Typical Example
Data Element Concept Name
United States Passport Number
UDEF ID
Object Type or Role
Object Class
Document
4.
Property Type
State Department
Government
Assigned
Property
Identifier
By reviewing the UDEF tree for the selected object identified in step 2, identify
applicable qualifiers that are necessary to unambiguously describe the object
word term. For example, Customer Person
DHS Typical Example
Data Element Concept Name
United States Passport Number
UDEF ID
Object Type or Role
United States
Passport
5.
Object Class
Document
Property Type
State Department
Government
Assigned
Property
Identifier
Concatenate the object term and the property term to create a UDEF naming
convention compliant name where it is recognized that the name may seem
artificially long. For example, Customer Person_Last Name
DHS Typical Example
Data Element Concept Name
United States Passport Number
UDEF ID
a.ck.2_2.13.35.8
6.
Object Type or Role
United States
Passport
Object Class
Document
Property Type
State Department
Government
Assigned
Property
Identifier
Derive a structured ID based on the UDEF taxonomy that carries the UDEF
inherited indexing scheme. For example <CustomerPersonLastName GUID=“as.5_5.10”>
UDEF Use with XML
• UDEF derived intelligent ID is the
“key” to systems integration
• Mapping to UDEF is a rules-based
approach to determine semantic
equivalence
Two different systems with need to
exchange purchase order data
System A (xCBL 3.x Format)
UDEF Name
Purchase Order Document_Identifier
UDEF ID = d.t.2_8
System B (OAGIS 7.x Format)
• Optional UDEF IDs applied only
when aligning ANY two systems for
the first time (design time) – stored
as an alias within each system
- Non-intrusive – does not require
change to data element names
• Leverage the UDEF Web Service to
generate a gap analysis report
http://xml.eidx.org:8080/udef/servlet/UdefReport1
Possible DHS-DoJ UDEF Example
UDEF-Based Common Vocabulary
Person Identifier 5_8
Person Last Name 5_5.10
Person First Name 5_4.10
Person Birth Date 5_51.6
Person Birth City Name 5_2.10.10
Local Police – Suspect Role
Suspect Id aw.5_3.13.35.8
Local Police – Criminal Role
Criminal Id av.5_3.13.35.8
Suspect Name aw.5_5.10 & aw.5_4.10
Criminal Name av.5_5.10 & av.5_4.10
Suspect Date of Birth aw.5_51.6
Criminal Date of Birth av.5_51.6
Suspect City of Birth aw.5_2.10.10
Criminal City of Birth av.5_2.10.10
A Metadata Managed Architecture
Interfaces to
Back-Office
Systems
Run Time
EAI
Vendors with
Canonical Models
UDEF-Indexed
Metadata Registries
Transformation
Engines
Internet
Std Schema
Global UDEF
Registry
Use
Matrices
Design Time
Interface
Developers
• Data Dictionary
Extend
Matrices
• Mapping Matrices
• Std XML Schema
Build/Extend
Schema
UDEF-Indexed
Data Modelers
Metadata Registry/Repository
And Apps Developers
Centralized metadata registry/repository
• Enables reuse to reduce costs
• Encourages standardization
Software
Vendors
with UDEF ID
APIs
UDEF
Change Board
Web
Public
Sample Scenarios and Benefits
Sample Scenarios
Sample Benefits
Application developer uses metadata
repository and UDEF IDs to discover a data
model containing 60% of the data for the
new application
Data model reuse – time and cost reduction
Helps enable a corporate-wide common
vocabulary
Interface developer uses metadata
repository and UDEF IDs to discover 35%
of fields already mapped between two
applications
Interface reuse – time and cost reduction
CEO wants to know state-by-state
breakdown how many dollars in last fiscal
year went to suppliers for a single program
Provide answer in 4 hours rather than 5
days
Interface developer uses automated tools
that have been UDEF enabled to help build
Java code that directly feeds the run-time
EAI translation tool
Reduce time and cost to automatically
develop Java code from 4 hours to 1 hour
A new supplier uses RosettaNet rather than
the industry standard xCBL. The semantic
mapping based on UDEF is provided to the
supplier
Reduce the supplier’s time and cost to
complete the mapping.
DoD End-to-End Procurement Mapping
• AIA effort by Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman based on actual DoD procurement of a Raytheon spare part
• Mapped all fields in five documents plus Central Contractor Registration
to both the UDEF and to OAGIS 8.0 XML standard
– RFQ, Response to RFQ, Purchase Order, DD250, Invoice
• DD250 includes the 16 fields required to support UID
UDEF Example Mappings
Examples From DoD Purchase Order Mapped to UDEF and OAGIS 8.0
UDEF Name
UDEF ID
SysName
DPASPriority
OAGIS XML Path Name
Purchase Order Document Government Assigned Priority Code
PurchaseOrder/Header/Priority
d.t.2_1.4.31.4
DateOfOrder
Purchase Order Document Date
PurchaseOrder/Header/DocumentDateTime
d.t.2_6
IssuedByDODAAC
Buyer Enterprise Defense Logistics Agency Assigned Identifier
q.3_6.35.8
PurchaseOrder/Header/Parties/
SoldToParty/PartyID/ID
• UDEF names are unambiguous
• UDEF names cross-referenced and indexed by UDEF
IDs to a table would allow interfaces to be built without
being dependent on availability of the “system expert”
Summary – Key Points
• Adopt Key Global XML Schema Standards – especially …
- ISO/IEC 11179-5 “Naming and Identification Principles for Data
Elements”
- ISO 15000-5 Core Components Technical Specification (especially
Tables 8-1 and 8-3)
• Work together to promote and adopt the UDEF – an Instantiation
of ISO/IEC 11179-5 and ISO 15000-5 CCTS Table 8-1 and 8-3
For Additional Information
ISO/IEC 11179 – Specification and standardization of data elements
http://isotc.iso.ch/livelink/livelink/fetch/2000/2489/Ittf_Home/PubliclyAvailableStandards.htm
UDEF.ORG Web Site
http://www.udef.org/
Ron Schuldt – 303-977-1414 or ron.l.schuldt@lmco.com