Building the Synergy between Public Sector and Research Data Infrastructures

INSPIRE is a European Directive aiming to establish a EU-wide spatial data infrastructure to give cross-border access to information that can be used to support EU environmental policies, as well as other policies and activities having an impact on the environment. In order to ensure cross-border interoperability of data infrastructures operated by EU Member States, INSPIRE sets out a framework based on common specifications for metadata, data, network services, data and service sharing, monitoring and reporting. The implementation of INSPIRE has reached important milestones: the INSPIRE Geoportal was launched in 2011 providing a single access point for the discovery of INSPIRE data and services across EU Member States (currently, about 300K), while all the technical specifications for the interoperability of data across the 34 INSPIRE themes were adopted at the end of 2013. During this period a number of EU and international initiatives has been launched, concerning cross-domain interoperability and (Linked) Open Data. In particular, the EU Open Data Portal, launched in December 2012, made provisions to access government and scientific data from EU institutions and bodies, and the EU ISA Programme (Interoperability Solutions for European Public Administrations) promotes cross-sector interoperability by sharing and re-using EU-wide and national standards and components. Moreover, the Research Data Alliance (RDA), an initiative jointly funded by the European Commission, the US National Science Foundation and the Australian Research Council, was launched in March 2013 to promote scientific data sharing and interoperability. The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC), besides being the technical coordinator of the implementation of INSPIRE, is also actively involved in the initiatives promoting cross-sector re-use in INSPIRE, and sustainable approaches to address the evolution of technologies - in particular, how to support Linked Data in INSPIRE and the use of global persistent identifiers. It is evident that government and scientific data infrastructures are currently facing a number of issues that have already been addressed in INSPIRE. Sharing experiences and competencies will avoid re-inventing the wheel, and help promoting the cross-domain adoption of consistent solutions. Actually, one of the lessons learnt from INSPIRE and the initiatives in which JRC is involved, is that government and research data are not two separate worlds. Government data are commonly used as a basis to create scientific data, and vice-versa. Consequently, it is fundamental to adopt a consistent approach to address interoperability and data management issues shared by both government and scientific data. The presentation illustrates some of the lessons learnt during the implementation of INSPIRE and in work on data and service interoperability coordinated with European and international initiatives.We describe a number of critical interoperability issues and barriers affecting both scientific and government data, concerning, e.g., data terminologies, quality and licensing, and propose how these problems could be effectively addressed by a closer collaboration of the government and scientific communities, and the sharing of experiences and practices.JRC.H.6 - Digital Earth and Reference Dat

RDF and PIDs for INSPIRE: a missing item in ARE3NA

The presentation will outline intermediate results of a study in the context of geospatial data sharing across borders and at European level. The study is aiming to develop a common approach to generating common RDF schemas for representing INSPIRE data and metadata, as well as guidelines for the governance of persistent identifiers (PIDs). These are important elements for enabling the re-use of INSPIRE data in other sectors, in particular in e-government. The results of the study may feed into a proposal for additional encoding rules and guidelines for INSPIRE and will be performed in close collaboration with the INSPIRE Maintenance and Implementation Group and the ISA Programme’s Spatial Information and Services Working Group.JRC.H.6-Digital Earth and Reference Dat

JRC Data Policy

The work on the JRC Data Policy followed the task identified in the JRC Management Plan 2014 to develop a dedicated data policy to complement the JRC Policy on Open Access to Scientific Publications and Supporting Guidance, and to promote open access to research data in the context of Horizon 2020. Important POLICY COMMITMENTS and the RELEVANT REGULATORY BASIS within the European Union and the European Commission include: the Commission Decision on the reuse of Commission documents, Commission communication on better access to scientific information, Commission communication on a reinforced European research area partnership for excellence and growth, Commission recommendation on access to and preservation of scientific information, and the EU implementation of the G8 Open Data Charter. The OBJECTIVES for adopting and implementing the JRC Data Policy include: - Share and use data on the basis of the Open Data principles: fully, freely, openly and timely; - Provide a coordinated approach to the acquisition of data by the JRC; - Facilitate management, broaden access and use of the JRC data, in line with FAIR Data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable); - Support EU implementation of the G8 Open Data Charter; - Continuously support evidence-based decision making and research; -Ensure that JRC data are made available through the EU Open Data Portal. For a successful implementation process, the JRC Data Policy lays down implementation principles with respect to responsible entities, overall implementation guidelines, and their individual elements like data management plans, as well as the monitoring of its implementation. This new version of the JRC Data Policy is the result of the first review (2018) of the initial Policy adopted in 2015.JRC.I.3-Text and Data Minin

JRC Data Policy

The work on the JRC Data Policy followed the task identified in the JRC Management Plan 2014 to develop a dedicated data policy to complement the JRC Policy on Open Access to Scientific Publications and Supporting Guidance, and to promote open access to research data in the context of Horizon 2020. Important policy commitments and the relevant regulatory basis within the European Union and the European Commission include: the Commission Decision on the reuse of Commission documents, Commission communication on better access to scientific information, Commission communication on a reinforced European research area partnership for excellence and growth, Commission recommendation on access to and preservation of scientific information, and the EU implementation of the G8 Open Data Charter.JRC.H.6-Digital Earth and Reference Dat

Management of Multiply Represented Geographic Entities

Multiple representation of geographic information occurs when a real-world entity is represented more than once in the same or different databases. In this paper, we propose a new approach to the modeling of multiply represented entities and the relationships among the entities and their representations. A Multiple Representation Management System is outlined that can manage multiple representations consistently over a number of autonomous databases. Central to our approach is the Multiple Representation Schema Language that is used to configure the system. It provides an intuitive and declarative means of modeling multiple representations and specifying rules that are used to maintain consistency, match objects representing the same entity, and restore consistency if necessary

Describing models in context – A step towards enhanced transparency of scientific processes underpinning policy making

The transparency and reproducibility of scientific evidence underpinning policy is crucial to build and retain trust. This paper describes an application that takes a significant step towards enhanced transparency of scientific models used for policy making: The Modelling Inventory Database and Access Services (MIDAS) developed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) describes models in use by the JRC in their scientific context by linking them to other models, to related data, to supported policies and to domain experts. To effectively share the resulting knowledge across different domains and with policy makers within the institution MIDAS represents the resulting complex network of relations and entities through visual aids based on visual analytics and data narratives. This paper describes not just the application in order to contribute to emerging dialogue on best practice for model documentation, it describes the process and main challenges we met with, and the approach taken to overcome the

JRC FAIR Data Guidelines

The JRC Data Policy requires that JRC Data be managed following the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) Principles. This paper is a deliverable of the JRC Data Strategy in its call to publish Guidelines to support and enhance the FAIRness of JRC data. The paper provides a framework for evaluating and increasing the level of adherence of JRC datasets to the FAIR Principles, while taking into account specific solutions and strategies available to data publishers. It proposes five progressive levels of FAIR Maturity, indicating which of the FAIR maturity indicators the levels follow and suggesting steps that can improve their FAIR maturity level.JRC.T.4 - Data Governance and Service

Application Programming Interfaces in Governments: Why, what and how

Application programming interfaces (APIs) are a 50-year-old technology that can be applied to many fields and that, for some years, the public sector has used to implement its digital transformation (e.g. for the publication of public sector information and for public service provision in different areas), although this technology is not yet fully used to support government policies. Recently, the European Commission has produced a series of policy instruments that require or suggest the adoption of APIs in governments and in some specific areas in particular. These initiatives include the Open Data EU Directive 2019/1024, which requires the use of APIs for ‘high-value’ and dynamic datasets and the European Commission ‘European strategy for data’ Communication COM/2020/66 that reports on future investment in ‘the establishment of EU-wide common, interoperable data spaces’. The goal of this report is to present the main results of a 2-year study on the adoption of APIs in governments, which also supports the adoption of the abovementioned policy instruments. Even though the cohesive and coordinated adoption of APIs in the public sector is still in its early stages, the results of this study demonstrate that APIs present many benefits for the public sector, including fostering innovation in governments and related public services, improving efficiency, improving access to government open data, increasing economic opportunities for private companies using government APIs and enabling the creation and facilitation of interactions between governments (G2G) and between governments and businesses (G2B) in relation to digital ecosystems. However, these benefits also carry technical and organisational costs. In adopting APIs, governments can also encounter risks and challenges. These include cybersecurity issues, missing API governance structures, the difficulty in adopting proper legal instruments to adhere to current regulation, the lack of an API culture and the need for agile platforms to adapt digital public services provision to a rapidly evolving society. To tackle these issues, this study has developed a basic API framework for governments. It provides a cohesive, coordinated approach to APIs that deals with the problems and complexity that result from ad hoc implementation of APIs. It frames existing efforts within a more coordinated suite of activities including (i) the alignment of API adoption with policy goals, (ii) the creation of platforms and ecosystems based on APIs, (iii) the organisation of teams and the development of an API culture and (iv) designing processes based on API best practices. The recommendations and actions outlined in this framework, to be performed in policy priority areas, should also be followed. APIs need to be explicitly adopted to support the new Commission priorities and EU and Member State policies; this adoption should be accompanied by the creation of shared best practices and guidelines to implement an API culture in governments. In addition, the proposed framework should be adopted, further validated and continuously refined to guide government API strategies and digital government strategies, and governments should be more digital ecosystems aware, engaging multiple stakeholders to co-create and co-design API-based systems.JRC.T.1 - Digital Econom

National clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of symptomatic gallstone disease:2021 recommendations from the Danish Surgical Society

Background and objective: Gallstones are highly prevalent, and more than 9000 cholecystectomies are performed annually in Denmark. The aim of this guideline was to improve the clinical course of patients with gallstone disease including a subgroup of high-risk patients. Outcomes included reduction of complications, readmissions, and need for additional interventions in patients with uncomplicated gallstone disease, acute cholecystitis, and common bile duct stones (CBDS). Methods: An interdisciplinary group of clinicians developed the guideline according to the GRADE methodology. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were primarily included. Non-RCTs were included if RCTs could not answer the clinical questions. Recommendations were strong or weak depending on effect estimates, quality of evidence, and patient preferences. Results: For patients with acute cholecystitis, acute laparoscopic cholecystectomy is recommended (16 RCTs, strong recommendation). Gallbladder drainage may be used as an interval procedure before a delayed laparoscopic cholecystectomy in patients with temporary contraindications to surgery and severe acute cholecystitis (1 RCT and 1 non-RCT, weak recommendation). High-risk patients are suggested to undergo acute laparoscopic cholecystectomy instead of drainage (1 RCT and 1 non-RCT, weak recommendation). For patients with CBDS, a one-step procedure with simultaneous laparoscopic cholecystectomy and CBDS removal by laparoscopy or endoscopy is recommended (22 RCTs, strong recommendation). In high-risk patients with CBDS, laparoscopic cholecystectomy is suggested to be included in the treatment (6 RCTs, weak recommendation). For diagnosis of CBDS, the use of magnetic resonance imaging or endoscopic ultrasound prior to surgical treatment is recommended (8 RCTs, strong recommendation). For patients with uncomplicated symptomatic gallstone disease, observation is suggested as an alternative to laparoscopic cholecystectomy (2 RCTs, weak recommendation). Conclusions: Seven recommendations, four weak and three strong, for treating patients with symptomatic gallstone disease were developed. Studies for treatment of high-risk patients are few and more are needed. Endorsement: The Danish Surgical Society. </jats:sec

<i>SNHG5</i> promotes colorectal cancer cell survival by counteracting STAU1-mediated mRNA destabilization

We currently have limited knowledge of the involvement of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in normal cellular processes and pathologies. Here, we identify and characterize SNHG5 as a stable cytoplasmic lncRNA with up-regulated expression in colorectal cancer. Depletion of SNHG5 induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in vitro and limits tumour outgrowth in vivo, whereas SNHG5 overexpression counteracts oxaliplatin-induced apoptosis. Using an unbiased approach, we identify 121 transcript sites interacting with SNHG5 in the cytoplasm. Importantly, knockdown of key SNHG5 target transcripts, including SPATS2, induces apoptosis and thus mimics the effect seen following SNHG5 depletion. Mechanistically, we suggest that SNHG5 stabilizes the target transcripts by blocking their degradation by STAU1. Accordingly, depletion of STAU1 rescues the apoptosis induced after SNHG5 knockdown. Hence, we characterize SNHG5 as a lncRNA promoting tumour cell survival in colorectal cancer and delineate a novel mechanism in which a cytoplasmic lncRNA functions through blocking the action of STAU1