Ecore4PROV-DM: A Metamodel for Enhancing Data Provenance Adoption in Information Systems

Effective management of data provenance is essential in Information Systems, particularly for data-intensive applications. Despite the W3C PROV family of documents establishing a standard for representing provenance, integrating this information into software development processes remains a significant challenge. This paper addresses the problem by introducing the Ecore4PROV-DM metamodel, developed using Model-Driven Engineering techniques to align with the W3C PROV data model (PROV-DM). The metamodel's application is demonstrated through real-world scenarios, including the Urban Observatory project at Newcastle University. Evaluated using a subset of the Metamodel Quality Requirements and Evaluation (MQuaRE) framework, focusing on three key quality requirements, Ecore4PROV-DM exhibits high accuracy and completeness, making it a robust tool for provenance modeling. By bridging the gap between the conceptual richness of W3C PROV-DM and practical implementation needs, Ecore4PROV-DM facilitates precise provenance representation and seamless integration into diverse Information Systems.