D2.2 Guidelines on process and methodology for organisational interoperability

This executive summary presents an overview of Deliverable D2.2, which builds further upon Deliverable D2.1 on the process and methodology for semantic assets creation that can be used in different Member States. A defined process and methodology for organisational interoperability is crucial as it ensures seamless communication, data exchange, and collaboration between different departments, systems, and organisations, enhancing efficiency, reducing errors, and enabling effective decision-making. This deliverable, based on the experience of the MareGraph project and feedback collected from a wider audience during the SEMIC Conference in June 2024, represents a flexible methodology that can accommodate different scenarios with the scope to scale at the European level and suggest common practices that can facilitate the reuse of various semantic assets. The proposed methodology emphasises the importance of a collaborative approach, promoting interoperability between organisations. By establishing a form of governance, stakeholders from different EU Members states can actively participate in decision-making processes and contribute their expertise to ensure the effective development and maintenance of ontologies. Community building also plays a crucial role in successfully implementing the guidelines. This document highlights the need to engage with relevant stakeholders in developing and adopting ontologies, including domain experts, data custodians, and technology providers. This document focuses on harmonising and aligning initiatives to develop semantic assets across borders in the EU. The guidelines we describe are striking a balance between strict governance—essential for ensuring quality and trust—and flexibility, which allows for customization, domain-specific considerations, scalability to scope and budget, optimization, and innovative approaches. This balanced approach fosters both reliability and adaptability, supporting a common framework that is both robust and responsive to diverse needs across Member States.