Profiling W3C DCAT for use in specific domains

The Data Catalog Vocabulary (DCAT) is a W3C standard for describing dataset metadata and widely used in NFDI. It builds on vocabularies such as SKOS, ODRL and PROV to support findability, usage restrictions and provenance. While useful for medical datasets, DCAT is abstract and requires profiling to adapt it to applications. Profiles restrict values, define terminology or add attributes, while remaining compatible with the core standard. A prominent example is DCAT-AP of the EU, with national and domain-specific profiles also available. DCAT underpins several planned European Data Spaces, including the European Health Data Space (EHDS). In the EHDS2-Pilot, HealthDCAT-AP was defined as a profile for health data, with ongoing refinement in TEHDAS. Initiatives like NFDI4Health map their metadata to ensure interoperability. Prototypical modeling of hospital, genomic and lab datasets showed HealthDCAT-AP’s suitability, though open cardinalities, limited stakeholder role guidance, and gaps in registry attributes remain. Use of Wikidata as terminology was viewed critically compared to LOINC or SNOMED CT.