A Semantic Interoperability Layer to Support the Implementation of the Service Directive

The main purpose of the paper is to present a case study of the use of semantic technologies within e-Government context. We aim to describe the semantic layer that was designed in the scope of the SPOCS project to enable the validation of documents in the scope of cross border procedures. The SPOCS project (Simple Procedures Online for Cross-Border Services) 1 focuses in particular on the transfer of documents to European administrations in the scope of procedures to deliver services across borders. One of the problems that arise is the heterogeneity of documents between countries even they have the same role. With the increase of cross border activities encouraged by the service directive in particular, electronic procedures are more important than ever. The project has therefore set up an infrastructure including the transfer of documents in a metadata container and the validation of documents. Cross-border service pilots have been implemented to show the added value of the SPOCS infrastructure. To overcome the problem of semantic equivalence of documents, the European Commission has encouraged the implementation of a semantic layer to support the interoperability between administrative systems and the reuse of resources across government bodies. In the scope of the SPOCS project, we have implemented a set of pilots to illustrate the added value of implementing a semantic interoperability layer and developing common models and vocabularies. Common ontologies have been designed to describe documents, equivalences, and procedures. Specific access mechanisms have been implemented to automatically verify the status of European companies. Finally, semantic rules have been created to determine the procedure that needs to be used in order to provide a cross border service. SPOCS resources are posted to the JoinUp portal(2).