Untitled :: SEMIC

SEMIC Core Vocabularies

This section contains a brief overview of the Core Vocabularies, indicating how they were developed and how they are maintained.

Since 2011 the European Commission facilitates international working groups to forge consensus and maintain the SEMIC Core Vocabularies. A short description of these vocabularies is included in the Table [below]. The latest release of the Core Vocabularies can be retrieved via the SEMIC Support Center[semic], or directly in the GitHub repository[semic-gh].

Vocabulary	Description
	The Core Person Vocabulary is a simplified, reusable and extensible data model that captures the fundamental characteristics of a person, e.g. the name, the gender, the date of birth, the location etc. This specification enables interoperability among registers and any other ICT based solutions exchanging and processing person-related information.
	The Core Business Vocabulary is a simplified, reusable and extensible data model that captures the fundamental characteristics of a legal entity, e.g. the legal name, the activity, address, etc. The Core Business Vocabulary includes a minimal number of classes and properties modelled to capture the typical details recorded by business registers. It facilitates information exchange between business registers despite differences in what they record and publish.
	The Core Location Vocabulary is a simplified, reusable and extensible data model that captures the fundamental characteristics of a location, represented as an address, a geographic name, or a geometry. The Location Core Vocabulary provides a minimum set of classes and properties for describing a location represented as an address, a geographic name, or a geometry. This specification enables interoperability among land registers and any other ICT based solution exchanging and processing location information.
	The Core Criterion and Core Evidence Vocabulary (CCCEV) supports the exchange of information between organisations that define criteria and organisations that respond to these criteria by means of evidences. The Core Evidence and Core Criterion Vocabulary (CCCEV) addresses specific needs of businesses, public administrations and citizens across the European Union, including the following use cases: Facilitate development of interoperable information systems: the use of common vocabularies to describe criteria and evidence facilitates the development of information systems and improves their interoperability. Create a repository of reusable criteria in machine-readable formats: the use of common vocabularies promotes the creation of a repository of criteria and evidence information. Automate the assessment of criteria: the Core Vocabulary describing the criterion responses allows systems to easily compare the information collected from different parties and enables automatic assessment of the responses for a specific criterion. Automate scoring of responses: weighting criteria, the assessment can be followed by an automate scoring of the responses provided by different parties. Promote cross-border participation in public procurement: the use of the Core Vocabulary for electronic criterion and evidence allows for removing language barriers thereby improving the cross border exchange of information, and the cross-border participation in pan-European selection processes. Calculating statistics: standardising data for criterion, criterion responses and evidences allows calculating statistical information on the most common used criteria for a given process, the most relevant evidences, etc. Create a registry of mappings of criteria: using the Core Vocabulary, it is possible to create a registry of mappings to allow cross-checking of the criteria with the evidences of each particular Member State.
	The Core Public Organisation Vocabulary provides a common data model for describing public organisations in the European Union. The Core Public Organisation Vocabulary (CPOV) addresses specific needs of businesses, public administrations and citizens across the European Union, including the following use cases: Facilitate information sharing: the CPOV enables G2G (Government-to-Government), G2B (Government-to-Business) and G2C (Government-to-Citizen) information sharing. Facilitate the development of common information systems: the use of existing data models for the development of common information systems facilitates the development of those systems and improves their interoperability. Linked Open Organograms: the Core Public Organisation Vocabulary has the potential to link organograms to each other and to high-value data sets. Cross border information exchange: the CPOV allows to manage a cross-border repository of public services and organisations. Find a PO by its function: the public organisation portfolio facilitates discovery of which public authorities and departments are responsible for given areas of the public task. Increase efficiency: the CPOV helps to identify where responsibilities and functions are duplicated or overlap.
	The Core Public Event Vocabulary is a simplified, reusable and extensible data model that captures the fundamental characteristics of a public event, e.g. the title, the date, the location, the organiser etc. The Core Public Event Vocabulary aspires to become a common data model for describing public events (conferences, summits, etc.) in the European Union. This specification enables interoperability among registers and any other ICT based solutions exchanging and processing information related to public events.

Vocabulary

Description

The Core Person Vocabulary is a simplified, reusable and extensible data model that captures the fundamental characteristics of a person, e.g. the name, the gender, the date of birth, the location etc.

This specification enables interoperability among registers and any other ICT based solutions exchanging and processing person-related information.

The Core Business Vocabulary is a simplified, reusable and extensible data model that captures the fundamental characteristics of a legal entity, e.g. the legal name, the activity, address, etc.

The Core Business Vocabulary includes a minimal number of classes and properties modelled to capture the typical details recorded by business registers. It facilitates information exchange between business registers despite differences in what they record and publish.

The Core Location Vocabulary is a simplified, reusable and extensible data model that captures the fundamental characteristics of a location, represented as an address, a geographic name, or a geometry.

The Location Core Vocabulary provides a minimum set of classes and properties for describing a location represented as an address, a geographic name, or a geometry. This specification enables interoperability among land registers and any other ICT based solution exchanging and processing location information.

MPu4yRXj56z76nAlmbZoYy9g0scSPRPsMJRiIZd90BgS2S9hHmyqd3iUDonDlOrttzXZkkn3xu79f8HMpem9IgdXjgAAAAASUVORK5CYII=

The Core Criterion and Core Evidence Vocabulary (CCCEV) supports the exchange of information between organisations that define criteria and organisations that respond to these criteria by means of evidences.

The Core Evidence and Core Criterion Vocabulary (CCCEV) addresses specific needs of businesses, public administrations and citizens across the European Union, including the following use cases:

Facilitate development of interoperable information systems: the use of common vocabularies to describe criteria and evidence facilitates the development of information systems and improves their interoperability.
Create a repository of reusable criteria in machine-readable formats: the use of common vocabularies promotes the creation of a repository of criteria and evidence information.
Automate the assessment of criteria: the Core Vocabulary describing the criterion responses allows systems to easily compare the information collected from different parties and enables automatic assessment of the responses for a specific criterion.
Automate scoring of responses: weighting criteria, the assessment can be followed by an automate scoring of the responses provided by different parties.
Promote cross-border participation in public procurement: the use of the Core Vocabulary for electronic criterion and evidence allows for removing language barriers thereby improving the cross border exchange of information, and the cross-border participation in pan-European selection processes.
Calculating statistics: standardising data for criterion, criterion responses and evidences allows calculating statistical information on the most common used criteria for a given process, the most relevant evidences, etc.
Create a registry of mappings of criteria: using the Core Vocabulary, it is possible to create a registry of mappings to allow cross-checking of the criteria with the evidences of each particular Member State.

The Core Public Organisation Vocabulary provides a common data model for describing public organisations in the European Union.

The Core Public Organisation Vocabulary (CPOV) addresses specific needs of businesses, public administrations and citizens across the European Union, including the following use cases:

Facilitate information sharing: the CPOV enables G2G (Government-to-Government), G2B (Government-to-Business) and G2C (Government-to-Citizen) information sharing.
Facilitate the development of common information systems: the use of existing data models for the development of common information systems facilitates the development of those systems and improves their interoperability.
Linked Open Organograms: the Core Public Organisation Vocabulary has the potential to link organograms to each other and to high-value data sets.
Cross border information exchange: the CPOV allows to manage a cross-border repository of public services and organisations.
Find a PO by its function: the public organisation portfolio facilitates discovery of which public authorities and departments are responsible for given areas of the public task.
Increase efficiency: the CPOV helps to identify where responsibilities and functions are duplicated or overlap.

The Core Public Event Vocabulary is a simplified, reusable and extensible data model that captures the fundamental characteristics of a public event, e.g. the title, the date, the location, the organiser etc.

The Core Public Event Vocabulary aspires to become a common data model for describing public events (conferences, summits, etc.) in the European Union. This specification enables interoperability among registers and any other ICT based solutions exchanging and processing information related to public events.

Representation formats

The Core Vocabularies are semantic data specifications that are disseminated as the following artefacts:

lightweight ontology [sem-sg-wio] for vocabulary definition expressed in OWL [owl2],
loose data shape specification [sem-sg-wds] expressed in SHACL [shacl],
human-readable reference documentation [sem-sg-wdsd] in HTML (based on ReSpec [respec]),
JSON-LD [w3c] context definitions [json-ld],
conceptual model specification [sem-sg-wcm] expressed in UML [uml].

Licensing conditions

The Core Vocabularies are published under the CC-BY 4.0 licence [cc-by].

Core Vocabularies lifecycle

The Core Vocabularies have been developed following the ‘Process and methodology for developing Core Vocabularies’ [ec11a]. The Core Vocabularies have an open change and release management process [cv-met], supported by SEMIC, that ensures continuous improvement and relevance to evolving user needs.

This process begins with the identification of needs from stakeholders or issues raised in existing implementations. The Working Group members, SEMIC team or community of users propose changes that are thoroughly assessed for their impact and feasibility. Once a change is deemed necessary, it undergoes a drafting phase where the technical details are fleshed out, followed by public consultations to gather wider input and ensure transparency.

Following consultations, the changes are refined and prepared for implementation. This stage may involve further iteration based on feedback or additional insights from ongoing discussions. The finalised changes are then formally approved and documented, ensuring they are well-understood and agreed upon by all relevant parties.

The release management of Core Vocabularies follows a structured timeline that includes pre-announced releases and public consultation periods to allow users to prepare for changes. Each release includes detailed documentation to support implementation, ensuring users can integrate new versions with minimal disruption. This process not only maintains the quality and relevance of the Core Vocabularies, but also supports a dynamic and responsive framework for semantic interoperability within digital public services.

Claiming conformance

Claiming conformance to Core Vocabularies is an integral part of validating (a) how well a new or a mapped data model or semantic data specification aligns with the principles and practices established in the SEMIC Style Guide [sem-sg] and (b) to what degree the Core Vocabularies are reused (fully or partially) [sem-sg-reuse]. The conformance assessment is voluntary, and shall be published as a self-conformance statement. This statement must assert which requirements are met by the data model or semantic specification.

The conformance statement highlights various levels of adherence, ranging from basic implementation to more complex semantic representations. At the basic level, conformance might simply involve ensuring that data usage is consistent with the terms (and structure, but no formal semantics) defined by the Core Vocabularies. Moving to a more advanced level of conformance, data may be easily transformed into formats like RDF or JSON-LD, which are conducive to richer semantic processing and integration. This level of conformance signifies a deeper integration of the Core Vocabularies, facilitating a more robust semantic interoperability across systems. Ultimately, the highest level of conformance is achieved when the data is represented in RDF and fully leverages the semantic capabilities of the Core Vocabularies. This includes using a range of semantic technologies, adhering to the SEMIC Style Guide, fully reusing the Core Vocabularies, and respecting the associated data shapes.