XML Web Services Pilot Projects for the US EPA

1
XML Web Services Pilot Projects for the US EPA

• Presentation to
• Richard Otis, Lead for E-Gov and
• Deputy Assistant Administrator
• Office of Environmental Information
• July 7, 2003

2
Previous Presentations

• March 20, 2002, The CIO Council Showcase of
  Excellence, Special Innovation Award, Presented
  to the US EPA, Natural Language Interface
  (VoiceXML) to Web Content, by the Federal
  Leadership Council (Mark Forman and the Quad
  Council) at FOSE 2002.
• Mark Forman and Kim Nelson said do more like it!
  Lead to the formation of the CIO Councils XML
  Web Services Working Group.
• September 5-6th, 2003, Mark Luttner and FGDC
  Coordination Committee.
• Mark Luttner said every OEI manager should see
  this!
• November 19, 2002, EPA GIS Day, Kim Nelson, et
  al.
• Kim Nelson said go for it and work with Rick
  Otis!
• April 11, 2003, EPA GIS WG Meeting.
• What the regions need from the Network!
• April 15, 2003, XML Web Services WG Meeting
  (Martin Smith, CIO Office, Department of Homeland
  Security).
• Cooperate with Disaster Management E-Gov
  Initiative (Eliot Christian)
• May 1, 2003, 2nd Annual Speech and Voice
  Technology for Military and Government
  Applications Forum.

3
Agenda

• 1. VoiceXML Web Services Applications
• Adam Hocek, President and CTO, Broadstrokes, and
  co-author of Definitive VoiceXML, Charles
  Goldfarb XML Series, Prentice Hall.
• EPA Local Emergency Planning Committee Database.
• Digital Talking Books.
• 2. XML Web Services Applications
• Muhannad Kannan, Director, Innovative Technology
  Group, and John Reynolds, Member, Innovative
  Technology Group, DynCorp.
• EPA Facility Data.

4
Agenda

• 3. XML Web Services Applications
• Don Thibeau, Qsent Board of Advisors on
  Government Strategy
• Accuracy Assessment and Improvement of EPA
  Facility Data.
• 4. VoiceXML Web Services Applications
• Dan Buan, Director, Government Sector, Realsoft,
  Inc.
• Automated Data Verification.

5
Agenda

• 5. Discussion and Next Steps.
• 6. Semantic Technologies for E-Gov
• Ralph Hodgson, Executive Partner, TopQuadrant
• Accelerating eGOV Initiatives and Agency
  Partnering with the FEA-based Capabilities
  Manager, Ralph Hodgson, TopQuadrant.
• September 8, 2003, Workshop, Draft Agenda.
• Brand Niemann, US EPA, and Chair, XML Web
  Services Working Group
• EPAs Draft Report on the Environment as a
  Semantic Web Service Pilot.

6
Demonstrations

• 1. VoiceXML Web Services Applications
• Adam Hocek, President and CTO, Broadstrokes, and
  co-author of Definitive VoiceXML, Charles
  Goldfarb XML Series, Prentice Hall.
• EPA Local Emergency Planning Committee Database.
• Original EPA VoiceXML application implemented
  using Broadstrokes Voxeo server, April 15th.
• Digital Talking Books.
• Extending Digital Dividends VoiceXML Application
  using Microsoft's InfoPath to create a form that
  generated the XML file, June 17th.

7
EPA Local Emergency Planning Committee
Database-Web Site
http//www.epa.gov/ceppo/lepclist.htm
8
EPA Local Emergency Planning Committee
Database-VoiceXML

• Adam Hocek (Broadstokes, Inc.) created a script
  (http//www.broadstrokesinc.com/demo/cgi-bin/fmqry
  .pl) that returns the results from FileMaker as
  an ECMAScript. This makes it possible to use the
  same ECMAScript results within a VoiceXML or HTML
  document
• http//www.broadstrokesinc.com/demo/cgi-bin/jsvxml
  .pl
• http//www.broadstrokesinc.com/demo/cgi-bin/jshtml
  .pl.
• The file http//www.broadstrokesinc.com/demo/brand
  .vxml is used for collecting the callers zip code
  and then it does a to jsvxml.pl which
  will generate a VoiceXML document with the
  results.
• The VoiceXML application runs on Voxeo's server.
  Call 1-800-303-9987 and give the application ID
  as 713589.

9
Digital Talking Books on CD-ROM and the Web as
VoiceXML
DAISY or NISO Books (Digital Audio-based
Information SYstem) Consortium and National
Information Standards Organization)

• See the familiar words as text on screen or in
  Braille, synchronized with the narrators voice.
  Navigate forward and backward in the speech using
  computer keystrokes. We have moved from
  standardizing the alphabet to standardizing book
  formats!
• Medium-independent information access based on
  open standards (W3Cs XML and SMIL)
• eXtensible Markup Language.
• Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language

10
Demonstrations

• 2. XML Web Services Applications
• Muhannad Kannan, Director, Innovative Technology
  Group, and John Reynolds, Member, Innovative
  Technology Group, DynCorp.
• EPA Facility Data.
• Problem
• EPAs Facility Registry System (FRS) Database is
  our unique contribution to Homeland Security, but
  we need to know how accurate it is before we
  provide it for that purpose and need it to be
  delivered as a Homeland Security application
  (XML Web Service).
• Strategy
• Provide the FRS as an XML Web Service to Qsent to
  append its Directory Listing Web Services.
• Use the FRS-Qsent Web Service to drive a VoiceXML
  Web Services for Emergency Notification (Reverse
  911).
• Use the FRS-Qsent Web Service to drive Error
  Correction Web Services (VoiceXML and XForms) to
  Validate the FRS-Qsent Web Service and FRS itself.

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Demonstrations
Architectural Overview
12
Demonstrations

• Java command line program accessing the Web
  Service (command and results).
• Stand alone" Java Desktop Client application
  accessing the same Web Service.
• Simple Web application accessing the same Web
  Service. This JSP/Servlet combination displays
  the same data as Demo 1 in a Web Browser.
• Displays "raw" XML in a Web Browser.
• "Raw" EnviroFacts XML displayed in a Web Browser.
• "Raw" Qsent XML displayed in a Web Browser.
• A Web application which uses the Web Service to
  get XML from both Databases and displays the
  differences.

13
Demonstrations

• Zip code differences are displayed (only
  differing fields are displayed).
• Web applications retrieving XML from the Web
  Service and using XSL to transform the XML into
  another format (in this case, HTML).
• EnviroFacts data in an HTML table (XSL can make
  transformation decisions based on the data being
  transformed. Here, EnviroFacts data has a purple
  background).
• EnviroFacts data in another format (this uses XSL
  functions to count the number of records and
  number the table).
• Qsent data in an HTML table (Qsent Data has a
  blue background).
• Qsent Data as a numbered list (XSL functions are
  used to count the number of records and number
  the list).

14
Demonstrations

• 3. XML Web Services Applications
• Don Thibeau, Qsent Board of Advisors on
  Government Strategy
• Accuracy Assessment and Improvement of EPA
  Facility Data.
• Qsent Features.
• Qsent Verification of EPA Regulated Facilities.
• Qsents iQ411 Interactive Reverse 911 Alert
  Lookup.
• Perform Emergency Notification and Data
  Collection with VoiceXML (transition to Realsoft).

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Demonstrations

• Qsent Features
• Over 145 million residential, business and
  government listings (99). Every record verified
  through phone installation and account activation
  with credit history.
• 250,000 to 500,000 updates daily
• Four searches methods
• U.S. Residential search for an individual
• U.S. Business and Government search for
  business or government agencies
• Reverse Lookup search by telephone number
• U.S. All search all directories at once
• Geographic searches
• City Surround expand search incrementally from
  city center (lowest ZIP)
• Neighborhood Search search by neighborhoods
  using ZIP4

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Demonstrations

• Qsent Verification of EPA Regulated Facilities
• Qsent was able to return at least one match in
  1,753 out of 2,533 records in the EPA EnviroFacts
  Data Warehouse in the Portland, OR, area (69).
• Example (see next slide)
• EPA records show Associated Hose Products at 801
  SE Alders in Portland.
• iQ411 shows Associated Hose Products at 130 SE
  7th Avenue and provides a phone number.
• A more thorough analysis of the matching results
  between the Qsent and EPA Facility databases
  would yield improvements in the EPA Facility
  database.

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Demonstration
Qsent Verification of EPA Regulated Facilities
Microsofts MapPoint Web Service!
18
Demonstration
Qsents iQ411 Interactive Reverse 911 Alert
Lookup
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Demonstration
Perform Emergency Notification and Data
Collection with VoiceXML
Simulated Contamination From Umatilla Army Depot
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Demonstrations

• 4. VoiceXML Web Services Applications
• Dan Buan, Director, Government Sector, Realsoft,
  Inc.
• Automated Data Verification
• Uses XML and Web Services standards.
• Everyone has a phone.
• No computer needed.
• Less than 1 per call.
• Fully automated.

21
Demonstrations
How Does it Work?
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5. Discussion and Next Steps

• Does EPA want to operationalize the pilot(s)
  into a funded project(s)?
• Does EPA want to work with the Department of
  Homeland Security and the Disaster Management
  E-Gov Initiative on this?
• Are there other EPA mission critical applications
  that would benefit from XML and VoiceXML Web
  Services?

23
Demonstrations

• 6. Semantic Technologies for E-Gov
• Ralph Hodgson, Executive Partner, TopQuadrant
• Accelerating eGOV Initiatives and Agency
  Partnering with the FEA-based Capabilities
  Manager, Ralph Hodgson, TopQuadrant.
• September 8, 2003, Workshop, Draft Agenda.
• Brand Niemann, US EPA, and Chair, XML Web
  Services Working Group
• EPAs Draft Report on the Environment as a
  Semantic Web Service Pilot.

24
Accelerating eGOV Initiatives and Agency
Partnering with the FEA-based Capabilities
Manager Overview

• The vision of Universal Access Requires
  Cross-Agency Collaboration.
• Assisting Partnering through Solution Envisioning
  and Semantic Models
• Decentralized but Connectable a Government
  Core Ontology (e.g. a kind of Dublin Core for
  Agencies) with participation from the W3C
  Semantic Web Community. E.g., RDFS - Resource
  Description Framework Schema.
• The Semantic FEA Capabilities and Partnership
  Manager Pilot Project and Workshop.

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Accelerating eGOV Initiatives and Agency
Partnering with the FEA-based Capabilities
Manager Modeling
Accelerating eGOV Initiatives and Agency
Partnering with the FEA-based Capabilities
Manager Modeling
leads
supports
develops
Agency
PresidentsInitiative
Partnership
Business Case
for
has
participates in
runs
Program
Business Area
has
has
Project
Line of Business
has
delivers
realized as
needs
Capability
Service
Web Service
uses
Component
considers
supports
Capability Case
26
Accelerating eGOV Initiatives and Agency
Partnering with the FEA-based Capabilities
Manager The Power of RDFS
Accelerating eGOV Initiatives and Agency
Partnering with the FEA-based Capabilities
Manager The Power of RDFS
eGOV realized as component
27
Accelerating eGOV Initiatives and Agency
Partnering with the FEA-based Capabilities
Manager Conceptual Architecture
Accelerating eGOV Initiatives and Agency
Partnering with the FEA-based Capabilities
Manager Conceptual Architecture
28
Accelerating eGOV Initiatives and Agency
Partnering with the FEA-based Capabilities
Manager An exploratory sketch using a native
RDF DB The FEA Partnership Advisor
Built using RDF Gateway from Intellidimension,
Inc., acknowledgements to Geoff Chappell.
29
To Arrive at and Validate the Vision of a
Semantic EPA Capabilities Manager
ecoExchange
ecoAdvisor
myROE
FEA Interface
Web
Ontology Engine
UDDI Interface
FEA Ontology
EcoInformatics Ontology
SOAP
User
EPA Ontologies
Business Objects
System
Knowledge Hub
mapper
mapper
mapper
mapper
See Some Thoughts on the Report On The
Environment (RoE), July 7, 2003
30
The Semantic Web Wave Tim Berners-Lee (W3C),
January 2003
31
The Semantic Web Wave Tim Berners-Lee (W3C),
June 2003

• Semantic Web wears new face
• The Semantic Web will restructure the actual data
  content when agencies turn to Web Services to
  link disparate applications.
• The Semantic Web from the front end can integrate
  data that doesnt normally communicate.
• There is a clear need for Semantic Web use in the
  government. DARPAs Agent Markup Language Program
  has released a beta version of DAML-S Version 0.9
  Web Ontology.
• Agency programmers can use RDF metadata to build
  smarter search engines and directories.

http//www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/22359-1.
html
32
Semantic application integration is the next wave
in the evolution of the Internet
33
Emerging Vendor Landscape Semantic Integration
Solutions
Source TopQuadrant - Solution Envisioning for
Semantic Applications, May 15, 2003
34
Semantic Technologies for E-Gov Workshop

• DRAFT AGENDA, September 8, 2003, White House
  Conference Center, Truman Room, 830 a.m. - 430
  p.m.
• 830 - Welcome and Logistics - Brand Niemann,
  Chair, XML Web Services Working Group.
• 8 45 - Session 1. The Semantic Web and DOD's
  Virtual Knowledge Base (VKB). Michael Daconta,
  Chief Architect on DOD's VKB and senior author of
  "The Semantic Web A Guide to the Future of XML,
  Web Services, and Knowledge Management" (Wiley
  Technology Publishing, May 2003). Presentation,
  Demonstrations, and Discussion.
• 1015 a.m. Break
• 1030 a.m. - Session 2. Semantic Technologies for
  E-Gov Pilot Project. Ralph Hodgson, Executive
  Partner, TopQuadrant. Presentation and
  Demonstrations.
• 1150 a.m. - Session 3. Solution Envisioning
  Co-Panels - Semantic Applications for eGovernment
  - Introduction - Explanation of the Semantic
  Applications Gallery 

35
Semantic Technologies for E-Gov Workshop

• DRAFT AGENDA, September 8, 2003, White House
  Conference Center, Truman Room, 830 a.m. - 430
  p.m. (continued)  
• 1210 p.m. - Working Lunch (catered in) and
  guided tour of the Semantic Applications Gallery
  by Vendors and Consultants.
• 130 p.m. - Session 4. Who is Here? Who is
  Missing? Suggestions. Susan Turnbull, Chair,
  Universal Access Working Group.
• 230 p.m. - Session 5. Solution Envisioning -
  Position Statements - W3C, Semantic Web,
  Technology Providers, Semantic Applications
• 300 p.m. Break
• 315 p.m. - Session 6. Solution Envisioning
  Co-Panels - Facilitated Discussion between
  Problem Owners and Solution/Technology Providers.
• 430 p.m. - Extended Adjourn - the panelists make
  themselves available for discussions in separate
  areas of the room
• 500 p.m. - Close

36
The Semantic Web A Guide to the Future of XML,
Web Services, and Knowledge Management

• The Semantic Web is a machine-readable web of
  smart data and automated services that amplify
  the Web far beyond current capabilities.
• Smart data is data that is application-independent
  , composable, classified, and part of a larger
  information ecosystem (ontology).
• XML provides a simple yet robust mechanism for
  encoding semantic information, or the meaning of
  data and shifts the power from the application
  to the data.
• But simple XML metadata is not enough because it
  only provides syntactic interoperability.
• Additional XML-based Ontology languages are being
  developed to encode semantic interoperability.
• In the next ten years, we will see semantics to
  describe problems and business processes in
  specialized domains.

37
The Semantic Web A Guide to the Future of XML,
Web Services, and Knowledge Management

• XML Web Services supports the Semantic Web by
  furthering the adoption of XML, or more smart
  data, but Semantic Web technologies will be
  necessary to solve the Web Services discovery and
  orchestration problems.
• The next big trend in Web Services will be
  semantic-enabled Web Services where we can use
  information from Web Services from different
  organizations to perform correlation,
  aggregation, and orchestration.
• DARPA Agent markup Language Services (DAML-S),
  built on the foundation of previous efforts (RDF,
  RDF-S, and DAMLOIL), is an ontology for Web
  Services.

38
The Semantic Web A Guide to the Future of XML,
Web Services, and Knowledge Management
Source Derived in part from two separate
presentations at the Web Services One Conference
2002 by Dieter Fensel and Dragan Sretenovic.
Dynamic Resources
Semantic Web Services
Web Services
Static Resources
WWW
Semantic Web
Interoperable Syntax
Interoperable Semantics
39
The Semantic Web A Guide to the Future of XML,
Web Services, and Knowledge Management
Strong semantics
Local Domain Theory
Is disjoint subclass of with transitivity property
DAMLOIL, OWL
UML
Conceptual Model
Is subclass of
RDF/S
XTM
Thesaurus
Has narrower meaning than
Schema
Taxonomy
Is a classification of
Weak semantics
Figure 7.5 The Ontology Spectrum Weak to strong
semantics.
40
The Semantic Web A Guide to the Future of XML,
Web Services, and Knowledge Management

• A stovepipe system is a system where all the
  components are hardwired to only work together.
• Semantic interoperability of data enables
  application independence, improved search
  facilities, and improved machine inference.
• An ontology defines the common words and concepts
  (the meaning) used to describe and represent an
  area of knowledge. Ontologies enable you to
  specify the semantics of your domain, your
  enterprise, or your community, or across many
  communities, in great and arbitrary greater
  detail.

41
The Semantic Web A Guide to the Future of XML,
Web Services, and Knowledge Management

• Ontology involves discovering categories and
  fitting objects into them in ways that make
  sense. When we make a listwe are categorizing -
  we are engaging in rudimentary ontology. By
  prioritizing items in a list, we are assigning
  relationships among various things. Ontology can
  be relatively simple, or it can be quite complex.
• Active management of information turns it into
  knowledge by selection, addition, sequence,
  correlation, and annotation.
• XML Topic Maps are popular implementations of
  taxonomies and have complimentary characteristics
  to RDF.

42
Book Concepts Used as Pilot Objectives

• Structured, living document (corrections,
  annotations, additional linking, etc.) in a
  collaborative environment for knowledge sharing
  and reuse after production, with improved
  searching, print on demand, etc.
• Demonstration to EPA Report on the Environment
  Management Team (March 12, 2002) who requested
  this be done when the Report was completed based
  on the work for the Interagency Working Group on
  Sustainable Development Indicators
• http//www.sdi.gov

43
EPAs Draft Report on the Environment as a
Semantic Web Service Pilot

• Document Categories (2)
• Report
• Technical Document
• Document Topics (6)
• Cleaner Air
• Purer Water
• Better Protected Land
• Human Health
• Ecological Condition
• Working Together for Environmental Results
• Cleaner Air Subtopics (5)
• Outdoor Air Quality
• Acid Deposition
• Indoor Air Quality
• Stratospheric Ozone
• Climate Change
• Etc.

44
EPAs Draft Report on the Environment as a
Semantic Web Service Pilot
Authoring Structured Document
45
EPAs Draft Report on the Environment as a
Semantic Web Service Pilot
Navigation of Structured Document
46
EPAs Draft Report on the Environment as a
Semantic Web Service Pilot
Structured Search Results
47
EPAs Draft Report on the Environment as a
Semantic Web Service Pilot
Advanced Searching
48
EPAs Draft Report on the Environment as a
Semantic Web Service Pilot
Advanced Searching Results
49
EPAs Draft Report on the Environment as a
Semantic Web Service Pilot
Expert Searching
50
6. Discussion and Next Steps

• Does EPA want to help sponsor the September 8th
  Workshop?
• Does EPA want to operationalize the pilot into
  a funded project?
• Does EPA want to apply this to a registry of
  project descriptions and to more automatic
  matchmaking and negotiations among EPA project
  proposals?
• Other?