Empowering Statistical Open Data Publication and Reuse

The INTERSTAT project, dedicated to fostering cross-border and cross-domain interoperability, has achieved significant results over three years.
By implementing innovative solutions, it aims to develop a framework enabling seamless interoperability between national statistical portals and the European Data portal, promoting the production and reuse of Linked Open Statistical Data (LOSD) and open datasets. In this article, we will explore the activities undertaken and features offered by the INTERSTAT framework, highlighting its important contributions to empowering the publication and reuse of statistical open data.

The project has achieved the following:

1. Harmonizing Metadata and Simplifying Publishing: Adopted standards and tools improve metadata harmonization and simplify data visualization and analysis for non-technical users.
2. Enhancing Semantic Interoperability: Reused statistical information and improved semantic interoperability through the CEF Context Broker and ETSI NGSI-LD API.
3. Validating Technical Solutions: Implemented pilot services to validate the framework’s technical solutions.

Key Features of the INTERSTAT Framework

The framework offers key features for cross-border scenarios:

• International Standards: Adheres to standards like ETSI NGSI-LD, DCAT-AP, StatDCAT-AP, and SDMX for interoperability and dataset dissemination within the European Data portal.
• Internationalization: Supports cross-language interoperability through resources like the EuroVoc Thesaurus.
• Open APIs: Enables interaction with third-party applications and facilitates innovative service development.
• Open Source Tools: Utilizes the Idra Open Data Federation Platform, promoting flexibility and avoiding vendor lock-in.
• Common Ontologies: Harmonizes statistical data and metadata for enhanced semantic interoperability.
  
• Multi-Modal Access: Provides information through various channels and devices for end-user convenience.

Validation through Pilot Services

Pilot services include:

1.  Support for Environmental Policies (SEP): Enriches air quality data with demographic analysis for environmental policy support.
2. Geolocalized Facilities (GF): Provides georeferenced information on facilities and equipment.
3. School for You (S4Y): Integrates data on school attendance and student distribution in Italy and France.

Consortium and Timeline

The consortium includes partners such as the FIWARE Foundation, INSEE, ISTAT, and Engineering spa. The project began in Q3 2020 and will conclude in August 2023.