• Introduction
• Technical analysis
• Issues and recommendations
• European SIF

Definition of Service

Summary

“Provide a comparison of the definition of "Service" in each initiative, both on the conceptual level and on the detailled implementation level (e.g. use of specific SOAP versions).”

Classification

Category	Architecture
Identifier	ISSUE-ARC-004
Type of recommended activity	Further Investigation about the subject
Organisations addressed	Working groups of INSPIRE and GMES.

Additional information

Context	The Initiatives share an emphasis on using a Service Oriented Architecture approach. For example they each have elements of the Publish-Find-Bind pattern. But there are differences, too. In addition, it is not entirely clear that all initiatives have the same understanding and definition of "Service-Oriented Architecture" (or "Resource-Oriented Architecture").
Rationale	A common approach to services and to their implementation is a key to interoperability. The implementation of the same or of similar services in the different initiatives does have some differences and may have even more hidden differences.
Dependencies	None
Further background information	Technology Watch Report - Architecture [PDF] Comparative analysis report (version 2) [PDF] Comparative Analysis Report (version 2) - Annex Recommendations [PDF]
Main discussion points	None
Roadmap	INSPIRE and GMES should align the roadmaps for services and bindings in the initiatives.