Consultative process for finalizing the Guidance Document to facilitate the implementation of the clearing-house mechanism regional and national nodes

Julien Hortoneda 20 October 2011

A clearing-house mechanism node is an information repository maintained at the local level.

This local node is connected through the Internet with other local nodes and the Stockholm Convention one.

Thanks to this interconnection, each node can automatically exchange relevant information with other nodes of the clearing-house mechanism.

Concept

For end-users, relevant information will be extracted from all nodes, aggregated in a meaningful way and accessible from a single point.

Information providers can disseminate of their work to a broader and more diverse audience.

DocsContacts Events News

Node #2

Contacts Docs Events News

Node #1

Schema

API

Index & Aggregate

CHM

APIIndex & Aggregate

CHM

Contacts Events News

APIIndex & Aggregate

CHM

Node #3

Objective

The objective of this consultative process is to finalize the guidance document for the development of the clearing-house mechanism regional and national nodes.

A first version of the guidance document was presented at COP 5 as UNEP/POPS/COP.5/INF/50.

As suggested during COP 5 the guidance document should be shorter and more user-friendly.

The guidance document should:

1. Help decision makers to understand the benefits and resources implications related to the development of a regional / national node of the Stockholm Convention clearing-house mechanism.

2. Help knowledge management teams to understand the scope and variety of the information exchanged and how it will add value to their information repositories.

3. Guide information technology teams to build and maintain the necessary information infrastructure to support a Stockholm Convention clearing-house mechanism node and to make sure that all nodes are compatible one with another.

Goals

We have to take into account that:

1.A draft already exists and needs to be completed and finalized. The objective is not to re-do it from scratch.

2.Interested stakeholders will have to self-fund the development and maintenance of their nodes.

3.Interested partners may have a very different infrastructure and data collections.

The guidance document must propose a solution that can be implemented with existing resources. At this stage we should not be over ambitious and focus on what is doable.

In future, the guidance document could be revised and expanded.

Scope

To finalize the draft guidance document, we need to agree on and execute the following work packages:

Steps

Work Package 1: Define the structure of the guidance document.

Work Package 2: Define the scope and format of the information exchanged between the clearing-house mechanism nodes (i.e. schemas).

Work Package 3: Identify technology (ies), protocols and standards to support this information exchange system.

Work Package 4: Identify a common taxonomy to enable an automatic sharing and indexing of information.

Gantt

Work package 1

Work package title Overall structure and content of the guidance documentWork package number 1Purpose The purposes of this work package are to identify the structure of the Guidance document

and to agree on the overall content of this document (i.e. content that is not related to other work packages).

Composition 1. Guidance document table of contents identifying non technical chapters related to other work packagesTentative deadline: 15 November 2011

2. Content for non technical chapters of the guidance document (for instance, the objectives, benefits, vision etc.). Those chapters will be indentified in the step above.Tentative deadline: 29 November 2011

Derivation Based on UNEP/POPS/COP.5/INF/50Format and presentation The table of contents will be a typed list of headings and sub-headings

The content of identified chapters will be presented as a single typed document

Allocated to Stockholm ConventionQuality criteria The table of contents must list all sections and sub-sections of the Guidance Document.

The table of contents should provide different entry points for different audiences (Decision makers, Knowledge Management teams, IT teams).

Quality method Based on the proposal made by the Stockholm Convention, team members will use the CHM on-line forum hosted under the Secretariat’s networking platform (POPs Social) to provide feedback and debate about the proposed solution.Feedback provided on the forums by the team members will be incorporated by the Stockholm Convention.Trough the on-line forums, team members will validate this work package.

Work package 2

Work package title Identification of the various types of information that will be exchanged between the nodes and their schemas

Work package number 2Purpose The purposes of this work package are to identify which types of information will be exchanged

between the clearing-house mechanism nodes. In order to build compatible nodes of the CHM, each type of information must adhere to a common schema or structure.

Composition 1. A list of information types to be exchanged between the CHM nodes Tentative deadline: 5 November 2011

2. A schema document for each information identified Tentative deadline: 9 December 2011

Derivation Based on UNEP/POPS/COP.5/INF/50 annexesFormat and presentation The list of information types will be a typed list of information types with a description of no more

than half a page.The schema document will be made of a general description of the information type, a list of fields (name, type, purpose, mandatory or not), an XSD schema and an example.

Allocated to Stockholm ConventionQuality criteria The description of the identified information types should be concise and clear enough to avoid

confusion.Identified information types must target realistic and simple types of information as not all of the stakeholders may have structured information repositories.The XSD schema must take into consideration the technology choice and be compatible with it.

Quality method Based on the proposal made by the Stockholm Convention, team members will use the CHM on-line forum hosted under the Secretariat’s networking platform (POPs Social) to provide feedback and debate about the proposed solution.Feedback provided on the forums by the team members will be incorporated by the Stockholm Convention.Trough the on-line forums, team members will validate this work package.

Work package 3

Work package title Identify a common technology, protocols and standards to exchange the information among the clearing-house mechanism nodes

Work package number 3Purpose The purpose of this work package is to identify a common technology and standards to support the

information exchange between the clearing-house mechanism nodes and ensure that nodes remain compatible one with another.

Composition 1. A list of possible technologies with their pros and consTentative deadline: 5 November 2011

2. A paragraph indicating the chosen technologyTentative deadline: 12 November 2011

Derivation Based on UNEP/POPS/COP.5/INF/50 Informea API specifications

Format and presentation The list of technologies will be a typed list of technology names with a table of pros and cons associated with a threshold and a rank. Each technology presentation should not be more than one page.

Allocated to Stockholm ConventionQuality criteria Technologies examined in this work package must be:

1.A largely adopted industry standard made for automatic information exchange over the Internet.2.Platform independent.3.Compatible with a large variety of software and programming languages4.As simple as possible to implement and maintain5.Compatible with the information types identified in work package 2.

Quality method Based on the proposal made by the Stockholm Convention, team members will use the CHM on-line forum hosted under the Secretariat’s networking platform (POPs Social) to provide feedback and debate about the proposed solution.Feedback provided on the forums by the team members will be incorporated by the Stockholm Convention.Trough the on-line forums, team members will validate this work package.

Work package 4

Work package title Identify a common taxonomy to organize the information among the clearing-house mechanism nodes

Work package number 4

Purpose The purpose of this work package is to identify a common taxonomy that will enable an automatic mechanism for sharing, searching and aggregating information among the clearing-house mechanism nodes.

Composition 1. A controlled vocabulary made of a list of terms with a definition and synonymsTentative deadline: 14 November 2011

2. A taxonomy made of a collection of controlled vocabulary terms defined above organized into a hierarchical structureTentative deadline: 12 December 2011

Derivation Stockholm Convention internal controlled vocabularies

Format and presentation The controlled vocabulary will be presented in an Excel file with the following columns Term, short description and, when possible, synonym(s) and related terms.The taxonomy will be presented in an Excel file reflecting a parent – child structure as well as the controlled vocabulary fields.

Allocated to Stockholm Convention

Quality criteria Controlled vocabulary terms and taxonomy must be:1.Simple (not too detailed or too vague) for ease of use among a wide range of clearing-house mechanism nodes2.Closely related to information types defined in work package 23.Closely related to chemicals and waste issues related to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm convention in order to avoid scope creep4.Compatible with existing taxonomies used by stakeholders5.Made of less than 300 terms6.Made of unique terms

Quality method Based on the proposal made by the Stockholm Convention, team members will use the CHM on-line forum hosted under the Secretariat’s networking platform (POPs Social) to provide feedback and debate about the proposed solution.Feedback provided on the forums by the team members will be incorporated by the Stockholm Convention. Trough the on-line forums, team members will validate this work package.

THANK YOU!

The debate is open in POPs Social at http://networking.pops.int

Your participation is more than welcome!