Introduction
Italy is working to create a national catalogue of public services. To achieve this, they are collecting the descriptions from different sources throughout the country. Frequently, the public service descriptions they receive do not comply with the national data model, i.e. the CPSV-AP_IT. Checking these manually would be virtually impossible, hence an automated approach was needed.
In this pilot, we tailored the CPSV-AP Validator to be able to validate the public service descriptions. This involved modifying the rules of the Validator according to the Italian specifications, namely CPSV-AP_IT. With the correct rules in place, Italy can test the legitimacy of the acquired public service descriptions and offer the provider the necessary feedback.
In addition, the Italian region of Trentino was interested in using the Validator to check that its data complied with both the CPSV-AP_IT and the data model used at the European level. Trentino wants to improve standardisation and structuring of their public service descriptions and is looking at European solutions to this challenge. By reusing the tools and applications created through the Catalogue of Services Action, they can realise both cost-savings and compatibility benefits.
Functional Description
The Data Validator verifies that descriptions of public services comply with the requirements defined in the CPSV-AP_IT. A user can upload a dataset containing public service descriptions and run a compliance check with the CPSV-AP_IT, detecting potential errors and inconsistencies such as conflicts in data formats, missing mandatory classes, and properties or incorrect relations between classes. This provides public administrations with feedback on identifying and resolving potential inconsistencies, thus improving the quality of their public service descriptions, enhancing harmonisation.
Results
The Validator rules were successfully changed and implemented in the CPSV-AP Data Validator. Italy can now use the adapted Validator to validate CPSV-AP_IT descriptions. It successfully checks descriptions collected from different sources throughout Italy and displays inconsistencies or mistakes as identified.
Technical Description
The Validator uses a checklist of rules to verify the compliance of the public service descriptions. By adapting the checklist with the rules defined by the CPSV-AP_IT, it can validate these descriptions. The technical architecture of the adapted Validator is the same as the CPSV-AP Validator, but uses different sets of rules.
Main results of the pilots
The outcome of the pilots have been a success and are recognised as such by the stakeholders. Each pilot has proved that the participating Member States are interested in working together to harmonise their information, facilitating the provision of public service descriptions to citizens and businesses.
The cross-border and national pilots demonstrate that working with the CPSV-AP as a common vocabulary addresses challenges such as information spread, non-harmonised information, and a number of other problems.
Removing or reducing the impact of these challenges increases the access and reach for citizens and businesses to information on public services as well as improving the efficiency of how that information is created and exchanged.
The pilots have successfully demonstrated the utility, reusability and adaptability of the tools. In addition, the pilots have led to several improvements in the tools. Some of them were applied immediately, while others were captured as next steps and opportunities in the future.