Core Vocabularies

Reusable data models for public administrations such as Person or Business. They facilitate system integration, data publishing, and design of new systems. It is an EC solution.

Owner

European Commission – Interoperable Europe

Supra-national authority

Contact information

Interoperable Europe - SEMIC

https://interoperable-europe.ec.europa.eu/collection/semic-support-centre

The Core Vocabularies are simplified, re-usable and extensible data models that capture the fundamental characteristics of a data entity in a context-neutral fashion.

The Handbook for using the Core Vocabularies describes how the Core Vocabularies can be used by public administrations to attain a minimum level of semantic interoperability for e-Government systems. The Handbook explains how to (a) design new data models that extend the Core Vocabularies; and (b) map existing data models to the Core Vocabularies.

A practical guide to using the Core Vocabularies, based on the handbook, is available on the interoperable europe portal.

Vocabulary	Description
	The Core Business Vocabulary is a simplified, reusable and extensible data model that captures the fundamental characteristics of a legal entity, e.g. the legal name, the activity, address, legal identifier, company type, and its activities. On 8 January 2013, the RDF syntax of the Core Business Vocabulary has been formally published on the W3C standards track as a Public Working Draft. The RDF syntax binding of the Core Business Vocabulary has been named as Registered Organisation Vocabulary by W3C. The latest version of the Core Business Vocabulary can be downloaded here.
	The Core Location Vocabulary is a simplified, reusable and extensible data model that captures the fundamental characteristics of a location, represented as an address, a geographic name, or geometry. The Location Vocabulary is aligned with the INSPIRE data specifications. The latest version of the Core Location Vocabulary can be downloaded here.
	The Core Person Vocabulary is a simplified, reusable and extensible data model that captures the fundamental characteristics of a person, e.g. the name, the gender, the date of birth, etc. The latest version of the Core Person Vocabulary can be downloaded here.
	The Core Public Service Vocabulary is a simplified, reusable and extensible data model that captures the fundamental characteristics of a service offered by public administration. Such characteristics include the title, description, inputs, outputs, providers, locations, etc. of the public service. An application profile of the Core Public Service Vocabulary (CPSV-AP) has been developed for describing public services and grouping them in business events. The latest version of the CPSV-AP can be downloaded here.
	The Core Evidence and Criterion Vocabulary is a simplified, reusable and extensible data model for describing the principles and the means that a private entity must fulfil in order to become eligible or to be qualified to perform public services or participate in public procurement. Public entities often need to define the criteria. A Criterion is a rule or principle that is used to judge, evaluate or test something. An Evidence is the means by which a Criterion may be proven. The latest version of the Core Evidence and Criterion Vocabulary can be downloaded here.
	The Core Public Organisation Vocabulary is a simplified, reusable and extensible data model for describing public organisations in the European Union. The latest version of the Core Public Organisation Vocabulary can be downloaded here.
	The Core Assessment Vocabulary represents and defines what an “Assessment” of “assets” is and how to perform the assessment based on “Criteria”. It is a domain-agnostic vocabulary, meaning that it can be used to assess any type of assets. The latest version of the Core Assessment Vocabulary can be downloaded here.
	The Core Public Event Vocabulary is a simplified, reusable and extensible data model that captures the fundamental characteristics of a public event, e.g. the title, the date, the location, the organiser etc. The latest version of the Core Public Event Vocabulary can be downloaded here.
	The CSSV is the vocabulary used for the information exchange related to standards and specifications amongst software solutions, and it is the key element for the development of the new release of the EIRA Library of Interoperability Specifications (ELIS). More information and the latest releases can be found here.

1. What are the benefits of using the Core Vocabularies?

One of the main benefits of the Core Vocabularies is that they provide a concrete starting point for promoting semantic interoperability among European public administrations.Public administrations can use and extend them in the following contexts:

Information exchange between systems: the Core Vocabularies can become the basis of a context-specific data model used to exchange data among existing information systems.
Data integration: the Core Vocabularies can integrate data that comes from disparate data sources.
Data publishing: the Core Vocabularies can be the foundation of a common export format for data in base registries like cadastres, business registers and service portals.
Development of new systems: the Core Vocabularies can be the default starting point for designing the conceptual and logical data models in newly developed information systems.

2. Who developed the solution?

ISA² has developed the Core Vocabularies for public administrations in an open process with the active involvement of the SEMIC action stakeholders including:

The Core Vocabularies Working Group;
the Directorate-General for Informatics: DG DIGIT - in particular the SEMIC action of the ISA² programme; and
the Publications Office of the EU.

3. How are the Core Vocabularies maintained?

The Core Vocabularies are maintained based on the Process and Methodology for Developing Core Vocabularies.

All changes in the specification are discussed with the Core Vocabularies Working Group to make sure that changes do not negatively impact the operation of implementations and the interoperability across the network and are publicly communicated.

4. Core Vocabularies key milestones

In April 2021 a new public review cycle of the Core Person Vocabulary, Core Business Vocabulary, Core Location Vocabulary and Core Public Organisation Vocabulary started. After a series of five webinars, version 2.0.0 of the Core Vocabularies was released.
From February 2016 until December 2016 the Core Criterion and Core Evidence Vocabulary was developed by the Working Group
From December 2012 until March 2013 the Core Public Service vocabulary was created by a multi-disciplinary Working Group.
On 23 May 2012 the Coordination Group of the Interoperability Solutions for European Public Administrations (ISA) Programme has endorsed the Core Business, Core Location and Core Person Vocabulary.
On 17 February 2012 a final draft of the Core Vocabularies entered a month-long public review period.
From November 2011 until May 2012 the Core Business, Core Person, and Core Location Vocabularies were created by a multi-disciplinary Working Group with 69 experts from 22 countries, 18 EU and 4 non-EU countries, following an open and inclusive process of consensus building.