Developing the GDDS together: making giant strides through collaborative code sprints
By Berta Giralt (CREAF)
In the SAGE project, a series of internal code sprints have been organised. This is an effort to start putting together the components of what is the embryo of the current Minimum Viable Products (MVP) of the Green Deal Data Space (GDDS). Each codesprint brings together SAGE partners with the right mix of expertise to conduct Technical Interoperability Experiments (TIE). Each code sprint builds on the last. Insights are captured, ideas evolve, and progress continues step by step.
The objective of the first codesprint, held virtually, focused on deploying and testing data connectors of the core architecture of the GDDS and advance Technical Interoperability Experiments. During the event, it was successfully experimented with exposing a metadata catalog on mercury pollutants—of one of the project use cases—in the Data Space, through a data connector deployed by PSNC (Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center). This use case, led by CNR-IIA (Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche), focuses on the exposome: a concept in environmental health that refers to the totality of environmental exposures and individual experiences from conception onwards. They aim at promoting European excellence in Environmental & Health research by providing researchers with transnational and/or virtual access to harmonized capacities, unique services, and comprehensive data addressing the current and future needs of public authorities.
On February 23-24, a second codesprint took place in Barcelona, in a hybrid format, with a focus on catalogs and metadata. The main objectives included the improvement of the federated catalog dashboard functionalities and making progress with the workflows needed to publish, discover, and navigate datasets more effectively across the Data Space.
Following the successful outcomes of the second codesprint, a third codesprint took place in Poznan during March 9-10 and focused on user authentication, more specifically on the Decentralized Claims Protocol (DCP). DCP is a set of rules that align with the Dataspace Protocol (DSP) with the purpose to help organizations to prove who they are and build trust with each other when exchanging data, without relying on a single central authority, and without exposing unnecessary information. SAGE participants worked on making progress in advancing trust mechanisms, and in parallel, addressing issues captured during the Barcelona code sprint, as well as improving the federated catalog and data connector experience.
The fourth codesprint will take place in Rotterdam (Netherlands) during April 16th-17th, hosted by iSHARE. This codesprint will be focusing on contract negotiation, and policies.
The active involvement of SAGE use cases in this series of codesprint is essential to validate and improve the core components of the GDDS. In particular, the contribution of datasets and metadata from the participating use cases will play a key role in advancing the testing and integration processes, strengthening the technical core components of the SAGE Green Deal Data Space.
SAGE (the Data Space for a Sustainable Green Europe) is a Digital Europe co-funded project that will develop a federated, secure, and interoperable data space to support key pillars of the European Green Deal — biodiversity, climate adaptation, circular economy, and zero pollution.