Brussels, 3 October 2024
As Europe continues to push for digital transformation and to strengthen its competitive edge, semantic interoperability, defined as the ability of different systems to exchange data with shared meaning, is becoming increasingly important, especially in the context of the Internet of Things (IoT) and digital twins. The SAREF (the Smart Applications REFerence ontology), a key enabler of IoT interoperability, plays a significant role in aligning with Europe’s digital ambitions by supporting sector-specific digital twins across industries like energy, transport, and manufacturing.
At a recent workshop on 26 September 2024, hosted by DG CONNECT in cooperation with ETSI and attended by industry representatives, standardisation experts, and academics, participants discussed the evolution of SAREF and its application for digital twins. The workshop highlighted the importance of semantic interoperability to ensure that devices and systems can communicate seamlessly, optimising performance and unlocking new possibilities in IoT deployment.
The workshop also addressed several key updates to SAREF, including the creation of a European Norm for SAREF. This new standard will facilitate better coordination across sectors and help achieve Europe’s digital goals, including reducing fragmentation and fostering innovation. Recent updates to SAREF’s base ontology and sector-specific extensions were also unveiled.
SAREF’s role as an enabler of real-time data collection and processing for AI models was also mentioned, implying its potential use in the emerging AI Factories. AI could further enhance SAREF by supporting dynamic updates and translating non-standardised components and assets in real time.
Participants explored the use of SAREF in several EU-funded projects, including Interconnect, SPARCS, Omega-X, HEDGE-IoT and AURORAL, which are leveraging SAREF to tackle practical challenges in IoT interoperability. Representatives from these projects shared their success stories and provided feedback on areas for further improvement.
To support ongoing efforts, the European Commission outlined its long-standing commitment to SAREF, pointing to over a decade of financial and technical backing from services such as DG CONNECT, DG ENER, JRC, and DG GROW. The Commission encouraged stakeholders to consider future initiatives, including the formation of a SAREF user group to strengthen collaboration and boost adoption.
The workshop concluded by highlighting the collective effort required to advance semantic interoperability through SAREF, with participants expressing broad support for initiatives that will drive further development and integration across sectors.
For more details, please consult the presentations below.
Downloads
- Presentation – AIOTI and Liaison SC41 (Antonio KUNG) – Download
- Presentation – AURORAL Project (Andrea CIMMINO) – Download
- Presentation – Code of Conduct for Energy Smart Appliances and SAREF (Isabel GONZALEZ CUENCA) – Download
- Presentation – Consistency between SAREF and IEC utility data models (Tom BERRY) – Download
- Presentation – Harnessing SAREF for Enhanced SPARCS Utilization (Giorgos PAPADOPOULOS) – Download
- Presentation – Hedge IoT – Download
- Presentation – Latest SAREF Specification Updates (Maxime LEFRANCOIS) – Download
- Presentation – OMEGA-X Project (Lina NACHABE) – Download
- Presentation – SAREF Governance (Raul GARCIA-CASTRO) – Download
- Presentation – SAREF for Digital Twins (Laura DANIELE, Mauro DRAGONI) – Download
- Presentation – Semantic Interoperability by SAREF (Joachim KOSS) – Download
- Presentation – Semantic interoperability for buildings and grids (David RUA) – Download
- Presentation – Standardisation Challenges in light of IoT_Edge_Digital Twins (Rolf RIEMENSCHNEIDER – DG CONNECT_E4) – Download
- Presentation – The European Commission and SAREF (Svetoslav MIHAYLOV – DG CONNECT_E4) – Download
- Presentation – Why semantic interoperability (Cornelis BOUTER) – Download
- Presentation – Why supporting SAREF and what is DG CONNECT expecting in the future (Svetoslav MIHAYLOV – DG CONNECT_E4) – Download
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Source – EU Commission – Digital Strategy