1. Reference ModelSpecial Interest Group IFITT RMSIG Wolfram Höpken

2. Content • Motivation • Objective • Architecture of the reference model • Building concrete models • Interoperability • Advantages • Process of the IFITT RMSIG

3. Motivation • drawbacks of past standardization initiatives • lack of flexibility and extendibility • fix standards are hard to maintain • no possibility for suppliers to differentiate their offer • drawbacks of XML-based standardization • XML-based specifications stick to a physical level • different XML-based standards will evolve • standardization on an abstract, conceptual level • focusing on semantic aspects independent of the physical representation • enabling interoperability between different physical representations

4. Objective • harmonizing electronic tourism markets • flexibility and extendibility • interoperability independent of the physical representation • framework for modeling electronic tourism markets • uniform language with standardized building blocks as vocabulary for describing electronic tourism markets • conceptual, abstract modeling of tourism markets, independent of their physical representation • semantic aspects instead of physical details • derivation of different physical models (e.g. XML models)

5. UML model Distributed object model XML model Modeling levels Conceptual level Physical level

6. Modeling language • tourism specific modeling language based on the UML • extends the UML by domain specific concepts and mechanisms • composition mechanism • market interface descriptions • provides building blocks as specific modeling elements • enables the flexible description of specific models

7. Building blocks • building blocks as common modeling components for reuse • building blocks are provided on different levels of granularity • elementary building blocks (date, location,...) • tourism services (flight, hotel,...) • process building blocks (searching, booking,...)

8. Process layer Searching Booking Criteria Service Customer Customer ResultList Date Entity layer Hotel Flight Customer Name Time Name Category Route Address Room Class Age Base layer Name Route Date StartLocation Address Time EndLocation Location Facilities Building blocks (2)

9. Architecture of the reference model

10. Building concrete models first step • constructing a specific model on a conceptual level, containing all specific concepts and semantic aspects second step • deriving one or several specific physical models from the conceptual model (e.g. XML representations)

11. Hotel Name Time CureServices Name Category Class Category MealPlan Room Room Route derive CureHotel Name Category Room CureServices Building concrete models (2) Reference model compose compose Specific conceptual model XYFlight Time MoonFlight Category Route Room Class Time MealPlan

12. Specific XML model Specific XML model Building concrete models (3) Specific conceptual model CureHotel XYFlight Time Name MoonFlight Category Route Category Room Class Room Time MealPlan CureServices

13. Interoperability

14. Advantages • flexibility and adaptability for suppliers • flexibility for change • low entrance barriers to electronic markets for suppliers (SMEs) • separation of semantic aspects and technical aspects • interoperability on and between all possible communication levels

15. Process of the IFITT RMSIG • activities executed within the IFITT RMSIG • commitment of methodology • specification of electronic tourism markets • domain analysis • general survey for electronic tourism markets • specific surveys for tourism services • Tourtags.org • results (available under www.rmsig.de) • white paper • reference model version 0.9 • data dictionary

16. Process of the IFITT RMSIG (2) • next activities • reference model version 1.0 • review activities • outlook • tourism repository • providing common building blocks • enabling interactive maintenance and enlargement • prototypical applications of the reference model