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The Army Data Services Layer (ADSL) is a family of data service capabilities, focused on facilitating data sharing and management to enable distributed discovery, access and consumption of relevant data across different platforms, organizations and Communities of Interest (COI) regardless of data type and/or technical implementation. ADSL describes data service specifications and capabilities necessary to support the various data-sharing usage scenarios in a reusable and interoperable manner.
The Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) provides the implementation mechanism and infrastructure for orchestration of data exchange and realization of the net-centric environment. Data Strategy and SOA Strategy combine to provide the foundation for data discovery, data retrieval, and data mediation as well as other services essential to the vision for net-centric operations. The close alignment of the Army Data and SOA strategies and the synergy between the two will help expedite the migration process towards building truly net-centric data capabilities, improve the effectiveness of enterprise governance, and increase community participation.
 During technology implementation, the intersection of these two strategies results in the creation of an enterprise data services layer that enables sharing and management of data that is distributed across the enterprise.
True data sharing can only be achieved when consumers of the data are able to interoperate with the providers and understand the data. While the core SOA technologies enable data visibility and accessibility, the data-sharing technologies are what enable interoperability and understandability. Interoperability and understandability, though related, are two distinct characteristics that require different approaches and technologies.
Interoperability is achieved when consumers can comprehend and process the syntax and structure of the data. Today, the most widely used technology to enable this is XML. In accordance with the Army Net-Centric Data Strategy (ANCDS) and its corresponding implementation guidance, Communities of Interest (COIs) should create standard representation formats to allow the interoperable exchange of the data that they steward. Such formats should be defined using eXtensible Markup Language (XML) schema so that they can be referenced within the descriptions [i.e., Web Services Description Language (WSDLs)] of the services that will be created to allow access to that data.
Understandability builds on interoperability to allow consumers to comprehend the actual meaning of the data once they are able to process its syntax and structure. Enabling machines to truly understand the meaning of the data they are processing has been one of the holy grails of computing for many years. Recently, advances in Semantic Web technologies have been showing some promise in this area. The creation of formal ontologies using standards such as Resource Description Framework (RDF) and Web Ontology Language (OWL) can allow COI-created vocabularies to be expressed in machine-processable formats so that data understandability can be automated. Such semantic representations will enable more intelligent data searches and even machine reasoning and inference atop the traditional data processing functions.
By defining and utilizing a data service layer, consumers and system agents are able to discover and access relevant and meaningful information across the enterprise without requiring intimate knowledge of the structure, protocol, or location of the data sources.
ADSL CONCEPTUAL ARCHITECTURE
ADSL architecture consists of the following capabilities to either facilitate the internal functions of the layer, or to provide shared data services to be accessed by data consumers:
- Data Mediation - makes data interoperable and usable to consumers through transformation to different data types, vocabularies and semantics
- Data Discovery and Access - provides common standard interfaces to search and retrieve data and make it visible and accessible
- Data Abstraction - makes data understandable and establishes common taxonomy and authoritative sources
- Data Management - provides the persistence and stewardship of data resources
- Data Governance - captures and governs data resources
As shown in the figure below, the ADSL establishes its reach directly to the raw data, such as databases, which are grouped together as Resources. On the consumer side, Data Utilization depicts some possible applications of the ADSL. The retrieved data can be consumed in numerous applications, such as portal applications, mashups, and syndication feeds. In addition, new business and application services can be created through the composition of multiple fine grained data services.
Army Data Services Layer Conceptual Architecture
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