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Semantic Treehouse and BOMOS

· 9 min read
Wouter van den Berg (TNO)
Wouter van den Berg (TNO)
Expert semantic interoperability & Scrum master

In a discussion about the possible role of AI to solve problems of interoperability, a colleague recently observed: "Semantic specifications are just expressions of human coordination." (Perhaps you can guess his stance on the potential of AI.) These words reminded me of a former client who I think once captured the same principle from a different angle by saying: "Systems not talking represents people not talking." These observations point at what to me is the core of standardization work: that the real challenge with interoperability is the human coordination it requires. Sometimes our conversations about interoperability focus a little too much on the technology, while it is the coordination that make all these technical specifications valuable.

For many organizations in the Dutch standardization community, the BOMOS (Management and Development Model for Open Standards) provides the framework for this coordination. BOMOS guides the creation and maintenance of high-quality, open standards through structured processes covering strategy, tactics, operations, implementation support, and communication.

This post clarifies how Semantic Treehouse serves as a practical, digital environment equipped with features specifically designed to support these BOMOS activities. Our platform was born from the need to execute these very processes more effectively, and this connection remains core to our identity, even as we serve broader roles like being a Vocabulary Hub in European Data Spaces.

Organizations like SETU (Dutch flexible staffing industry), Ketenstandaard (construction and technology supply chains), and SUTC (transport and logistics) are already using STH to implement BOMOS activities in their standardization work. You can explore all our STH communities to see how different sectors apply these approaches.

For readers unfamiliar with BOMOS: It's the Dutch framework guiding the lifecycle of open standards development and management, aiming for quality, sustainability, and interoperability. You can learn more from the official English BOMOS specification:

Mapping STH features to BOMOS activities​

Let's dive into how STH functionalities align with the core BOMOS activity layers:

Module developmentValidation & CertificationHelpdeskPilotTrainingComplainthandlingPublicationPromotionDocumentationWishes and requirementsDevelopmentInitiationImplementationQuality policy benchmarkingArchitectureRights policyCommunityAdoption &recognitionVisionFinanceGovernanceCommunicationImplementation supportTacticalStrategyOperational

Operational activities​

The practical activities that lead to new versions of standards.

  • Initiation: BOMOS initiation involves identifying new ideas for specific specifications and organizing their successful development through analysis of interests, business cases, and agenda setting. Though this might seem strategic, BOMOS classifies it as operational because it focuses on practical work of starting specific standardization efforts within an established strategic framework. STH's Wizard supports the exploratory part of this activity through its bottom-up approach: users can upload sample data to quickly prototype what envisioned data models could look like, or leverage existing ontologies while easily adding extensions as placeholder elements. This enables rapid exploration of standardization ideas before formal processes begin.
  • Wishes and Requirements: BOMOS describes this as "perhaps the most important step": gathering wishes and requirements from the community for both new standards and or new versions. The principle is that everyone should be able to submit wishes to increase support. STH's Issues feature directly supports this ongoing process by providing a digital environment where users can submit change requests and ideas, directly linked to specific specification elements.
  • Development: BOMOS development involves substantive elaboration of solutions at conceptual level, keeping solutions separate from technologies for later implementation. STH's Wizard supports this by enabling maintainers to develop application profiles (message models) based on underlying semantic models (ontologies, schemas), maintaining the conceptual-technical separation BOMOS advocates.
  • Implementation: BOMOS implementation involves actual adaptations to specifications and technical structures based on conceptual solutions. STH directly supports this through schema generation that produces concrete technical artefacts (XSD, JSON Schema, OpenAPI specs, RML mappings) from conceptual models.
  • Documentation: BOMOS documentation requires appropriate records of management processes, including specification availability and historical overview of change requests. STH acts as the central documentation hub with tree views, versioning, and the ability to attach related documents directly to specific versions.

Tactical activities​

Activities that ensure stability in the medium term.

  • Community: BOMOS focuses on openness through Krechmer's 10 Requirements for Open Standards. This means inclusive participation, consensus decisions, and transparent processes, among other things. STH's specific focus is to be a community platform and support this with Community management tools that keep track of the standardization community and handle the relationships between people, organizations, and groups within it:
  • Architecture: BOMOS architecture addresses the stratification and interdependency of standards by helping users manage relationships between technical and semantic standards at different layers. For example, viewing a codelist also gives the user a list of specifications where this codelist is applied. Another example is the Wizard, which helps manage the interdependency between standards by letting you work with semantic models (conceptual layer) while generating concrete message specifications (technical layer) and maintaining clear relationships between them. STH also helps by managing core semantic assets like Ontologies and Taxonomies. We're working on Mapping specifications and Process specifcaitons to make support with architecture concerns even better.
  • Quality Policy & Benchmarking: BOMOS quality policy uses a three-dimensional model measuring product quality, process quality, and quality in practice to ensure standards achieve their fitness-for-use goals. STH supports this comprehensive approach: The Wizard improves standard quality by enabling maintainers to derive all message models from a single ontology, eliminating inconsistencies like having 9 different definitions of "Address" across specifications. Specification versioning and collaborative development further ensure standard quality, while the Validator enables implementation quality through self-service schema and business rule checking (Schematron, JSON Schema, SHACL validation).
  • Rights Policy: BOMOS rights policy ensures intellectual property rights are managed to maximize openness through royalty-free, irrevocable licensing while protecting contributions. While STH doesn't set IPR policies itself, its controlled access and versioning features support the implementation of chosen rights policies, ensuring proper attribution and access control according to organizational requirements.
  • Adoption & Recognition: BOMOS adoption strategy involves systematic promotion of standard uptake through financial tools, communication tools, and legal tools, focusing on removing barriers to implementation. STH supports this through its central, accessible platform with clear documentation, examples, and validation tools that significantly lower technical barriers to adoption, while Groups facilitate the community building essential for successful adoption.

Implementation support​

  • Validation & Certification: The Validator is the primary tool, allowing self-service checking for implementers. STH's validator API enables some communities to organize certification programs, as demonstrated by Ketenstandaard, where community members receive certificates visible on an industry platform (in this case at datakwaliteit.nu) after a validation process.
  • Generated Artefacts (schemas, examples, OpenAPI specs) provide ready-to-use technical components that reduce implementation burden and errors.
  • Helpdesk: The Issues system functions as a community helpdesk where implementers can seek assistance and clarification. As issues are directly linked to specification elements, the community members can easily see which issues other community members have submitted. These kinds of overviews also help the maintainers of the standards in checking for duplicates and related issues. Other STH features reduce strain on helpdesk support by providing self-service capabilities: clear documentation, validation tools, and generated examples enable users to find answers independently, reducing the volume of basic implementation questions.

Communication​

  • Publication: BOMOS emphasizes that modern standards require online documentation beyond PDFs, with web environments that support the development process itself. STH exemplifies this approach as the primary publication channel for standards managed within it, providing online documentation with tree views, version management at the element level, and direct linking of implementation examples to specification sections.
  • Promotion: BOMOS promotion involves building communities and targeting different audiences (business stakeholders vs. technical implementers) with tailored messaging. STH supports this through highlighted specifications, clear project overviews, and community features like Groups, though broader marketing campaigns remain the responsibility of individual standardization organizations.
  • Complaint Handling: BOMOS complaint handling addresses procedural concerns about the standardization process itself - fairness of decision-making, governance disputes, or appeals about standardization procedures. This requires formal governance structures outside STH's scope. The Issues system handles technical implementation feedback, not process complaints.

Strategic activities​

Long-term direction

  • Governance: BOMOS governance involves creating institutional arrangements - defining legal structures, decision-making processes, governing bodies, and organizational mandates. While STH provides roles and permissions to implement governance decisions, the strategic governance challenge of designing these institutional arrangements lies outside STH's scope.
  • Vision: BOMOS vision involves developing substantive long-term direction and innovation roadmaps - "the spot on the horizon" for standards development. This strategic activity is conducted outside STH, though the platform provides means to implement and communicate the resulting vision through managed standards.
  • Financing: BOMOS financing requires developing sustainable financial models and revenue streams to guarantee long-term funding aligned with demand. This strategic activity is entirely outside STH's scope, though STH provides the professional platform environment that supports justification for structural funding.

The future: AI in semantic standardization?​

BOMOS and its pillars already go a long way back, but their relevance for successfully tackling interoperability challenges stands in the changing landscape of data and AI. The Semantic Treehouse team is an ambassador of BOMOS and knowledgeably implements its core features to support standardization organizations and communities.

To keep up with the data and AI developments, the Semantic Treehouse team is currently researching and developing a new direction in BOMOS-aligned standardization.

Our STH Co-pilot roadmap feature represents this new direction. Think of AI-assisted issue coordination, message model creation and automated mapping suggestions. We're exploring how artificial intelligence can enhance the structured processes BOMOS defines, in particular the operational activities like development and implementation. Given what AI brings to the table, the question is how AI can support the systematic approach to open standards development that BOMOS advocates, while maintaining the quality and consensus principles that make standards truly work.

Get involved​

For BOMOS practitioners: We'd love to hear from standardization professionals familiar with BOMOS. How does your organization currently implement these activities? Are there gaps where STH could better support your BOMOS processes?

For European partners: If you're working with semantic standards in data spaces or digital initiatives, we're happy to discuss how STH can support your specific standardization challenges.

Learn more about BOMOS: Explore the full English BOMOS specification to understand the complete framework for open standards development.

Join our community: Continue this conversation on our Discord server or explore what's coming next on our roadmap.

Semantic Treehouse is developed by TNO and serves as a vocabulary hub in European data spaces. Learn more about our communities and upcoming features.