Skip to main content

Ketenstandaard Bouw en Techniek

· 6 min read

Click here for original interview in Dutch

"With Semantic Treehouse we are able to quickly and easily develop new message specifications and APIs"

Luuk d’Hooghe is standardization manager at Ketenstandaard Bouw en Techniek. Since 2019, Ketenstandaard has been using the Semantic Treehouse platform for publishing and managing, among other things, the DICO standard. We spoke to Luuk to hear how they use the platform and what added value it offers their community.

Ketenstandaard Bouw en Techniek

What does Ketenstandaard do?

Ketenstandaard Bouw en Techniek is an organization that has been developing and managing standards with and for the entire construction and technology sector in a neutral and independent manner for over 20 years. They also work to improve the alignment of industry standards in the interest of the entire industry. “One of the standards we have developed is the DICO Standard,” Luuk says. “This allows structured, secure and software-independent electronic exchange of information with customers and suppliers. Processes have also been standardized, which further increases the added value when used.'

How does Semantic Treehouse support you in standards management processes?

'Since the start of using Semantic Treehouse, we have gained a better overview of our own standards.' Ketenstandaard previously published their standards in PDF documents, whereby the mutual coherence and consistency across the models was monitored by Ketenstandaard experts. 'That often didn't give a good overview of the standard and the models,' Luuk says. ‘For example, when we imported our data models into Semantic Treehouse, we discovered that we had 18 different structures for the ‘Party’ concept. There was also sometimes a difference between the documentation and technical specifications. Right now we are working towards one truth.”

In addition, the platform offers the possibility to generate technical schematics (XML/JSON) based on data models. “Previously, we had outsourced that expertise outside our organization. With Semantic Treehouse we now manage this by ourselves which makes us faster and more agile to respond to new developments.” The same applies to the integrated validation tool, says Luuk. 'We now configure these ourselves using schematron rules for our XML messages.'

'Semantic Treehouse is also the place where we channel requests-for-change (RFCs) from our community.' Users of the DICO standard submit their own RFCs to those parts of the standards to which they relate. 'As administrator of the standard, this gives us an overview and we also use it to record the changes in a transparent manner.'

How did you experience the introduction of Semantic Treehouse?

'For us it was an eye-opener for our own standards,' says Luuk when we ask what he remembers about the start-up phase of using Semantic Treehouse. “We were forced to parse and formalize our models into a machine-readable language so that they could be imported into the platform. Then you suddenly discover the inconsistencies and mistakes that have crept in over the years. In the summer period of 2019, Ketenstandaard prepared all parts of the DICO standard for import. This concerned the message models, code lists, validation rules and history of change requests. “In the process we were guided by TNO, which also gave us access to their knowledge and expertise in the field of modeling and standardization. It's nice to work with like-minded people and learn from each other.'

info

"An important aspect for us is that Semantic Treehouse uses open standards"
- Luuk d’Hooghe

When we talk about the development of the platform and the new possibilities that have been added in recent years, Luuk shows that they are close to the development. ‘At Ketenstandaard we have a say in the further development of Semantic Treehouse and we think that it is important, because we have become quite dependent on the platform for our services. Of course, the development does not always go as fast as we would like, but the developers of Semantic Treehouse involve us in the roadmap of the platform. For Ketenstandard the most important thing is ease of use for their end user.

A good example of cooperation that Luuk cites is the development of the MijnKetenstandaard login integration. Our users found logging in and obtaining the right roles and rights on the platform complicated at first. That also required a lot of manual steps on our part. But now that users log in via our MijnKetenstandaard portal, they immediately receive the correct rights. In that way the user experience has improved.'

What are the standardization challenges you will face in the next years?

After asking this question, Luuk immediately refers to the great ambitions and challenges in the construction and engineering sector. Think of sustainability, circularity, efficiency and chain cooperation. Digitization is required for each of these aspects. Standards are the key to success. Luuk sketches a dilemma: 'On the one hand, standards must be as strict as possible, so that they can be applied and tested unambiguously. On the other hand, we want to build in flexibility for specific data needs so that we can respond quickly and easily to new developments.' That is why Ketenstandard is working on a new structure of the data models as a foundation for the many existing and future use cases of data exchange. Luuk outlines how Semantic Treehouse supports this. “With Semantic Treehouse, we are able to quickly and easily develop new message specifications and APIs from our data model. In doing so, we automatically use best practices that have been incorporated into the platform.”

What is the added value of Semantic Treehouse for your end users?

'The most important functions of Semantic Treehouse for our end users are the presentation of the message models in a clickable tree structure (the tree view) and the possibility to validate implementations against the standards.'

The integrated validator offers the possibility to configure automatic validation per version of a message specification. For an XML implementation, this involves a check on the XML syntax, a check using the XML schema (XSD) and a check of the set of validation rules expressed in schematron. Software developers can largely use the validator themselves and on a technical level we only have to answer questions in case of problems or in case of ambiguities. That saves us a lot of time', adds Luuk.

“Another important aspect for us is that Semantic Treehouse uses open standards for both the import and export of standards and related specifications. We, as well as our users, benefit from that.” As examples, Luuk mentions the OWL ontology models that they use as an underlying data model, the XML and JSON schema message specifications that are created in Semantic Treehouse, and the use of schematron for expressing of validation rules. 'We can reuse such specifications in other tools and countries in software implementations of our users.'


Would you like to know more about different experiences from the user communities? Or a demo and explanation of Semantic Treehouse? Please contact us.