Interoperable Solutions Connecting Smart Homes, Buildings and Grids
The underlying concept of InterConnect is the Semantic Interoperability, which is the ability that digital systems have to exchange data with unambiguous, shared and agreed meaning, a steppingstone for the implementation of the Digital Single Market and enablement of cross domain data spaces. This is supported via ontologies, such as SAREF, and knowledge exchange mechanisms, allowing different providers and companies to offer competitive and cost-effective solutions whilst avoiding lock-ins or closed vertical technology implementations. The main innovation of the project is to deploy the concept of semantic interoperability into practice on a large scale, validating acceptance by key market stakeholders from domains for energy and smart buildings. To fulfil the objective of deploying semantic interoperability on a large scale, the first step was to define a reference architecture for the project, that resulted from a detailed state-of-the-art analysis of relevant IoT related reference architectures. The cross-domain semantic interoperability is the transversal and core innovation of the project upon which all the developments concerning the semantic interoperability are made, interpreted by the developed Semantic Interoperability Framework (SIF). Different semantic components are being used to support energy and non-energy services to be demonstrated in seven different pilots in Portugal, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and Greece. InterConnect is aligned and actively contributes to EC initiatives, promoting the SIF to foster semantic interoperability as the needed game changer to unlock cross-domain data spaces. This work has been supported in several initiatives, with the architectural discussions that will lead to the integration within the European Data Spaces or GAIA-X initiative, particularly in terms of data sovereignty, creation of semantic knowledge capabilities in those associations and leveraging from the learned lessons from manufacturers associations and alliances in the Interconnect large scale pilots.
