Enabling a repair economy requires sharing of information between a large variety of stakeholders. The purpose of dataspaces is to enable such data sharing while limiting the overhead requirements in integrating the corresponding data. They are defined as collections of data sources that are connected over a network and supported by a set of interrelated services for management and use of data. Instead of upfront data integration, dataspaces adopt an incremental approach to data co-existence. This fits particularly well in the repair scenario where different partners manipulate different types of data for different purposes. Putting together those data sources is supported by a set of services, enabling all stakeholders to catalogue new data, search data and query the data.
The SHAREPAIR project is building such a dataspace relying on the principle of Linked Data, so to support sharing information about parts, devices, organisations, repairs and the people who make them in a way that connects those various aspects, and enable the creation of a joint data platform optimising integration of those data, while minimising the effort required to enable this integration.
The services that are at the basis of this platform are currently being deployed as a first version of the core platform. More importantly, working closely with partners of the project, initial data sources are being processed for integration. Those include in particular Open Repair Alliance data, following the Open Repair Data Standard, as well as data about repairs and organisations from the tools developed in SHAREPAIR.
Another area of particular interest, as it demonstrates the variety of types of information to be integrated and therefore the value added of a linked data-based dataspace, is the one of 3D models for 3D printed parts. We are therefore considering solutions through which such data can be shared while connecting to other relevant information, as well as to other, more specialised platforms. In this context, our platform is going to support not only repair information related to specific assets but also allow management of actual digital assets - 3D models. This way the dataspace will offer a comprehensive view on the repair cycle information, from identification of the item and broken components, through guidance on repair and places where relevant repair services are available to supporting building self-printed replacement parts. The innovative platform built with Open Linked Data best practice incorporated by design will help to lift the data interoperability to the next level by enriching and interlinking all the data essential in the repair process. Moreover, it will offer easier data access and support more intuitive information exploration in a one-stop-shop.