The core of the framework has a small
set of deliverables:
- A list of services identified within the framework, and for each of these
- The definition of the scope and purpose of the service
- List of applicable standards and specifications
- Information on open-source toolkits developed by the programme
- List of prior work of value, such as projects and case studies, or
demonstration projects using the service
- Information on shared services offered on an ASP basis, for example relevant
JISC IE services
General guidance on creating, exposing, and consuming services
Note that the current version of the framework
only contains:
- A list of services identified within the framework, and for each of these
- The definition of the scope and purpose of the service
- List of applicable standards and specifications
Also, note that we are interested in producing
toolkits for the framework rather than
complete solutions. This is because we want to encourage a diverse range of software
for institutions to choose from, both open-source and commercial.
Therefore, development activity for the
framework will be primarily concentrated on
providing libraries that enable developers (again, from commercial as well as open-
source communities) to create applications that provide and consume services defined
within the framework.
Demonstrator projects will be aimed at
testing out the service definitions and toolkits in
actual use.
By developing these libraries and toolkits
and providing them free-of-charge we
substantially reduce the cost of creating software based on services defined in the
framework, and reduce the cost of entry to a service-oriented architecture for UK
institutions.
We also don’t want to build large
pieces of software such as content management
systems, as these are very complex pieces of software (and there are plenty of
commercial and open-source solutions available).
It may be the case that there are some
parts of the framework for which there is demand
from the JISC community but no available solutions from vendors or the open-source
community, in which case it may be necessary to build an open-source reference
implementation to fill the gap. This is not an ideal approach, as it tends to lead to
problems of sustainability.
Overall, then, the strategy is to create
small, tightly scoped pieces of development work
that will have maximum impact on the sector. There will be no “white elephants”.
