Result description
LUMIS is a platform for creating, validating, publishing, and maintaining semantic artefacts (ontologies, thesauri, controlled vocabularies) following the LOT/LOT4FAIR methodology. It integrates existing open-source tools (Protégé for collaborative editing, FOOPS! for FAIR compliance checking, OntoPortal for publication) into a single workspace with a unified workflow, instead of requiring users to switch between disconnected tools and manual processes. LUMIS provides an environment equivalent to Continuous Development / Continuous Integration (CI/CD) for semantic artefact, supporting the standardisation and industrialisation of semantic artefact development. The initial version of platform (Minimum Viable Product) is structured around four core functionalities: a workspace dashboard that guides users through the steps of the semantic artefact lifecycle, create/edit/save capabilities with integrated tool support, collaborative visualisation features, and a publication workflow that pushes artefacts to thematic catalogues (EarthPortal, BioPortal, LOV) through the OntoPortal Federation and the FAIR Semantic Artefact API developed in FAIR-IMPACT. This initial version should be extended to integrate tools supporting quality assessment through a testing environment and should integrate various existing tools to accommodate the workflow of various stakeholders. Within the LUMEN ecosystem, LUMIS plays a specific role: the semantic artefacts it produces are used by the communities to annotate and enrich their metadata, which in turn improves the quality of the Data Products exposed in the Data Mesh. The discovery platforms and the Meta-Search benefit from this because richer, more consistent metadata leads to better cross-domain search results. The design was informed by 78 user stories collected through workshops with ontology experts and domain researchers from the four LUMEN communities. The MVP focuses on lowering the barrier for domain experts who are not ontology specialists but need to develop or maintain domain-specific vocabularies collaboratively. LUMIS addresses a gap in the current EOSC ecosystem: while individual tools for ontology editing, validation, or publication exist, there is no integrated platform that supports the full lifecycle of FAIR-by-design semantic artefacts in a structured, reproducible way.
Problem addressed
Semantic artefacts (ontologies, thesauri, controlled vocabularies) are essential for data interoperability and FAIR compliance, but their development process is fragmented. Knowledge engineers and domain experts typically rely on a collection of disconnected tools: one for editing (Protégé), another for validation, another for documentation, another for publication. Each tool has its own format, interface, and workflow. There is no standardised pipeline comparable to what software developers have with CI/CD environments. This fragmentation has practical consequences. Artefacts are developed in silos with inconsistent practices. Quality varies because validation is manual and ad hoc. Publication into catalogues requires format conversions and manual uploads. Versioning and provenance tracking are often informal. For domain experts who are not ontology specialists, the barrier to entry is high. At the EOSC level, semantic interoperability is recognised as a priority, but the tools and workflows to support it remain scattered. Communities need a practical way to produce and maintain FAIR-compliant semantic artefacts without having to assemble their own toolchain.
Who can use the result
Knowledge engineers, ontologists, domain researchers who develop or maintain vocabularies, data providers who use semantic artefacts to annotate and enrich their metadata.Timeline
The MVP will be accessible as a web platform with AAI-federated authentication by Q3 2027. Published artefacts will be available through existing thematic catalogues (EarthPortal, BioPortal, LOV) via the OntoPortal Federation APIs.How to use the result
Type of result
