Ontotext has contributed to the development of GS1 EPCIS 2.0, which is currently under community review – the last step before the formal ratification of the standard.
EPCIS (Electronic Product Code Information Services) is a standard developed and maintained by GS1 – an international organization for standards in transport and logistics. EPCIS provides a solution to building a trusted supply chain between the actors involved in the process. It specifies the context of an event and enables trading partners to share traceable information about the physical movement and status of products as they travel throughout the supply chain – from business to business and ultimately to consumers.
Source: EPCIS 2.0 – The Web language for supply chain data interoperability
The enhanced visibility provided by EPCIS offers many benefits at all points in the supply chain in all industries. It makes it easier to track and trace products, manage inventory and satisfy consumer and regulatory requirements for accurate information on product chain-of-custody and availability.
The new version of EPCIS features many updates and improvements. Some of the major differences between version 1.2 and 2.0 include adding a section on EPCIS Semantics (to clarify the meaning of various identifiers and constructs), extending the XML schema to support RDF SHACL shapes, adding JSON, JSONLD and RDF (Linked Data) renditions in addition to the existing XML rendition, etc.
Ontotext has actively participated in the specifications of EPCIS 2.0 by adding:
- the EPCIS Semantics document;
- mappings of EPC/TDS identifiers to GS1 classes, and additions to GS1 class hierarchy;
- improvements to the EPCIS ontology and RDF shapes;
- the EPCIS Semantics document;
- mappings of EPC/TDS identifiers to GS1 classes, and additions to GS1 class hierarchy;
- improvements to the ontology and RDF shapes;
- specific proposals for gs1:CertificationDetails and gs1:MeasurementType;
- meta-properties to enable the generation of “dual” documentation of the JSON model and RDF (ontological) model;
- best practices about publishing ontologies, semantic resolution, and many more.
Ontotext is also currently applying EPCIS 2.0 in the EU-funded project PLANET (Progress towards Federated Logistics through the Integration of TEN-T into A Global Trade Network) to demonstrate the advantages of the new features in a specific use case.
Contact: Vladimir Alexiev
For more information, contact Doug Kimball, Chief Marketing Officer at Ontotext