The Concept of a Universal Maritime Data Model (umdm) Essential for E-navigation

In the paper the Author describes the general concept of a Universal Maritime Data Model (UMDM) a common representation of all data objects and relationships occurring in the maritime domain. Implementation of IMO’s e-Navigation strategy leads to a larger variety and higher volume of information and increased information exchange due to globalization. Consequently there is a need to handle information more effectively in a standardized way. The first step towards a common data structure is to define the meaning of each and every item in the data structure and the relationships among the items. This is done so that implementers of the data structure have common understanding of items. The means to do this is with a data model. At this stage, the data model, like the system architecture needs only to be described in the most general of terms. An example of how a UMDM could be implemented has been provided by the IHO with its S-100 model. In January 2010, IHO introduced a new data model known as S-100 the Universal Hydrographic Data Model (UHDM). This international standard has been developed by the IHO over the last ten years in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, including key ECDIS and navigation equipment manufactures. The purpose of S-100 is to provide framework architecture for a contemporary standard for the exchange of hydrographic and related maritime data. As the UHDM is aligned with ISO 19100 it will enable the exchange of hydrographic, chart and other maritime data and information together with geospatial data from other domains. The use of ISO 19100-based data standards enables interoperability between geospatial data sets from different domains and could therefore be appropriate for many of the datasets envisaged for data exchange in e-Navigation.