Automatic generation of NGSI-LD data models from RDF ontologies : developmental studies of children and adolescents use case

Drobnič, Franc (author), Starc, Gregor (author), Jurak, Gregor (author), Kos, Andrej (author), Pustišek, Matevž (author)

In the era of ever-greater data production and collection, public health research is often limited by the scarcity of data. To improve this, we propose data sharing in the form of Data Spaces, which provide technical, business, and legal conditions for an easier and trustworthy data exchange for all the participants. The data must be described in a commonly understandable way, which can be assured by machine-readable ontologies. We compared the semantic interoperability technologies used in the European Data Spaces initiatives and adopted them in our use case of physical development in children and youth. We propose an ontology describing data from the Analysis of Children’s Development in Slovenia (ACDSi) study in the Resource Description Framework (RDF) format and a corresponding Next Generation Systems Interface-Linked Data (NGSI-LD) data model. For this purpose, we have developed a tool to generate an NGSI-LD data model using information from an ontology in RDF format. The tool builds on the declaration from the standard that the NGSI-LD information model follows the graph structure of RDF, so that such translation is feasible. The source RDF ontology is analyzed using the standardized SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language (SPARQL), specifically using Property Path queries. The NGSI-LD data model is generated from the definitions collected in the analysis. The translation has been verified on Smart Applications REFerence (SAREF) ontology SAREF4BLDG and its corresponding Smart Data Models (52 models at the time). The generated artifacts have been tested on a Context Broker reference implementation. The tool supports basic ontology structures, and for it to translate more complex structures, further development is needed.

• Language: English
• Keywords: semantic interoperability, data spaces, digital twin, data model, RDF, NGSI-LD
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FE - Faculty of Electrical Engineering; FŠ - Faculty of Sport
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 18 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 16, issue 2, art. 992
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-178934
• UDC: 004.9
• ISSN on article: 2076-3417
• DOI: 10.3390/app16020992
• COBISS.SI-ID: 265498883
• Publication date in RUL: 02.02.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Applied sciences
• Shortened title: Appl. sci.
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2076-3417
• COBISS.SI-ID: 522979353

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: semantična interoperabilnost, podatkovni prostori, digitalni dvojček, podatkovni model, RDF, NGSI-LD

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P2-0425
• Name: Decentralizirane rešitve za digitalizacijo industrije ter pametnih mest in skupnosti