Results of ITS metadata registry trial

The paper presents the provisional results of a period of trial operation of an ITS Metadata Registry in the United Kingdom. In 2002 the Highways Agency commissioned a research and development project to investigate the use of standard description languages for the development of a metadata registry. The purpose of this work is to identify a suitable registry structure and mechanism that will meet the needs of the Agency and other organisations, specifically for Travel Information Highway (TIH), but with the possibility of extension to the wider ITS sector. A metadata registry is a formalised mechanism for describing data in a structured format, together with its status, ownership, and precision of definition. System or standards developers can re-use data definitions lodged by others, or can lodge their own new data definitions. During system specification the registry can be searched for re-usable definitions in specific functional areas. The registry can also be used as an online specification for data interchanges. The registry is not simply a database; it also has a formal registration process with an organisational structure to support it.