Technology Mapping within the network of Specialized Information Services
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: In recent years, the network of Specialised Information Services (in German “Fachinformationsdienste (FID)”) in Germany has evolved into a complex ecosystem comprising over 36 initiatives with diverse technological approaches and infrastructures. Despite this diversity, a systematic, data-driven framework for recording, analysing, and comparing the technologies, software solutions, and development strategies across the network has not yet been established. This lack of transparency hampers interoperability, reuse, and coordinated planning within the FID ecosystem. Decision-makers as well as technical teams currently lack a reliable reference to identify proven components, interoperable infrastructures, and opportunities for collaborative development that could reduce costs and increase efficiency. The current approach is a wiki-based documentation – the so called “Community Wiki”. This wiki provides, among others, a profile form with different fields (e.g. used content management system, discovery technology, repository technology) to be filled out by each FID. Since, the descriptions are non-standardized, each FID presents its technologies in their own words. This hinders a comprehensive assessment. The wiki is also lacking any support to generate summaries, analysis or visualizations. In this talk we introduce a novel tool for the technology mapping that is currently under development. This tool will consolidate in a structured way all information on technologies, components, organisations, and responsible individuals. This application will enable the analysis of relationships such as usage, dependency, and cooperation. It will give answers to questions like the identification of thematic or technological clusters, gaps, or emerging trends that are relevant to the FID system. Such a consolidated view will help developers and decision-makers to promote more efficient and synergetic collaborations. The tool's fundamental functionality involves the utilisation of a knowledge graph, a sophisticated data structure that simplifies the representation of technologies, components, organisations, and individuals, along with their relationships and attributes. These attributes encompass characteristics such as versions, interfaces, standards, and quality indicators. Technically, the tool builds on a Neo4j graph database and provides web-based interfaces for data entry, validation, and visual exploration. Automated consistency checks ensure data quality, while integrated analytics modules enable clustering, trend detection, and network visualisation. A prototype is currently being tested within the FID ecosystem. Future work will focus on extending analytical capabilities, aligning metadata standards, and integrating the tool into the broader FID collaboration infrastructure.
Authors: Risse, Thomas, Konrad, Ralf, Mesfin, Asmerom Tommy
Institution: Goethe University Frankfurt
Language: English
Subfield: Information Systems
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Award: G737511082
OpenAlex ID: W7134045036
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