Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 716/2014 of 27 June 2014 on the establishment of the Pilot Common Project (PCP IR) identified a set of ATM functionalities to be deployed, enabled by Initial System Wide Information Management (iSWIM).
The goal of iSWIM is to foster the interoperability between European ATM Stakeholders in a networked environment. The means to achieve this goal are information services and service orientation practice whereby information services are identified, designed, described, and implemented (provider and consumer side).
The EUROCONTROL Specification for SWIM Information Definition contains requirements for information definitions in the context of iSWIM in Europe.
Information definitions are the formal descriptions of information exchanged and produced by operational stakeholders. They serve as the means whereby the exchanged information is clearly defined, harmonised, understood and shared.
Examples of information definitions are the description of information exchanged by services, standardised information exchange models, data catalogues used to list details on the exchanged information, and information exchanges captured as part of a business process model. The requirements come in two broad categories: general requirements for information definitions, and requirements on how to document semantic correspondence to the ATM Information Reference Model (AIRM).
The semantic correspondence requirements are necessary for semantic interoperability, which is the ability of computer systems and organisations to exchange data with unambiguous, shared meaning. The requirements ensure that information definitions conform to the semantics of the AIRM, the common reference language for iSWIM.
This EUROCONTROL Specification references the AIRM as the single unified European reference for ATM information. The AIRM will evolve due to the nature of SWIM. The evolution of the AIRM will be managed through the AIRM Change Control Board representing the AIRM community and reporting to the AIM/SWIM Team. It should however be understood that the ‘European’ AIRM could be a temporary set-up awaiting further discussions at ICAO level for a globally applicable AIRM.