Definitions | Why signals | Specification | Interop examples
Noun: 'anything agreed upon or understood as the occasion for concerted action'
Adjective: 'unusual; notable; outstanding'
Verb: 'to communicate or make known by a signal'
'The fundamental quantity of representing some information'.
Signals are simple messages that can be exchanged between organisations to indicate that an action has been taken or that something has been decided or agreeed upon.
With signals insight is moved (the result of deploying expertise over raw data) not the raw data itself. This has many benefits.
- Signals are light-weight, with simple payloads and a straightforward version control system. This means it will be less expensive to experiment with new types of information exchange and that signals can be revised, or new signals added, without disrupting existing implementations
- Signals can be delivered as soon as a corresponding event occurs in the originating business process. We believe this will allow new workflows to be created based on actual business timings rather than an arbitrary schedule set by any specific actors in an information sharing network
- Signals can move in any direction, creating the potential for feedback loops that are difficult to create with the traditional declaration-based approaches
- Signals permit organisations to minimise information share volume while maximising the sharing of expertise
- Signals are typically self contained - they usually do not require additional out of band information to be made available
- Signals reduce the need for complex ontologies and reduce semantics leaking over boundaries due to their more precise/targetted deisgn and footprint
- Signals may be anonymous/opaque - identity of the producer/provider and detail of the due diligence behind any insight may be omitted
- Signals permit consuming parties to make their own minds up on whether and how to use them for example whether aggregation or corroboration are necessary
- Signals may move bi-directionally between any number of actors participating in a network
- A signal is typically not a large footprint of raw information
- A signal is typically:
- An attribute of an event or information element
- A verified attribute of an event or information element
- An opinion based on observation of information or events
- A claim based on analysis of information or events
- Insight generated by the deployment of expertise over data or events
- An attestation from an organisation that a signal produced or provided by another organisation is accurate or true