FRANZ INC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N221-077

Description

The Navy needs a software solution to integrate disparate electronic sources of technical information adhering to a unified taxonomy and ontology. This solution must include tool-specific access methods that enforce conformity to the predefined ontology, either automatically or semi-automatically. Franz will apply its AI/ML techniques to develop a software solution to facilitate the data integration discussed above. The system will retrieve data from the various sources, link the data and convert to one tool-specific language, infer duplicate entities and merge into single representations, allow for two-way data flow, obfuscate data based on user/organization roles and access restrictions when required, and provide a means to traverse data across sources to understand and analyze the entire dataset. The technical objectives for this DoD Navy Phase I are to develop a concept for a Semantically Driven Data ?Integration software platform that ?Extracts key data (master data) from the various data sources (e.g., model files, applications, ?and databases) product structures and associated contents (e.g., CAD and CAM files, ?documentation, requirements, manufacturing information, service information, part/supplier ?data),? ?Maps the extracted master data to RDF semantic data according to a predefined taxonomy ??(and ontology) which enables associations between related entities across various data ?sources,? Disambiguates data entities from different data sources to eliminate duplicate entities across ?different data sources and merge into single semantic representations (URI’s),? ?Pushes “round trip” changes between data sources through certain synchronization triggers in ?the (semantic) master database,? ?Provides access control based on user’s and organization’s roles and,? ?Provides analyses on data across the entire dataset from different sources. ? Phase I efforts will articulate the functional design, algorithms, and framework required for interfacing with CSM, DOORS, and Windchill. Phase I deliverables will include detailed information regarding the software architecture and identification of a robust set of test cases that will be used to verify functionality. We will demonstrate the concept feasibility through analysis, modelling, and simulation. The Phase I ?Option will include the initial design specifications and a capabilities description to build a ?prototype solution in Phase II.? The Franz team for the Navy phase I project has over 40 years of combined experience in ?technology, specifically data science and programming. While Dr. Wu has shifted to business ?and partnership development for the company, he maintains an up-to-date knowledge in the ?state-of-the-art technology.?