Multilevel Mapping of Ecosystem Descriptions

One of the most significant challenges in information system design is the constant and increasing need to establish interoperability between heterogeneous software systems at increasing scale. Beyond individual applications, today’s enterprise applications require automated information exchange across the system lifecycle of information ecosystems—large scale families of software built around official or de facto standards. The automated translation of data between the data models and languages used in these ecosystems is best addressed using model-driven engineering techniques, but requires the handling of both data and multiple levels of metadata within a single model. Standard modelling approaches are generally inconsistent with these requirements, leading to compromised modelling outcomes. In this paper we discuss the use of the SLICER framework built on multilevel modelling principles for transformation purposes. The framework provides natural propagation of constraints over multiple design and instantiation levels that cover different engineering lifecycle phases.We discuss the concept of metamodeling spaces and give an example of a concrete transformation application. Keywords: Metamodelling, Lifecycle models, Interoperability