DCAT-AP 3.0.1

DCAT Application Profile for data portals in Europe (DCAT-AP) extends DCAT with European-specific requirements and controlled vocabularies.

Overview

DCAT-AP provides a minimal common basis within Europe to share Datasets and Data Services cross-border and cross-domain.

Key features:

EU Controlled Vocabularies - Mandatory and recommended vocabularies
Multilingual Support - Language-tagged literals for all EU languages
HVD Support - High Value Datasets regulation compliance
Legal Metadata - Applicable legislation tracking

Official Specification: https://semiceu.github.io/DCAT-AP/releases/3.0.1/

DCAT-AP Classes

DCAT-AP extends 6 core DCAT classes:

Catalog - Extended with applicable legislation, geographical/temporal coverage
Dataset - Extended with HVD support, access rights, provenance
Distribution - Extended with availability, ODRL policies, status
DataService - Extended with applicable legislation
DatasetSeries - Extended with applicable legislation, access rights
CatalogRecord - Extended with applicable legislation

Quick Example

from dartfx.dcat import dcat_ap

# Create European catalog
catalog = dcat_ap.Catalog(id="eu-portal")
catalog.add_title("European Open Data Portal", lang="en")
catalog.add_title("Portail européen de données ouvertes", lang="fr")
catalog.add_geographical_coverage(
    "http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/continent/EUROPE"
)

# Create dataset with EU vocabularies
dataset = dcat_ap.Dataset(id="population-stats")
dataset.add_title("European Population Statistics", lang="en")

# Add theme using EU Data Theme vocabulary (mandatory)
dataset.add_theme(
    "http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/data-theme/SOCI"
)

# Set access rights using EU vocabulary (recommended)
dataset.set_access_rights(
    "http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/access-right/PUBLIC"
)

# Add frequency using EU vocabulary
dataset.add_frequency(
    "http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/frequency/ANNUAL"
)

# Create distribution
distribution = dcat_ap.Distribution(id="csv-dist")
distribution.add_download_url("http://example.org/data.csv")
distribution.add_media_type("text/csv")

# Set availability using EU vocabulary
distribution.set_availability(
    "http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/planned-availability/AVAILABLE"
)

dataset.add_distribution(distribution)
catalog.add_dataset(dataset)

Controlled Vocabularies

DCAT-AP defines specific controlled vocabularies that MUST, SHOULD, or MAY be used:

Mandatory Vocabularies

Property	Vocabulary
Media Type	IANA Media Types
Frequency	EU Frequency
File Type	EU File Type
Language	EU Languages
Distribution Status	EU Distribution Status
Availability	EU Planned Availability

Recommended Vocabularies

Property	Vocabulary
Access Rights	EU Access Rights
Publisher Type	ADMS Publisher Type
Licence Type	ADMS Licence Type

Using Controlled Vocabularies

from dartfx.dcat import dcat_ap

dataset = dcat_ap.Dataset(id="dataset-1")

# Use EU Data Theme (at least 1 required)
dataset.add_theme(
    "http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/data-theme/ECON"
)

# Use EU Access Rights (recommended)
dataset.set_access_rights(
    "http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/access-right/PUBLIC"
)

# Use EU Frequency (mandatory if present)
dataset.add_frequency(
    "http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/frequency/MONTHLY"
)

Multilingual Support

DCAT-AP emphasizes multilingual metadata:

dataset = dcat_ap.Dataset(id="multilingual-dataset")

# Add titles in multiple EU languages
dataset.add_title("Population Data", lang="en")
dataset.add_title("Données de population", lang="fr")
dataset.add_title("Bevölkerungsdaten", lang="de")
dataset.add_title("Datos de población", lang="es")
dataset.add_title("Dati sulla popolazione", lang="it")

# Add descriptions in multiple languages
dataset.add_description("Annual population statistics", lang="en")
dataset.add_description("Statistiques annuelles de population", lang="fr")
dataset.add_description("Jährliche Bevölkerungsstatistiken", lang="de")

Provenance and Attribution

DCAT-AP supports detailed provenance information:

dataset = dcat_ap.Dataset(id="dataset-1")

# Add provenance statement
dataset.add_provenance("http://example.org/provenance/statement-1")

# Add qualified attribution
dataset.add_qualified_attribution("http://example.org/attribution/1")

# Add source dataset
dataset.add_source("http://example.org/source-dataset")

# Add activity that generated this dataset
dataset.add_was_generated_by("http://example.org/activity/1")

ODRL Policies

DCAT-AP supports ODRL (Open Digital Rights Language) policies:

distribution = dcat_ap.Distribution(id="dist-1")
distribution.add_download_url("http://example.org/data.csv")

# Add ODRL policy
distribution.add_policy("http://example.org/policy/open-data")
distribution.add_policy("http://example.org/policy/attribution-required")

Complete Example

from dartfx.dcat import dcat_ap

# Create catalog
catalog = dcat_ap.Catalog(id="eu-catalog")
catalog.add_title("European Data Catalog", lang="en")
catalog.add_description("Catalog of European datasets", lang="en")
catalog.add_publisher(
    "http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/corporate-body/PUBL"
)

# Create dataset
dataset = dcat_ap.Dataset(id="economic-data")
dataset.add_title("European Economic Data", lang="en")
dataset.add_description("Economic indicators for EU member states", lang="en")

# Add EU vocabularies
dataset.add_theme(
    "http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/data-theme/ECON"
)
dataset.set_access_rights(
    "http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/access-right/PUBLIC"
)
dataset.add_frequency(
    "http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/frequency/QUARTERLY"
)

# Add spatial coverage
dataset.add_spatial(
    "http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/continent/EUROPE"
)

# Create distribution
distribution = dcat_ap.Distribution(id="csv-dist")
distribution.add_download_url("http://example.org/economic-data.csv")
distribution.add_media_type("text/csv")
distribution.set_availability(
    "http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/planned-availability/AVAILABLE"
)
distribution.set_status(
    "http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/distribution-status/COMPLETED"
)

dataset.add_distribution(distribution)
catalog.add_dataset(dataset)

# Serialize to RDF
turtle = catalog.to_rdf(format='turtle')

Testing

The DCAT-AP implementation includes 32 comprehensive tests:

# Run all DCAT-AP tests
pytest tests/test_dcat_ap.py -v

# Run with coverage
pytest tests/test_dcat_ap.py --cov=dartfx.dcat.dcat_ap

Compliance

This implementation is fully compliant with:

✅ DCAT-AP Version 3.0.1
✅ DCAT Version 3
✅ EU Controlled Vocabularies
✅ SEMIC Standards