I have written this blog for those individuals who are new members of the OSDU Forum and would like to learn more about how the forum operates.
The first thing to point out is that new members should not expect a fancy User Interface and ready-made applications to test the features of the platform. The OSDU Data Platform offers a data foundation and a set of micro services to perform all of the common activities related to Energy data. The OSDU community has selected Postman as one way to test and use API end points. Of course, there are many other alternatives (especially if you are a developer). Use of the Postman interface (to test/use “services”) may appear daunting in the beginning. I would ask you to be patient and make use of some of the available help/support materials. And you’ll get moving very soon.
Suggested startup materials – First and foremost you need to get an account set up for The Open Group. Email forum-support@opengroup.org to get access to your account. You will also get an orientation/on-boarding session to get to know all of the available tools at your disposal.
Fortunately, there are a lot of useful information sources to get you started:
- You can start with the materials available on the OSDU Forum site osduforum.org.
- From the menu (on the right) try the dropdown “Getting Started” and check the available Platform Documentation. Check “Reference Architecture” and “Schema Usage Guide” as a minimum. Many other documents are helpful too.
- On the same site, there is also “Application Developer” training material. Some of the modules can be helpful even if you are not a Developer.
- Data Definition – This site allows you to navigate through various group types and get information about any entity (ex: Master Data Wellbore or Work-product Component WellboreMarker). Try to click “Example” link to get populated JSON file. https://community.opengroup.org/osdu/data/data-definitions/-/tree/master/E-R
- Platform Services – Useful documentation about each service (Ex: Storage, Search and many others). Click on “API” in order to see Swagger style documentation. Click on the “How to” link in order to see documentation about the various services. https://community.opengroup.org/osdu/documentation/-/wikis/Core-Services-Overview
- Data Loading Guide – https://community.opengroup.org/groups/osdu/platform/data-flow/data-loading/-/wikis/home
- Rich set of Postman collections from the Platform Validation Group – https://community.opengroup.org/osdu/platform/testing
- Set of Video links, good for orientation. https://gitlab.opengroup.org/osdu/r3-program-activities/home/-/wikis/Onboarding-Video-Content-Links
- Enclosed is a simple overview diagram showing various elements of the Data Platform. You can find many more detailed schematics in other documents mentioned above. So, treat this as a cheat sheet for an easy recap.
Where do you practice what you learn? Ideally, you would have access to a deployed OSDU Data Platform inside your own company. For University students and some selected members, there may be an opportunity to get access to a Lab environment. If you are willing to contribute as a Developer, then you can engage with suitable working group, and you’ll get access to the Development area in particular the CSP environment.
How do you ask for help? Use the Aha ticketing system. Get enrolled in OSDU Forum’s Slack channel. You can post a message in relevant Slack channel.
How can you contribute? Aggregate Calendar site (https://www.opengroup.org/og_sduaggregatedcalendar) shows recurring sessions of various working groups and project teams. Any Forum member is free to join the sessions of his/her choice. Beyond attending a session, you can engage in any of the development projects. Join one of the Testing teams. Join one of the Data Definition working groups. You will find that the experience of working together with like-minded people from many other companies is very rewarding.
Debasis Chatterjee, Director Research & Analytics, Katalyst Data Management
I have been in the IT Industry for 45 years (40+ years in Oil & Gas IT) in various roles ranging from Software Development, Client site project deployment to E&P Consulting. I am passionate about Data Management and its multiple facets – be it Data Quality or Analytics or Master Data Management. Worked in Software vendor companies (Schlumberger, Katalyst) and Consulting companies (Noah Consulting) during my career. I have been active in the Forum since middle of year 2019 (R0 timeframe) and more recently been nominated as PMC Vice Lead since July 2021. I enjoy the interaction and dynamics inside the Forum with various activities and get a chance to work with talents from all over the world. In short, I find this engagement very exciting.
You can reach me at debasis.chatterjee@katalystdm.com or via Slack.
