Custom GWSW integration development
Appfront builds integrations with the GWSW, the Urban Water Data Dictionary maintained by Stichting RIONED. It is the open standard that municipalities, water boards, consultancies and contractors use to exchange data on sewerage and urban water unambiguously. We connect your sewer management or project system to the standard, so that surveys, inspections and asset data move back and forth without manual translation, validated before they are used.
What is a GWSW integration?
The Dutch Municipal Water Data Dictionary (GWSW) is the open standard for unambiguously exchanging and making available data in urban water management. It describes objects such as pipes, manholes and pumping stations, along with their characteristics, as an ontology. Stichting RIONED manages it together with the sector and provides tools to validate datasets. GWSW-compliant data can also be found via PDOK.
In practice, a municipality receives data from an engineering consultancy, a contractor or an inspection company, each in their own format or in a version of the standard that almost fits. The data is converted by hand and entered into the management system. An error in a survey only comes to light when someone relies on it. And data the municipality shares itself reaches a consultancy in a form that must be translated again.
We build custom development because partners differ: which asset management system you use, who you exchange data with, and which version of the standard those partners use. The standard is managed by Stichting RIONED; we make sure your systems work with it, including when the standard evolves further.
According to the standard
Sewerage and urban water data to and from your system, in line with the GWSW.
Exchanging without translating
Surveys, inspections and asset data between municipality, consultancy and contractor.
Validated first
Datasets checked against the standard before they are imported or shared.
How we build your GWSW integration
We start with your data: which asset management system, which partners you exchange with, which data, and where most of the translation work lies. Partners often use different versions. We map this out, so the integration can exchange with everyone and support a new version later. We test with real datasets from your partners, because that is where the differences show up that never appear in theory.
Your systems, partners, data and versions.
Your data to and from the GWSW.
Validation, and exchange with partners.
Go-live, monitoring, and maintenance when new versions are released.
What a GWSW integration actually does
The components below come up in almost every GWSW integration. Which ones you need depends on your role.
Translating
Your data to the GWSW and back.
Validating
Datasets against the standard.
Surveys
From contractors in your management.
Inspections
Results linked to the right object.
Share
Data to firms and via PDOK.
Audit log
Every exchange logged.
Who we build a GWSW integration for
The integration is intended for anyone who exchanges data on sewerage and urban water.
Municipalities
Sewerage management. Importing is the core.
Water boards
Pumping stations and treatment. Exchange matters most.
Engineering firms
Design data. The translation is what is needed.
Software suppliers
Asset or inspection software. The standard is the core.
Technology and integrations
This page is about integrations with the GWSW. For sewerage, see our page on sewer software, for open geodata our page on a PDOK integration, and for concepts such as linked data our page on a SKOS integration. You can read about our way of working under building software.
Why Appfront for your GWSW integration?
Data that is translated again at every exchange loses something each time. We build on that: data in line with the standard, exchanging without translating, and validated first.
No translation work
Everyone uses the same standard.
Reliable
Errors spotted before they count.
Reusable
Data for management and design.
Security and privacy for a GWSW integration
The integration works with data on underground infrastructure, some of which is confidential. Access is set up by role, and every exchange is logged.
The integration runs in a European data centre or in your own environment, with encrypted storage and daily backups.
Frequently asked questions about a GWSW integration
Questions that asset managers and firms ask before getting started.
The Urban Water Data Dictionary (Gegevenswoordenboek Stedelijk Water): the open standard for exchanging data unambiguously in urban water management, such as data on pipes, manholes and pumping stations. It is maintained by Stichting RIONED together with the sector. Municipalities, water boards, consultancies and contractors use it to speak the same language about their data.
It means that objects, attributes and the relationships between them are described unambiguously, so that systems interpret them in the same way. GWSW data can therefore also be used as linked data. A manhole or pipe then means the same thing in every system, with the same attributes.
The integration checks data against the standard before it is imported or shared, and Stichting RIONED also provides its own tools for this. Discrepancies are returned to whoever can resolve them, together with the reason. This way, only correct data ends up in your management system.
The version you and your partners use. Not everyone switches over at the same time, so an integration sometimes needs to handle several versions. We map this out in the first step. When a new version is released, the integration shows what changes for your data.
Yes, provided your management system has an interface or import facility. A survey conforming to the GWSW is validated and then offered to the management system, so it does not need to be re-entered. Discrepancies are returned to the contractor, with the reason, before the survey is accepted.
The Dutch CAD Standard (Nederlandse CAD Standaard, NLCS) has included an integration with the GWSW since version 5.0. As a result, objects from drawings align better with the asset data, and a sewer pipe from a design drawing no longer needs to be described again.
For municipalities and water boards that receive a lot of data from partners, for firms and contractors that supply data, and for vendors of management and inspection software who want to support the standard.
Sewerage data without translation work?
Tell us which management system you use, which parties you exchange data with, and where translation currently takes place. We will show you what the integration would look like.