In the first part of our blog about the Policy Linking and Sharing component, we focused on the Policy Sharing subcomponent. In this second part, we shift our focus to the Policy Linking subcomponent.

The Policy Linking subcomponent plays a crucial role in detecting policies with similar goals, Key Policy indicators (KPIs), definitions, or datasets. Once a new policy is defined, this subcomponent searches for policies that share similarities in KPIs, objectives, definitions, or datasets and, then, presents a list of policies to the user, who can decide which policies should be linked.

Web Interface

When a new policy is defined or updated, the Policy Linking subcomponent searches for policies that may be related to the current policy under consideration. As shown in the snapshot below, when the user modifies the policy’s description, objectives, datasets, or KPIs in the web interface, the subcomponent detects these changes. Then, it sends a request to the Policy Linking component, which returns a list of candidate policies grouped by KPI, dataset, description, or objective. The user has the option to select the policies to be linked with the new policy by using the link/unlink checkbox. Upon completing the policy definition and clicking the submit button, the policy is sent to the Policy Management component, which stores the definition in the database and an index (Solr), while the linked policies are stored in the Policy and Dataset Management database.

The figure below illustrates an example of updating the policy for “PV systems mapping for a climate-neutral Madrid” and the list of potential policies to link once the update is complete. In this case, five policies are candidates for linking. Two of them were already linked during the initial policy definition (indicated by checked checkboxes in the candidate policies). The other two are proposed as candidates, and the user can click the link/unlink checkbox to establish the links. The keywords that connect the policies are highlighted in the candidate policies. When the user clicks the submit button, the relationships are established and are visible in subsequent interactions with the policy.

Subsequently, when this policy is selected, all the information regarding the policy, including the three linked policies from the previous step, will be presented. The is depicted in the following figure.