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Telemetry Providers

Overview​

In the Data Interchange ecosystem, Telemetry Providers represent the source of cold chain telemetry data. In many cases, Telemetry Providers are manufacturers of smart refrigerators or data loggers that monitor vaccine cooling systems in rural facilities or health clinics. From the perspective of the Data Interchange, Telemetry Providers deliver streams or batches of cold-chain monitoring data into the Interchange, so that Data Owners can manage and distribute that data according to their own specific needs and requirements.

Different manufacturers and countries define their cold chain processes and data in different ways. For this reason, the Data Interchange was designed to accept and distribute digital data with very few limits on the types of data that are handled -- or the speed at which data is delivered. In practice, this means that the Data Interchange is flexible enough to support existing monitoring and reporting programs with minimal change to existing data systems.

The following are examples of data that can be handled by the Data Interchange:

  • Structured data representing individual measurements;
  • Structured data representing pre-calculated aggregations (e.g., min / max / mean over a period of time)
  • Unstructured or semi-structured data (e.g., memos, logs);
  • Image and PDFs;
  • Compressed file archives.

To send data into the Data Interchange, Telemetry Providers post data to the Interchange via HTTPS, the ubiquitous (and secure) protocol of the world wide web. Data can be sent to the Data Interchange from any device or application connected to the Internet, whether it is sent directly from an IoT device, a manual upload process, or via a relay from a centralized telemetry data store.

The remainder of this document provides additional details to guide Telemetry Providers through the process of onboarding to the Data Interchange.

What does this document cover?​

This document provides necessary information for a Telemetry Provider to establish an account on the Data Interchange, which is a pre-requisite to send data. If you already have a Telemetry Provider account on the Data Interchange, refer to the Telemetry Provider integration guide for technical details on sending data to the Interchange.

Onboarding process for Telemetry Providers​

There is a simple, three-step process to get connected and begin sending data to the Data Interchange:

  1. Decide on a Display Name and URI to uniquely identify the organization that is sending telemetry data;

  2. Send the selected Display Name and URI to the Data Interchange Administrator

Following step 2, the Data Interchange Administrator will configure a new Telemetry Provider account in the Data Interchange and reply with a confirmation message that includes technical details that are necessary to complete the next step:

  1. Configure telemetry devices and/or applications to send data to the Data Interchange

More detail on these steps is provided below.

Picking a Display Name and URI​

The Data Interchange needs to uniquely identify the origin of all data that it receives, so that it can route the data correctly. The Display Name and URI are the pieces of information that uniquely identify the source of telemetry data – and distinguish it from other sources.

The Display Name is used only for display purposes within the Data Interchange. This is the name that Data Owners see when they configure routes between Telemetry Providers and Telemetry Consumers (e.g., reporting tool providers). It should therefore be a clear, intuitive name that identifies the Telemetry Provider.

The URI can be any valid URI that uniquely identifies the Telemetry Provider (or the specific group of telemetry data that is being sent). The Data Interchange uses the URI to identify the source of data when making routing decisions. Because the Data Interchange will never attempt to connect to the URI, the URI does NOT need to link to any real resource on the Internet.

The following are general guidelines for identifying a good URI:

  • Choose a URL in a DNS domain that is already associated with the Telemetry Provider organization
  • Use path information to communicate additional details (or distinguish different logical groups of telemetry data).

Reasonable (hypothetical) examples might include https://www.provider.org/telemetry, mailto:reports@provider.org, and urn:provider-01/telemetry.

Send details to Data Interchange Administrator​

After selecting a Display Name and URI for the organization, send an email to the Data Interchange Administrator at datatools@nhgh.org. The email should include the following information:

  • Company name
  • Your name
  • Your role within the company
  • Your selected Display Name and URI (from Step 1)
  • The countries in which your organization operates (i.e., collects telemetry data)
  • A short description of the type of telemetry applications / devices that will be connected
  • An approximate number of devices that will be connected

You will receive confirmation from the Data Interchange Administrator when your organization’s Telemetry Provider account is provisioned. The Administrator will include additional details that are needed to connect to the Data Interchange and send data. See the following section for more information.

Connect telemetry applications to send data to the Data Interchange​

Once you have received confirmation from the Data Interchange Administrator, you will have the information needed to begin sending data to the Interchange. This includes an access token and connection details (including URLs for key endpoints). For detailed technical guidance on sending data through the Interchange, refer to the Telemetry Provider integration guide.