Manifesto for Reusable Ontologies
The complexity of ICT systems is raising increasing concerns: such systems involve enhancements, autonomy, updates and reconfigurations at a scale that is unprecedented today. Such systems can be composed of
- multiple organisations,
- multiple application domains ,
- multiple technologies,
- multiple lifecycle phases,
- multiple description needs, and
- multiple interoperability points.
Such systems also need to use, process and share data based on the FAIR principles.
Ensuring unambiguous semantics of information is therefore critical for an ICT system to achieve its goals. This can be achieved through widely adopted approaches to define semantics allowing for machine-interpretation of concepts, such as ontologies.
Abbreviations
ICT Information Communication Technology
FAIR Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable
Principles
1. We develop ontologies using critical thinking and evidence-based knowledge.
- Ontologies are documented to be easily understandable by domain experts.
2. We develop ontologies that are reusable by design.
- Ontologies use extension, extraction and specialization.
3. We use dynamic requirement management for ontologies.
- Ontologies support versioning and traceability.
4. We use governance and consensus based on user needs.
- Ontologies are developed through a process that supports use case definition, validation, publication, sharing and modification.
5. We use trustworthy ontologies.
- Ontologies are tested for reliability and consistency.
6. We design holistically.
- Ontologies support cross-cutting characteristics (e.g., security, resilience, or privacy).
7. We design ontologies collaboratively.
- Ontologies are based on open license and open standards.