An Ontology fits within a spectrum of terms used to define various levels within a Semantic framework. Many people consider the Ontology or a Shared Upper Level Ontology to represent the pinnacle of Semantic constructs, however this is not the case. As we have experienced in many enterprises 'forced to integrate,' many Ontologies from diverse communities often come together in "Sets."
The Semantic Hierarchy or "Spectrum" - Most of us don't realize when we're viewing these...
So, what can organizing our information within these "spectra" do for us as managers? The 1st thing it will do is to abstract your program information from the systems and sources where it currently resides. This is a much bigger issue than it seems - if your framework for running a complex enterprise is dependent on a set of unreconciled COTs tools and MS Office documents, it is hardly likely that your enterprise can ever be truly run through unified Lifecycle Management approach. The Semantic layer that you develop serves as a foundation for both solution design and oversight thereby unifying them from the start. This is a powerful bit of synergy.
In the Department of Defense, many programs have used something referred to as a Community of Interest (COI) for the last few years to help define the data paradigms behind each "functional" area of their programs. At first, these were viewed more like traditional data standardization efforts but increasingly they are being managed using Semantic technologies and integrated with Enterprise Architecture initiatives.
This example illustrates how various taxonomies are typically mapped together in an EA -like analysis.
Copyright 2008, Semantech Inc.
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