Ontological engineering for B2B E-commerce

Abstract

In this paper we discuss the nature of our overall enterprise to create ontologies in the product and service knowledge space for Business-to-Business (B2B) electronic commerce. We describe one crucial problem: the mapping problem, i.e., mapping among ontologies, taxonomies, and classification systems, some of which are more semantically sound and coherent than others. This problem we consider to be in need of a sustained research program if tenable solutions are to be found, since the lack of a solution will preclude widespread adoption of ontologies by the commercial world. Finally, we summarize the general issues we faced and indicate prospective future research.