Ontologies for semantically interoperable systems

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss the use of ontologies for semantic interoperability and integration. We argue that information technology has evolved into a world of largely loosely coupled systems and as such, needs increasingly more explicit, machine-interpretable semantics. Ontologies in the form of logical domain theories and their knowledge bases offer the richest representations of machine-interpretable semantics for systems and databases in the loosely coupled world, thus ensuring greater semantic interoperability and integration. Finally, we discuss how ontologies support semantic interoperability in the real, commercial and governmental world.