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Key questions on Common Upper Ontology

 

4/20/2004 7:20 AM

 

 

Note from Mike,

 

So, let's talk specifics:

 

1. Having developed domain-level ontologies both with and without hooking them into an upper level ontology, my experience is that use of an upper-level ontology focuses the thinking and provides multiple perspectives on the domain ontology that would have been lost otherwise.

 

2. In its simplest expression an upper-level ontology provides a bridge between domains.  So, what is the benefit of a bridge? 

   a. similarity measure via subsumption testing

   b. ability to draw new associations between nodes (possibly asymmetric ones)

   c. ability to inherit characteristics and axioms from parent nodes.

 

3. Since the introduction of pragmatics is so essential to the effectiveness of a specific ontology, there will never be just one upper-level ontology; however, even given this; it is certainly acceptable to standardize on one for a particular use like "cross-domain interoperability".