Exploring the Role of Enterprise Architecture Models in the Modularization of an Ontology Network: A Case in the Public Security Domain

摘要

Ontologies play a key role in semantic interoperability projects, capturing the conceptualization underlying the various systems to be integrated. In the case of large information systems landscapes, a single monolithic ontology often becomes hard to design and maintain. In this setting, it is common to divide the ontological model in consistently interlinked modular ontologies, forming an ontology network. This paper explores the role of Enterprise Architecture (EA) models in defining the ontologies in an ontology network. We report on an exploratory study in the scope of an e-Government interoperability project in the area of public security. In the reported study, an EA model provides guidance in the modularization of the ontology network.