6.1 Ontologies: An introduction¶

An ontology is a formal representation of knowledge in a specific domain, which can organize, model and manage information and knowledge, subsequently sharing and reusing it in one or more domains. The ontology also allows the definition of a common vocabulary, clarifying the meaning and correlation between terms and how they relate to each other, allowing semantic modelling combined with domain knowledge.

Building an ontology within an organization enables the establishing of standards at an organizational level, creating and improving links between different domains, thus leading to greater transparency and better interpretation of data.