Ontological stratification in an ecology of infohabitants

This paper reports progress from the EEII research project where ontological stratification is applied in the study of openness. We explain a stratification approach to reduce the overall complexity of conceptual models, and to enhance their modularity. A distinction is made between ontological and epistemological stratification. The application of the stratification approach to agent system design is explained and illustrated. A preliminary characterization of the relevant strata is given. The wider relevance of this result for information infrastructure design is addressed: ontological stratification will be key to the model management and semantic interoperability in a ubiquitous and model driven information infrastructure

ONTOLOGICAL STRATIFICATION IN AN ECOLOGY OF INFOHABITANTS

Abstract This paper reports progress from the EEII research project where ontological stratification is applied within the study of openness. We explain a stratification approach to reduce the overall complexity of conceptual models, and to enhance their modularity. A distinction is made between ontological and epistemological stratification. The application of the stratification approach to agent system design is explained and illustrated. A preliminary characterization of the relevant strata is given. The wider relevance of this result for information infrastructure design is addressed: we conjecture that ontological stratification will be key to the model management and semantic interoperability in a ubiquitous and model driven information infrastructure [1].