I agree with George's important point, which also is illustrated in my own
field of systems integration. Integrated systems also have a habit of not
standing still. In the end, what is of lasting value is the ease with which
one can achieve, or re-achieve, an integrated state. Integration is a
process, not an end. So we should perhaps think of the ease with which we
can assemble, or re-assemble, a quality ontology, often under shifting
circumstances. We could look for tools that help in the construction
process, that could also help ensure quality and consistency - Computer
Aided Ontology Engineering (CAOE, unpronounceable acronym). (01)
- Steve (02)
-----Original Message-----
From: mphise-talk-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:mphise-talk-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of George
Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 8:31 AM
To: '[mphise-talk] '
Subject: Re: [mphise-talk] the MPHISE Conference - Day-1 Panel-1 Briefing-4
- preparation (03)
Hi all,
Just to clarify a bit, it is important to note that Ontology serves an
entirely valid purpose. In fact, static ontology is frequently an essential
element in well structured transaction processing, say an airline
reservation system or a medical record keeping system. In these instances,
however, the transactions are clear-cut and change is relatively rare
allowing the ontology to correlate diverse machine readable taxonomical
terminology and attributes and perhaps even to reason axiomatically. (04)
A concern, however, is that a static ontology, much like the highly touted
rigid RDBMS, is not always sufficient as a "cure-all", either practically or
economically. It is straightforward to conceptualize instances in loose
federations where ontology can be useful only if the ontology is as dynamic
as the environment that it represents. The more organic the environment, the
more dynamic the ontology is likely to be. As such, the ontology must evolve
vs being created all at once. If it need be converted to a spot formalism to
accommodate further machine processing, so be it, so long as it may be
continually updated and manipulated in a such a format over time. But to
suggest a singular static ontology will suffice over time in known complex
adaptive environments is discounting the clear dynamics upon which such
systems operate, particularly as change accumulates, or worse occasionally
goes asymptotic, over time. (05)
To further complicate matters, the "interactive complexity "evident at the
time of a disaster may often reflect a "coalition of the available" more
than the anticipated "coalition of the willing". Albeit highly dynamic in
its own right, the former may be planned to some degree against some loosely
defined protocols. The later, however, is the reality, and its dynamics can
never be fully known a-priori. This calls for extreme flexibility across the
board if the response is to adapt to the prevailing circumstance. (06)
Thus, it is not the existence or automated use of ontology, but rather the
means by which it is produced that may be the critical differentiator for
its contextual utility.
Regards,
George (07)
-----Original Message-----
From: mphise-talk-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:mphise-talk-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mark Musen
Sent: Saturday, March 28, 2009 1:01 PM
To: [mphise-talk]
Subject: Re: [mphise-talk] the MPHISE Conference - Day-1 Panel-1 Briefing-4
- preparation (08)
On Mar 28, 2009, at 8:38 AM, Peter Yim wrote:
> o suggestion: maybe everyone can send in a slide deck (or
> two) they have used before that are relevant to the needs here
> (7AK) (09)
Peter, (010)
Here are some slides from an invited talk I gave at the Public Health
Information Network Workshop at the Annual Conference of the Council of
State and Territorial Epidemiologists, June 2008. Feel free to slice and
dice. (011)
Mark (012)
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