REA2: A unified formalisation of the resource-event-agent ontology

Abstract

Through a proof of concept in SWI-Prolog, this paper demonstrates a business transaction model by which the trading partners can derive their own, personal perspective from shared data. The demonstration is an innovative formalisation of the Resource-Event-Agent (REA) ontology as it allows for switching viewpoints in real-time between one trading-partner's perspective and that of a trading-partner with an opposing view (i.e., customer or supplier), or a trading-partner independent perspective (e.g. trusted third-party). The business transaction model is achieved by uniting REA with the Open-EDI Business Transaction Ontology (OeBTO). The resulting unified formalisation of the REA ontology (REA2) also highlights implications for the future development of a) enterprise information systems (EIS) in the cloud, b) social-media-based EIS, c) blockchain EIS, and d) EIS interoperability across business paradigms. The EIS interoperability such as between traditional EIS (which typically uses a trading-partner perspective), and EIS for the collaborative economy (which typically uses a trading-partner independent perspective) is particularly highlighted as it becomes much more transparent than previously.