An approach for systematic definitions construction based on ontological analysis

Abstract

This research motivation is to find a way to minimize the distance between business concepts and their respective representations in Information Technology artifacts, specially conceptual models. This distance leads to inconsistencies, ambiguities and implementation issues. Our approach is based on ontological analysis, which considers each concept according to its nature, capturing more precisely its essence and generally improving semantic richness and precision. Our main goal is to help in the process of systematic concepts definitions construction, contributing to generate more consistent definitions and associated conceptual modeling artifacts. The foundational ontology used as a theoretical reference is the Unified Foundational Ontology (UFO) which has been, in the last decade, successfully used to evaluate conceptual modeling languages and representations.