Supporting collaborative conceptualization tasks through a semantic wiki based platform

Abstract

The process of collective development of conceptual models has not been satisfactorily addressed in the knowledge representation research literature. Nevertheless, a shared conceptualization of a given reality is the cornerstone to build semantic artifacts such as ontologies. This paper presents a new platform that implements the ColBlend method, designed to support a collaborative conceptualization process. The platform is based on semantic technologies and proposes a set of functionalities for importing, creating, manipulating, discussing and documenting conceptual models that can act e.g., as the specification of a formal ontology. The platform is being tested and used in two research projects. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.