MMO: A Lightweight Semantic and Trust Model for Metadata

Metadata play a critical role in structuring and contextualizing data, particularly in security systems where provenance, quality, and traceability directly influence the reliability and accountability of downstream models. However, definitions and practices around metadata remain fragmented across domains, limiting their reuse and interoperability. This paper presents a lightweight, extensible ontology for metadata, based on Semantic Web standards, metadata are designed to support secure data exchange, enhance trust through semantic transparency, and enable robust provenance tracking across complex information systems. Covering key metadata dimensions, descriptive, structural, administrative, and temporal, the ontology also incorporates provenance and dynamic metadata, enabling auditable data flows and consistent handling to strengthen data integrity, traceability, and security in critical systems.