A Component Based Formal Ontology Model, a Method for Evaluating Such a Model, and the Results of an Application of That Method

For systems to truly communicate effectively, more than just data interchange is necessary. The systems must achieve conceptual interoperability, which implies communicating with understanding. The LCIM (Levels of Conceptual Interoperability Model) describes a number of levels of interoperability, each of which shows systems with an increased amount of conceptual understanding of the other systems they are communicating with. The lowest levels of this model, technical and syntactic interoperability, are achieved (and there are many existing examples) via data exchange in a number of different ways. Research has shown, however, that to attain higher levels of conceptual understanding, that there must be more than just data. There must be a way whereby a system can communicate data, with understanding, to another system. Interoperating with understanding requires that the communicating system have an understanding of what is meant by another system. This implies knowledge of a system's ontology. In order to support ontology from a data engineering perspective, a systemic model of a formal ontology is required. The goal of this thesis is to produce such a model, and with it a method for evaluation. To prove the value of the model, and the method of model evaluation, it will be applied to an information exchange data model, the Command and Control Information Exchange Date Model, and results will be reported.