A methodological approach for ontology-based meta-modelling

Abstract

Ontology-based meta-modelling is a technique for the creation of domain-specific modelling languages (DSMLs) grounded in an ontology. Such languages enable the design of ontology-based models having the advantage of being both human and machine-interpretable. Thus, ontology-based meta-modelling fosters the business-IT alignment in enterprises by establishing a shared layer of semantics with respect to a domain of discourse among human and machine actors. In this paper, a methodological approach for the ontology-based meta-modelling is proposed, to ensure rigor to the produced ontology-based DSML. Specifically, the approach enables the creation of semantic rules that given a required domain-specific adaptation, it propagates the changes to an ontology. A research project sets the motivational context for the creation of an ontology-based DSML as well as provides real-world scenarios for the evaluation of the proposed approach.