Ontological Engineering: Difference between revisions

From NCOR Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
 
(597 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
'''Title: Ontological Engineering'''
'''Title''': PHI 598 / IE 500: Ontological Engineering (Online class), Spring 2018.


Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering: IE 500 (Section 001). Registration number 24419
[[Ontological Engineering 2018]]


Cross-listed with Department of Philosophy: PHI 598. Registration number 24350
'''Registration''':
:Class#: [http://www.buffalo.edu/class-schedule?switch=showclass&semester=spring&division=GRAD&dept=PHI&regnum=23854 23854] (PHI)
:Class#: [http://www.buffalo.edu/class-schedule?switch=showclass&semester=spring&division=GRAD&dept=IE&regnum=23450 23450] (ENG)
:Off-campus students: Registration details are provided under Part Time/Graduate [http://studentaccounts.buffalo.edu/tuition/spring.php here].


'''Time''': Mondays, 4-6:50pm, Fall 2013
'''Instructor''': [http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/shortcv.htm Barry Smith]


'''Room''': Baldy 200G, UB North Campus
'''Prerequisites''': Open to all persons with an undergraduate degree.


'''Instructors''': [http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith Barry Smith] and [http://org.buffalo.edu/rarp/rudnicki_vita.html Ron Rudnicki]
'''Office hours''': By appointment via email at [mailto:phismith@buffalo.edu phismith@buffalo.edu]  


'''Office hours''': By appointment via email at [mailto:phismith@buffalo.edu] and [mailto:rudnicki@cubrc.org]
== '''The Course''' ==
'''Course Description:''' The aim of the course is to provide an introduction to the methods and uses of ontological engineering, focusing on applications in areas such as military intelligence, healthcare, and document processing. It will provide an overview of how ontologies are created and used, together with practical experience in the development of ontologies and in the use of associated web technology standards. It will also address some of the human factors underlying the success and failure of ontology projects, including issues of ontology governance and dissemination.


== '''Schedule'''==
The course is built out of on-line video lectures, video presentations created by students, and discussion sessions covering the topics of each lecture.


*<u>In advance of the first session</u>:  
'''Course Structure:''' This will be a three credit hour on-line graduate seminar. It will be taught through the medium of a series of videos incorporating presentation of powerpoint slides and accompanying discussion sessions. The final session will be structured around youtube videos created by the students in the class.
:*Please install Protégé Desktop 4.3 onto the laptop you will be using for this course:
:*First, register [http://protege.stanford.edu/download/download.html here].
:*Then continue to the download page and choose from the installers [http://protege.stanford.edu/download/protege/4.3/installanywhere/Web_Installers/ here].
:*If you encounter problems, please email [mailto:rjr9@buffalo.edu Ron Rudnicki].


<u>August 26: Basic Introduction to Ontology</u>
'''Schedule:''' The link to the course video for any given week will be provided at 9am on the corresponding Friday (as listed below). Students are required to watch this video within 4 days of this posting and to send a ~200 word summary of its content before the end of this period (thus by Tuesday at 9am). This summary should be sent to phismith@buffalo.edu. In addition they should post to the class email forum any questions and comments relating to the video from the relevant week. Questions and comments may be posted at any time during the semester. Your activity on this email forum will be taken into account in determining your grade.
 
'''Text:''' Robert Arp, Barry Smith and Andrew Spear, [https://mitpress.mit.edu/index.php?q=books/building-ontologies-basic-formal-ontology Building Ontologies with Basic Formal Ontology], Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, August 2015.
 
'''Ontologies''' are an important tool in all areas where data is collected and described by different groups in different ways. Ontologies provide taxonomy-based computerized lexica used to describe diverse bodies of data. They thereby help to aggregate and compare data, to make data more easily discoverable, and to allow large bodies of data to be more effectively searched and analyzed. Ontologies also play an important role in the so-called Semantic Web, where the Web Ontology Language (OWL) forms a central building block in the stack of web technology standards created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
 
'''Ontology in Buffalo''': UB ontologists are involved in a variety of national and international projects in the military, healthcare, bioscience, engineering, transport and financial domains. There is an [http://www.academia.edu/2824018/Creating_the_ontologists_of_the_future acknowledged shortage] of persons with ontological engineering expertise in all these fields, and in related fields such as journalism, manufacturing and government administration. UB ontologists also work closely with [http://www.cubrc.org/index.php/data-science-and-information-fusion/ontology CUBRC], a Buffalo research, development, testing and systems integration company specializing in the areas of Data Science and Information Fusion; Chemical, Biological and Medical Sciences; and Aeronautics.
 
== '''Schedule''' ==
 
==January 28: Basic Introduction to Ontology ==


*We will begin by addressing questions such as: What is an ontology? What are the differences and interrelations between ontology (philosophy), ontology (science), and ontology (engineering)? How are ontologies used? We will also provide an introduction to Basic Formal Ontology (BFO), focusing on a discussion of the question: What is a plan?
*We will begin by addressing questions such as: What is an ontology? What are the differences and interrelations between ontology (philosophy), ontology (science), and ontology (engineering)? How are ontologies used? We will also provide an introduction to Basic Formal Ontology (BFO), focusing on a discussion of the question: What is a plan?


*1. Ontology: A Brief Introduction
*1. Ontology: A Brief Introduction [http://ncor.buffalo.edu/2013/IE500/1-Introduction-to-Ontology.pptx Slides] [http://ncor.buffalo.edu/2013/IE500/Videos/1-Basic-Introduction.mp4 Video]
*2. Ontology: From Philosophy to Engineering
*2. Ontology: From Philosophy to Engineering [http://ncor.buffalo.edu/2013/IE500/2-From-Philosophy-to-Engineering.ppt Slides] [http://ncor.buffalo.edu/2013/IE500/Videos/2-Ontology-Engineering.mp4 Video]
*3. Ontology and the Semantic Web
*3. Ontology and the Semantic Web [http://ncor.buffalo.edu/2013/IE500/3-Ontologies-and-Semantic-Technology.pptx Slides] [http://ncor.buffalo.edu/2013/IE500/Videos/3-Semantic-Web.mp4 Video]
 
==February 2: Introduction to Ontology for Engineers==
 
Part 1: Begins with some historical background on the growth of ontology as a discipline on the borderlines of computer science, data science and philosophy. Sketches the development of the Semantic Web and the use of ontologies in the biomedical domain. Concludes with some reflections on the problems associated with the idea of 'linked open data'.
 
Part 2: Begins with an outline of Basic Formal Ontology, now used as top-level architecture in more than 200 ontology development projects, across a variety of domains, including engineering. Shows how BFO can be applied to the understanding of the opposition between services and commodities, and also to the understanding of the settings in which services and commodities are sold, delivered, used, maintained, and so forth. Settings in BFO terms are sites, and this allows us to extend our approach to a treatment of the ontology of real estate. The presentation concludes with a discussion of a draft Product Life Cycle Ontology developed within the framework of the NIST Industry Ontology Foundry.
 
[https://buffalo.app.box.com/s/sus1inb6h62u8ifefjjytfummqirqq0c Slides]
 
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh0f2Us0hr0 Video Part 1],
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDARyJBvnuc Video Part 2]
 
==February 9: Introduction to Basic Formal Ontology==
 
:[http://ncor.buffalo.edu/2012/BFO_Tutorial_2012.pptx Slides]
:[http://ncor.buffalo.edu/2017/BFO-Part1.mp4 BFO Part One: Overview of BFO]
 
==February 16: Introduction to Basic Formal Ontology (Part 2)==
 
:[http://ncor.buffalo.edu/2012/BFO_Tutorial_2012.pptx Slides]
:[http://ncor.buffalo.edu/2017/BFO-Part2.mp4 BFO Part Two: Varieties of continuant entities]
 
==February 23: Ontology for Systems Engineering (Parts 1 and 2)==
 
:[https://buffalo.box.com/s/3ln2y4iwcfhdikvn1xl514qtqx07qopl Slides]
 
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGmwIWmyJeg Part 1: Introduction]
 
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KojcxcIBJs Part 2: Suites of Ontology Modules]


*Lab 1: Introduction to Protégé, installation, configuration, and navigation
==March 2: Ontology for Systems Engineering (Parts 3. 4 and 5)==


*[http://ncor.buffalo.edu/2013/IE500 Slides]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/s/3ln2y4iwcfhdikvn1xl514qtqx07qopl Slides]
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yYrFcs4MFk Part 3: Functions and Capabilities]


<u>September 2: Labor Day (no class)</u>
:[https://youtu.be/2iSCiyJrW8w Part 4: Product Life Cycle]
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48gi_vOtb34 Part 5: Commodities, Services, Infrastructure]


<u>September 9: An Overview of Ontology Projects in Military Domains</u>
==March 9: Simple Protege Introduction==


*4. Basic Formal Ontology (BFO)
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLea0WJq13cnAfCC0azrCyquCN_tPelJN1 Videos]
:BFO is the upper level architecture recommended for use in ontology development projects.


*5. Overview of Military Ontologies
When watching these videos please bear in mind that we have not introduced in the class so far the specific terminology used by Protege. Most importantly, 'class' in Sadawi's course is what we have been referring to as 'type' or 'universal'. 'Property' is what we have been referring to as 'Relation'. Each property has a domain and a range; for instance the property teaches has the domain teacher and the range student. A guide (probably more than you need) is [https://www.w3.org/TR/owl-guide/ here] and there is also an introduction to the Semantic Web in the Appendix to the BFO book. If there is terminology used in Sadawi's lectures which you think needs explaining please feel free to post a request to the the class email list.
:We will describe how ontology is being used for the horizontal integration of warfighter intelligence data within the framework of the US Army’s Distributed Common Ground System Standard Cloud (DSC) initiative. We outline how ontologies are being applied to bring about what we call the ‘semantic enhancement’ of data models used within each intelligence discipline. We then show how the strategy can help to overcome tendencies to stovepiping of intelligence data, and thus to help connecting the dots across different information sources.  


*Lab 2: Protégé, building the taxonomy, introduction to defining classes with OWL
In addition to taking Sadawi's course, the task for this week is to download Protege to your computer from [https://protege.stanford.edu/ here] and experiment with creating a simple ontology of your own and posting it to the class list. This ontology should relate to the topic you have selected for your final class presentation.


<u>September 16: An Overview of Ontology Projects in Healthcare Domains</u>
==March 16: Capabilities / Emotions / Diagrams ==


Health care today rests increasingly on the proper use of data deriving from different sources (data pertaining to genes, diseases, symptoms, drugs, medical devices, procedures, hospital infections and other adverse events, hospital management, billing, reporting, and many more). We provide an introduction to the world of healthcare data management, will special emphasis on the role of ontologies and standard terminologies.
:[https://buffalo.box.com/s/7h75mycfj8aavlf06r197kgsqjf3jk1i Slides]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/s/9eezntwyorb4k0t5ssfbrnhori0621k9 What do IQ tests measure?]


*Lab 3: Protégé, defining class relationships
:[https://buffalo.box.com/s/at1oopv9wm1aemgpa6ggxjmh9m6izrpi Slides]
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18php_34s-M The Emotion Ontology]


<u>September 23: Referent Tracking: Use of Ontologies in Tracking Systems (with [http://www.referent-tracking.com/RTU/?page=ceusters_vita Werner Ceusters])</u>
:[http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/ppt/Diagrams-and-Time.pptx Slides]
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaFnMesr6uQ Diagrams and Time]


*A referent tracking system (RTS) is a special kind of digital information system that is designed to keep track of both (1) what is the case in reality and (2) what is expressed in other information systems about what is believed to be the case in reality. An RTS also keeps track of how changes in the information system correspond to changes in the reality outside that system. We will provide an introduction to referent tracking and its implementations. Reading: [[How to track absolutely everything?]]
==March 23: Spring Recess==
==March 30: Social Acts==


*Lab 4: Protégé, additional definitional techniques in OWL
:[http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/ppt/Commanding.pptx Slides]
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHap_q-dUKk Commanding and Other Social Acts]


<u>September 30: Ontology and the Semantic Web (with [http://sciencecommons.org/about/whoweare/ruttenberg/ Alan Ruttenberg])</u>
:[http://ontology.buffalo.edu/14/Rijeka/Ontology-of-Documents-May-2014-Rijeka.ppt Slides]
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lg4z2up6HI Document Acts and the Ontology of Social Reality]


* The term "Semantic Web" was introduced by Tim Berners-Lee and others in the late 1990's  ([http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/Overview.html 1], [http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/Semantic.html 2]) and first popularized in a paper in 2001 in Scientific American [http://purl.org/net/tsw 3]. Berners-Lee summarizes the idea as "a web of data that can be processed directly and indirectly by machines.", an extension of the web of documents primarily intended for consumption by people. We will discuss the goals of the Semantic Web, current technologies, some technological/intellectual sub-communities, and review some applications in biomedicine and other fields.  Topics to be discussed will include: Linked Open Data, The role of ontology, URIs, RDF, OWL, SPARQL, triple stores, and the World Wide WEB Consortium (W3C).
==April 6: Organizations, Philosophy==


*Lab 5: Protégé, annotation properties, and versioning
:[http://ontology.buffalo.edu/16/Organigram.pdf Slides]
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp3B2GkgaB8 The Ontology of the Organigram]


<u>October 7: The CUBRC US Army Ontology Collaboration (with [http://militaryontology.org LTC William Mandrick])</u>
:[Slides]
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zJZiFY-ZrE Metaphysics after Darwin]


*LTC Mandrick will describe the roots of ontology in the military. He will discuss the role of ontology and computation in the future of Military Decision Making Process (MDMP).
:[https://www.buffalo.edu/capenchair/events/lectures/barry-smith.html Slides]
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkYlY2jnRxc The Future of the History of Philosophy]


*Quiz: Protégé and OWL
==April 13: Money==


<u>October 14: An Overview of Ontology Projects in Financial Domains (with [http://xbrl.squarespace.com/about-the-author/ Charles Hoffman] and [http://www.linkedin.com/in/lowellvizenor Lowell Vizenor])</u>
:[http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/courses16/Analytic_Metaphysics/8.ppt Slides]
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-wmjYbcDBg Analytic Metaphysics and Money]


*Lab 6: Protégé, review and advanced topics
:[https://buffalo.box.com/s/uvbrxdh5j5ehbjh8j7k2c003dskcyb9i Slides]
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBWXz-Ot0mI Debate with John Searle on Free-Standing Y-Terms]


<u>October 21: An Overview of Ontology Projects in Manufacturing and Retail Domains</u>
==April 20: Quantities, Terrorism==


*Lab 7: Introduction to SPARQL, using select queries to explore DBpedia
:[http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/ppt/Quantities-Lugano-Feb-2017.pptx Slides]
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVVUH00cMNY Quantities as Fiat Universals]


<u>October 28: An Overview of Ontology Projects in Task Scheduling Domains and in Alert Systems (with Moises Sudit)</u>
:[http://ontology.buffalo.edu/16/Ontology-of-Terrorism.pdf Slides]
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtRM4gPl0TU The Ontology of Terrorism]


*Lab 8: SPARQL, extending select queries with filters, grouping, and booleans
==April 27: Deontics, Disease, Patient Data==


<u>November 4: Ontology and Natural Language Processing (Ron Rudnicki and Jillian Chaves)</u>
:[http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/ppt/documents/Deontic-Entities-Geneva-July-2016.pdf Slides]
:[https://youtu.be/WIJJlnLLWGU Towards an Ontology of Deontic Entities]


*Lab 9: SPARQL, using construct queries to add instance data
:[https://buffalo.box.com/s/mvpsr0lzvkfay10d8v96ifw7pdskumg9 Slides]
:[https://youtu.be/b4kULamlFaM The Ontology of Disease]


<u>November 11: Ontology and Information Fusion Research (with James Llinas)</u>
:[https://buffalo.box.com/s/9rovx4h1yfj4e46ssh498wdkn7uf99or Slides]
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc5a0LaXaBo The Glory and Misery of Electronic Health Records ]


*Lab 10: SPARQL, updating instance data
==May 4: Student presentations in video format==


<u>November 18: How to Succeed in Building Ontologies on a Large Scale (Ron Rudnicki and Tanya Malyuta) </u>
:Hendry Davignon, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42LSenEYLKw&feature=youtu.be Ontology of the US Government]
:Timothy Schuler, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22J6c0sPgHw Review of Ontologies for Malware Classification]
:Alexander Anderson, [https://youtu.be/jFZQWwESRmw Quantum Waves in BFO]
:Jonathan Vajda, [https://youtu.be/ifLuaBLL8f4 Ontology of the Unconscious]


*Lab 11: Other Semantic Web tools: Ontofox, D2RQ, and RDFa
== '''Provisional list of topics''' ==


<u>November 25: Presentations of Student Projects</u>
:Ontology, AI and Robotics
:Services, Commodities, Infrastructure
:Product Life Cycle Ontology
:Ontology and Information Engineering in the Healthcare Domain
:The Science of Document Informatics
:Finance Ontology
:The Ontology of Plans
:Ontology of Military Logistics
:Ontology and Intelligence Analysis
:Ontology and Data Fusion
:Ontology of Terrorism
----


*Quiz: SPARQL
== '''Student Learning Outcomes''' ==
         
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Program Outcomes/Competencies 
! Instructional Method(s)
! Assessment Method(s)
|-
| The student will acquire a thorough knowledge of current ontology research in areas relating to engineering, data fusion, defense and intelligence
| Video lectures and online discussions
| Review of submitted online content and of participation in online discussion forum
|-
| The student will acquire experience in ontology development
| Video lectures and critique of successive drafts
| Review of results in the form of xsl spreadsheet or Protégé file
|-
| The student will acquire experience in communicating the results of work on ontology development 
| Creation of youtube presentation and of associated documentation
| Review of results
|}


<u>December 2: Presentations of Student Projects</u>
=='''Important dates'''==
{|
|  Jan 28 || - first video released by Dr Smith at 9am
|-
|  Feb 20 || - about now start to discuss by email the content of your video and essay with Dr Smith
|-
|  Feb 28 || - submit a proposed title and abstract
|-
|  Mar 16 || - create a simple ontology using Protege
|-
|  Mar 31 || - submit a table of contents and 300 word summary plus draft of associated ppt slides
|-
|  Apr 27 || - submit penultimate draft of essay and powerpoint
|-
|  May 4 || - submit final version of essay and powerpoint and upload final version of video to youtube
|}


== '''Background''' ==
=='''Grading'''==


Grading will be based on two factors:


Ontologies are an important tool in all areas where data is collected and described by different groups in different ways. Ontologies provide taxonomy-based computerized lexica used to describe diverse bodies of data. They thereby help to aggregate and compare data, to make data more easily discoverable, and to allow large bodies of data to be more effectively searched and analyzed. Ontologies also play an important role in the so-called Semantic Web, where the Web Ontology Language (OWL) forms a central building block in the stack of web technology standards created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
I: understanding and criticism of the videos presented in classes 1-13


UB ontologists are involved in a variety of national and international projects in the military, healthcare, transport and financial domains. Examples include:
All students are required to ingest the content of all videos and to take an active part in on-line discussions throughout the semester.  


*[http://ncor.buffalo.edu/OI2/ Information Integration in Military Intelligence]
II: preparation of a youtube video and associated documentation (including powerpoint slides and essay).  


*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWUA502hm-k Digitally Connected Medical Devices]
Content and structure of the essay should be discussed with Dr Smith. Where the essay takes the form of the documentation of a specific ontology developed by the student it should include:
:Statement of scope of the ontology
:Summary of existing ontologies in the relevant domain
:Explanation of how your ontology differs from (or incorporates) these ontologies
:Screenshots of parts of the ontology with some examples of important terms and definitions
:Summaries of potential applications of the ontology


*[http://xbrl.squarespace.com/financial-report-ontology/ Digital Financial Reporting]
'''Grading Policy:''' Grading follows standard [http://grad.buffalo.edu/Academics/Policies-Procedures/Grading-Procedures.html Graduate School policies]. Grades will be weighted according to the following breakdown:


*[http://charleston.afceachapter.org/2012MarchSemantics/009%20-%20Vizenor_STS_20120321.pdf The Next Generation Air Transportation System]
Weighting Assignment
:26%    - video summaries (2% per summary)
:14%    - forum participation
:20%   - youtube video
:20%    - powerpoint slides
:20%   - essay / ontology content


There is an [http://www.academia.edu/2824018/Creating_the_ontologists_of_the_future acknowledged shortage] of persons with ontological engineering expertise in these and related areas.
'''Final Grades'''


== '''The Course''' ==
Grade Quality Percentage
This is, as far as we know, the first ever course on Ontological Engineering to be offered in a US university. It will provide an introduction to the methods and uses of ontological engineering, focusing on applications in the areas of military intelligence, healthcare, and finance. It will provide an overview of how ontologies are created and used, together with practical experience in the development of OWL ontologies and in the use of associated web technology standards. It will also address some of the human factors underlying the success and failure of ontology projects, including issues of ontology governance and dissemination.
{|
|  A || 4.0 || 93.0% -100.00%
|-
| A- || 3.67 || 90.0% - 92.9%
|-
| B+ || 3.33 || 87.0% - 89.9%
|-
| B || 3.00 || 83.0% - 86.9%
|-
| B- || 2.67 || 80.0% - 82.9%
|-
| C+ || 2.33 || 77.0% - 79.9%
|-
| C || 2.00 || 73.0% - 76.9%
|-
| C- || 1.67 || 70.0% - 72.9%
|-
| D+ || 1.33 || 67.0% - 69.9%
|-
| D || 1.00 || 60.0% - 66.9%
|-
| F || 0 || 59.9% or below
|}
 
An interim grade of Incomplete (I) may be assigned if the student has not completed all requirements for the course. An interim grade of 'I' shall not be assigned to a student who did not attend the course. The default grade accompanying an interim grade of 'I' shall be 'U' and will be displayed on the UB record as 'IU.' The default Unsatisfactory (U) grade shall become the permanent course grade of record if the 'IU' is not changed through formal notice by the instructor upon the student's completion of the course.
 
Assignment of an interim 'IU' is at the discretion of the instructor. A grade of 'IU' can be assigned only if successful completion of unfulfilled course requirements can result in a final grade better than the default 'U' grade. The student should have a passing average in the requirements already completed. The instructor shall provide the student specification, in writing, of the requirements to be fulfilled.


The course will be built out of 3-hour sessions, each of which will involve 2 hours of lecturing and discussion and 1 hour of practical experience with ontology editing software and other semantic web technologies. Students may elect to take the course for 2 credit hours without the practical segment.
The university’s Graduate Incomplete Policy can be found [http://grad.buffalo.edu/study/progress/policylibrary.a-to-z.html#iugrade here].


The course will feature occasional guest lectures by leading ontologists from Buffalo and elsewhere, including participants in on-going ontology projects.
=='''Related Policies and Services'''==


----
'''Academic integrity''' is a fundamental university value. Through the honest completion of academic work, students sustain the integrity of the university while facilitating the university's imperative for the transmission of knowledge and culture based upon the generation of new and innovative ideas. See http://grad.buffalo.edu/Academics/Policies-Procedures/Academic-Integrity.html.


== '''Outcomes''' ==
'''Accessibility resources:''' If you have any disability which requires reasonable accommodations to enable you to participate in this course, please contact the Office of Accessibility Resources in 60 Capen Hall, 645-2608 and also the instructor of this course during the first week of class. The office will provide you with information and review appropriate arrangements for reasonable accommodations, which can be found on the web [http://www.buffalo.edu/studentlife/who-we-are/departments/accessibility.html here].


== '''Background Reading and Video Materials''' ==


By the end of the class, students will be able to understand the nature, utility and scope of contemporary ontological engineering. They will understand methods and rules for ontology development; gain experience of what is involved in contributing to ontological initiatives, and learn to understand the benefits and risks of such initiatives.
*[http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/articles/ontologies.htm Ontology: An Introduction]


== '''Grading and Related Policies and Services''' ==
*[http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/articles/Horizontal-integration.pdf Horizontal Integration of Warfighter Intelligence Data]


*[http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Ontology_for_Intelligence,_Defense_and_Security Ontology for Intelligence, Defense and Security (2012)]


All students will be required to take an active part in class discussions throughout the semester. In addition they will be required to design and complete an ontology project, including written description, and brief presentation of the project in class. Students enrolled in the practical segment will be required to create a Protégé file to accompany their ontology project, and also to complete quizzes designed to gauge developing competence in the use of the Protégé Ontology Editor and SPARQL query language. 
*[http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Introduction_to_Prot%C3%A9g%C3%A9 Intoduction to Protégé]


For 3 credit hour students, your grade will be determined in five equal portions deriving from:
*[https://wiki.csc.calpoly.edu/OntologyTutorial/wiki/IntroductionToOntologiesWithProtege Protégé Tutorial]
:1. class participation (1.5% per class attended),
:2. results of two quizzes relating to the lab portion of the course
:3. written description of ontology project (3000 words; deadline November 25),
:4. Protégé ontology file (deadline November 25),
:5. class presentation.


For 2 credit hour students, your grade is determined as follows:
*[http://protegewiki.stanford.edu/wiki/Protege4GettingStarted Getting Started with Protege 4].


:1. class participation (1.5% per class attended),
*[http://owl.cs.manchester.ac.uk/tutorials/protegeowltutorial Matthew Horridge's Protege-OWL Tutorial].
:2. written description of ontology project (4000 words; deadline November 25) (50%),
:3. class presentation (30%).


For policy regarding incompletes see [http://undergrad-catalog.buffalo.edu/policies/grading/explanation.shtml here]
*[http://militaryontology.org Military Ontology]


For academic integrity policy see [http://www.grad.buffalo.edu/policies/academicintegrity.php here]
*[http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/ Streaming video presentations and training courses in ontology]


For accessibility services see [http://www.buffalo.edu/accessibility/servc.php here]
*[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050913000690 Concept Analysis to Enrich Manufacturing Service Capability Models]


*[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166361514000438 Supply Chain Management Ontology]


== '''Preliminary Reading and Video Materials''' ==
*[http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40436-014-0073-2 Ontology-based interoperability solutions for textile supply chain]


*[http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/articles/ontologies.htm Ontology: An Introduction]
*[http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/articles/ontologies.htm Ontology: An Introduction]
Line 176: Line 312:


*[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050913000690 Concept Analysis to Enrich Manufacturing Service Capability Models]
*[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050913000690 Concept Analysis to Enrich Manufacturing Service Capability Models]
*[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166361514000438 Supply Chain Management Ontology]
*[http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40436-014-0073-2 Ontology-based interoperability solutions for textile supply chain]

Latest revision as of 23:15, 29 June 2018

Title: PHI 598 / IE 500: Ontological Engineering (Online class), Spring 2018.

Ontological Engineering 2018

Registration:

Class#: 23854 (PHI)
Class#: 23450 (ENG)
Off-campus students: Registration details are provided under Part Time/Graduate here.

Instructor: Barry Smith

Prerequisites: Open to all persons with an undergraduate degree.

Office hours: By appointment via email at phismith@buffalo.edu

The Course

Course Description: The aim of the course is to provide an introduction to the methods and uses of ontological engineering, focusing on applications in areas such as military intelligence, healthcare, and document processing. It will provide an overview of how ontologies are created and used, together with practical experience in the development of ontologies and in the use of associated web technology standards. It will also address some of the human factors underlying the success and failure of ontology projects, including issues of ontology governance and dissemination.

The course is built out of on-line video lectures, video presentations created by students, and discussion sessions covering the topics of each lecture.

Course Structure: This will be a three credit hour on-line graduate seminar. It will be taught through the medium of a series of videos incorporating presentation of powerpoint slides and accompanying discussion sessions. The final session will be structured around youtube videos created by the students in the class.

Schedule: The link to the course video for any given week will be provided at 9am on the corresponding Friday (as listed below). Students are required to watch this video within 4 days of this posting and to send a ~200 word summary of its content before the end of this period (thus by Tuesday at 9am). This summary should be sent to phismith@buffalo.edu. In addition they should post to the class email forum any questions and comments relating to the video from the relevant week. Questions and comments may be posted at any time during the semester. Your activity on this email forum will be taken into account in determining your grade.

Text: Robert Arp, Barry Smith and Andrew Spear, Building Ontologies with Basic Formal Ontology, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, August 2015.

Ontologies are an important tool in all areas where data is collected and described by different groups in different ways. Ontologies provide taxonomy-based computerized lexica used to describe diverse bodies of data. They thereby help to aggregate and compare data, to make data more easily discoverable, and to allow large bodies of data to be more effectively searched and analyzed. Ontologies also play an important role in the so-called Semantic Web, where the Web Ontology Language (OWL) forms a central building block in the stack of web technology standards created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

Ontology in Buffalo: UB ontologists are involved in a variety of national and international projects in the military, healthcare, bioscience, engineering, transport and financial domains. There is an acknowledged shortage of persons with ontological engineering expertise in all these fields, and in related fields such as journalism, manufacturing and government administration. UB ontologists also work closely with CUBRC, a Buffalo research, development, testing and systems integration company specializing in the areas of Data Science and Information Fusion; Chemical, Biological and Medical Sciences; and Aeronautics.

Schedule

January 28: Basic Introduction to Ontology

  • We will begin by addressing questions such as: What is an ontology? What are the differences and interrelations between ontology (philosophy), ontology (science), and ontology (engineering)? How are ontologies used? We will also provide an introduction to Basic Formal Ontology (BFO), focusing on a discussion of the question: What is a plan?

February 2: Introduction to Ontology for Engineers

Part 1: Begins with some historical background on the growth of ontology as a discipline on the borderlines of computer science, data science and philosophy. Sketches the development of the Semantic Web and the use of ontologies in the biomedical domain. Concludes with some reflections on the problems associated with the idea of 'linked open data'.

Part 2: Begins with an outline of Basic Formal Ontology, now used as top-level architecture in more than 200 ontology development projects, across a variety of domains, including engineering. Shows how BFO can be applied to the understanding of the opposition between services and commodities, and also to the understanding of the settings in which services and commodities are sold, delivered, used, maintained, and so forth. Settings in BFO terms are sites, and this allows us to extend our approach to a treatment of the ontology of real estate. The presentation concludes with a discussion of a draft Product Life Cycle Ontology developed within the framework of the NIST Industry Ontology Foundry.

Slides

Video Part 1, Video Part 2

February 9: Introduction to Basic Formal Ontology

Slides
BFO Part One: Overview of BFO

February 16: Introduction to Basic Formal Ontology (Part 2)

Slides
BFO Part Two: Varieties of continuant entities

February 23: Ontology for Systems Engineering (Parts 1 and 2)

Slides
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Suites of Ontology Modules

March 2: Ontology for Systems Engineering (Parts 3. 4 and 5)

Slides
Part 3: Functions and Capabilities
Part 4: Product Life Cycle
Part 5: Commodities, Services, Infrastructure

March 9: Simple Protege Introduction

Videos

When watching these videos please bear in mind that we have not introduced in the class so far the specific terminology used by Protege. Most importantly, 'class' in Sadawi's course is what we have been referring to as 'type' or 'universal'. 'Property' is what we have been referring to as 'Relation'. Each property has a domain and a range; for instance the property teaches has the domain teacher and the range student. A guide (probably more than you need) is here and there is also an introduction to the Semantic Web in the Appendix to the BFO book. If there is terminology used in Sadawi's lectures which you think needs explaining please feel free to post a request to the the class email list.

In addition to taking Sadawi's course, the task for this week is to download Protege to your computer from here and experiment with creating a simple ontology of your own and posting it to the class list. This ontology should relate to the topic you have selected for your final class presentation.

March 16: Capabilities / Emotions / Diagrams

Slides
What do IQ tests measure?
Slides
The Emotion Ontology
Slides
Diagrams and Time

March 23: Spring Recess

March 30: Social Acts

Slides
Commanding and Other Social Acts
Slides
Document Acts and the Ontology of Social Reality

April 6: Organizations, Philosophy

Slides
The Ontology of the Organigram
[Slides]
Metaphysics after Darwin
Slides
The Future of the History of Philosophy

April 13: Money

Slides
Analytic Metaphysics and Money
Slides
Debate with John Searle on Free-Standing Y-Terms

April 20: Quantities, Terrorism

Slides
Quantities as Fiat Universals
Slides
The Ontology of Terrorism

April 27: Deontics, Disease, Patient Data

Slides
Towards an Ontology of Deontic Entities
Slides
The Ontology of Disease
Slides
The Glory and Misery of Electronic Health Records

May 4: Student presentations in video format

Hendry Davignon, Ontology of the US Government
Timothy Schuler, Review of Ontologies for Malware Classification
Alexander Anderson, Quantum Waves in BFO
Jonathan Vajda, Ontology of the Unconscious

Provisional list of topics

Ontology, AI and Robotics
Services, Commodities, Infrastructure
Product Life Cycle Ontology
Ontology and Information Engineering in the Healthcare Domain
The Science of Document Informatics
Finance Ontology
The Ontology of Plans
Ontology of Military Logistics
Ontology and Intelligence Analysis
Ontology and Data Fusion
Ontology of Terrorism

Student Learning Outcomes

Program Outcomes/Competencies Instructional Method(s) Assessment Method(s)
The student will acquire a thorough knowledge of current ontology research in areas relating to engineering, data fusion, defense and intelligence Video lectures and online discussions Review of submitted online content and of participation in online discussion forum
The student will acquire experience in ontology development Video lectures and critique of successive drafts Review of results in the form of xsl spreadsheet or Protégé file
The student will acquire experience in communicating the results of work on ontology development Creation of youtube presentation and of associated documentation Review of results

Important dates

Jan 28 - first video released by Dr Smith at 9am
Feb 20 - about now start to discuss by email the content of your video and essay with Dr Smith
Feb 28 - submit a proposed title and abstract
Mar 16 - create a simple ontology using Protege
Mar 31 - submit a table of contents and 300 word summary plus draft of associated ppt slides
Apr 27 - submit penultimate draft of essay and powerpoint
May 4 - submit final version of essay and powerpoint and upload final version of video to youtube

Grading

Grading will be based on two factors:

I: understanding and criticism of the videos presented in classes 1-13

All students are required to ingest the content of all videos and to take an active part in on-line discussions throughout the semester.

II: preparation of a youtube video and associated documentation (including powerpoint slides and essay).

Content and structure of the essay should be discussed with Dr Smith. Where the essay takes the form of the documentation of a specific ontology developed by the student it should include:

Statement of scope of the ontology
Summary of existing ontologies in the relevant domain
Explanation of how your ontology differs from (or incorporates) these ontologies
Screenshots of parts of the ontology with some examples of important terms and definitions
Summaries of potential applications of the ontology

Grading Policy: Grading follows standard Graduate School policies. Grades will be weighted according to the following breakdown:

Weighting Assignment

26% - video summaries (2% per summary)
14% - forum participation
20% - youtube video
20% - powerpoint slides
20% - essay / ontology content

Final Grades

Grade Quality Percentage

A 4.0 93.0% -100.00%
A- 3.67 90.0% - 92.9%
B+ 3.33 87.0% - 89.9%
B 3.00 83.0% - 86.9%
B- 2.67 80.0% - 82.9%
C+ 2.33 77.0% - 79.9%
C 2.00 73.0% - 76.9%
C- 1.67 70.0% - 72.9%
D+ 1.33 67.0% - 69.9%
D 1.00 60.0% - 66.9%
F 0 59.9% or below

An interim grade of Incomplete (I) may be assigned if the student has not completed all requirements for the course. An interim grade of 'I' shall not be assigned to a student who did not attend the course. The default grade accompanying an interim grade of 'I' shall be 'U' and will be displayed on the UB record as 'IU.' The default Unsatisfactory (U) grade shall become the permanent course grade of record if the 'IU' is not changed through formal notice by the instructor upon the student's completion of the course.

Assignment of an interim 'IU' is at the discretion of the instructor. A grade of 'IU' can be assigned only if successful completion of unfulfilled course requirements can result in a final grade better than the default 'U' grade. The student should have a passing average in the requirements already completed. The instructor shall provide the student specification, in writing, of the requirements to be fulfilled.

The university’s Graduate Incomplete Policy can be found here.

Related Policies and Services

Academic integrity is a fundamental university value. Through the honest completion of academic work, students sustain the integrity of the university while facilitating the university's imperative for the transmission of knowledge and culture based upon the generation of new and innovative ideas. See http://grad.buffalo.edu/Academics/Policies-Procedures/Academic-Integrity.html.

Accessibility resources: If you have any disability which requires reasonable accommodations to enable you to participate in this course, please contact the Office of Accessibility Resources in 60 Capen Hall, 645-2608 and also the instructor of this course during the first week of class. The office will provide you with information and review appropriate arrangements for reasonable accommodations, which can be found on the web here.

Background Reading and Video Materials