28th International Conference on Conceptual Modeling - GRAMADO, BRAZIL

The Joint International Workshop on Metamodels, Ontologies, Semantic Technologies, and Information Systems for the Semantic Web (MOST-ONISW 2009)

************ Deadline extended ************
The extended deadline is on May 4, 2009 (Monday).

Description and Scope:

Ontology is a cross-disciplinary field concerned with the study of concepts and theories that can be used for representing shared conceptualizations of specific domains. Ontological Engineering is a discipline in computer and information science concerned with the development of techniques, methods, languages and tools for the systematic construction of concrete artifacts capturing these representations, i.e., models (e.g., domain ontologies) and metamodels (e.g., upper-level ontologies). In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the application of formal ontology and ontological engineering to solve modeling problems in diverse areas in computer science such as software and data engineering, knowledge representation, natural language processing, information science, among many others.

A crucial question is whether ontologies can replace information models. But whereas ontologies work quite well as virtual schemata in mediation systems, they may perform poorly as information models and on the user interface level. On the theoretical side, there is a lack of understanding of the effective relation and interplay of ontological and epistemological features in information models and systems. Furthermore there are still open questions concerning good scientific practice in developing ontologies. On the practical side, there is still a lack of good practice of how to integrate existing information systems into ontology driven applications and few experiences at all with creating good new data structures from ontologies directly for interoperation in complex and diverse application environments.

The objective of MOST-ONISW 2009 is to bring together researchers and practitioners in Information Management interested in the relation between ontology and information models, and theoretical topics such as formal ontology, formal logics, conceptual modelling, computational linguistics, cognitive science, knowledge representation, the Semantic Web, and MDE (Model-Driven Engineering), as well as more practical topics as a result of applications of ontologies in diverse fields, such as knowledge management, informatics for education, ontology-based information and database integration, e-commerce, information processing (retrieval, classification and extraction), to mention just a few. Among the issues are:

1. What is the difference and relation between information models and ontologies? Which criteria must ontologies match in order to provide a sound basis for an information system? How to interact and relate the ways of knowing and what can be known with the form of knowledge in information systems? Are there systematic kinds of information elements associated with information management processes that are not of ontological nature? What is the epistemological impact on ontologies?
   
   
2. How should we construct ontologies from information models for semantic interoperability, and create and manage mapping specifications for mediators, data transformation systems, Web service wrappers via ontologies. What are the characteristic cases of heterogeneity and how can they be managed generically. What are the languages and tools for mapping and transformation algorithm generators?
   
   
3. How can we effectively enable domain experts to specify the semantics of their information systems in order to exploit Semantic Web technology? How can we visualize the ontology and mapping information in a user-friendly way?
   
   
4. How can we make effective information models, i.e. database schemata, data entry forms, Web service interfaces, and simplified query interfaces from ontologies? Ontologies can help to objectively describe the loss of information and reasoning capabilities due to necessary simplifications in information structures. What are the problems, mechanisms, and rules in order to preserve semantic interoperability?
   
   
5. How does argumentation and information system content relate? Current argumentation models, systems for collaborative work model and Web2.0 applications visualize the flow of arguments or register resulting propositions, but do not model how argumentation operates on information system contents expressed in terms of ontologies, so that a full externalization of multiple arguments and understanding of their integrated effect on information system contents can be achieved.
   
   
6. What is the relation between formal ontologies and natural languages? How can we link knowledge represented in an ontological way to every day language? Can we map layperson communication to domain expert-governed ontologies?
   
   
7. How should we utilize ontologies and conceptual modelling for data management, integration and interoperability in Semantic web applications, particularly in e-science, life sciences, e-business and cultural applications? What are architectures and models of good practice? Are there domain-overarching global core ontologies? What are their characteristics?
   
   
8. What is semantics? Are semantics logical formulae? Is ontological commitment a set of formulae or an interpretation function to real world things and phenomena in the user’s mind? What role does ontological commitment play in conceptual modelling and database integration?

Topics:

• Ontology Engineering
  • methodologies
  • capture and learning
  • management
• Ontology and Conceptual Modeling
  • Ontological Foundations for Conceptual Modeling and Metamodeling
  • Ontology-Based Conceptual Modeling Tools and Environments
  • Ontologies and Organizational Modeling
  • Conceptual modeling for the Semantic Web
  • Ontology design and maintenance for conceptual model integration
• Semantic consistency
  • foundational ontologies
  • upper-level ontologies
  • evaluation methods, applications and problems
• Semantic Interoperability
  • composition and modularity
  • merging, mapping and alignment
  • ontology language interoperability
  • Global ontologies and Local as View (LAV) integration methods, problems and practice
• Enhancement of ontology applicability
  • linguistic ontologies applied to text processing
  • patterns of ontologies for specific applications
• Ontologies for Information Sharing
  • ontology-based information integration
  • mediators and brokers
  • agents and ontologies
  • Ontology-based data transformation and data migration tools.
  • Ontology-enabled interoperability in e-science, life sciences, e-business, culture
  • User friendly semantic system integration tools
• Ontology Applications
  • the Semantic Web
  • knowledge management
  • e-commerce, e-government
  • e-learning and e-science - agents and multiagents patterns and applications
  • information retrieval, extraction and classification
  • Ontologies and Semantic Technologies in Education
  • Ontologies and natural language processing
  • Ontology visualization
• Ontology and epistemology in information systems
• Expert ontologies and layperson communications
• Schema transformation
• Domain specific heterogeneity analysis between data structures and ontologies
• Ontology-based query mediation
• Querying the Semantic Web
• Ontology-driven application system and Web service design
• Argumentation models (Web2.0) for information system contents maintenance
• Reverse engineering of ontologies from conceptual models
• Core ontologies and global models, applications and limitations
• Lessons learnt and experience from large-scale integration projects.
• Architectures and good practice of ontology-based integrated application environments
• Applications of above topics to e-science, e-business, and life sciences

Submission Procedures

Since the proceedings will be published by Springer in the LNCS series, authors must submit manuscripts using the LNCS style. See this site for style files and details. The suggested number of pages is 10, and the maximum number of pages is 10. Manuscripts not submitted in the LNCS style or having more than 10 pages will not be reviewed and thus automatically rejected. A paper submitted to MOST-ONISW 2009 cannot be under review for any other conference or journal during the time it is being considered for MOST-ONISW 2009. Papers must be submitted as pdf files.

• All MOST-ONISW workshop papers should be submitted to the EasyChair system for MOST-ONISW 2009.
  
• At least one author of each accepted paper must register for the workshop by June 20, 2009.

Important Dates (Firm deadlines)

• Extended deadline for submissions: May 4, 2009 (11:59pm EST) *** Deadline extended ****
• Notification of Acceptance: June 15, 2009
• Camera ready: June 29, 2009

Organizers - Program Chairs

Program Committee

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