Model-Based Domain Ontology Engineering

Business Process Models describe sequences of activities, expressed in a certain modeling language, with the model elements being labeled following the business terminology in use in the applicable domain. In case no predefined vocabulary or rules for assigning those labels are in place, terms are chosen individually on a case-by-case-basis. As a result, models are often semantically heterogeneous concerning the domain language. For resolving these ambiguities when comparing or integrating models, support through a consensus terminology is required. We show in this discussion paper how to reuse models to capture the domain knowledge contained and relate it for usage and further collaborative evolution, so that over time an authentic domain ontology can emerge