Comparison

OCOM vs Knowledge Graph

Executive summary

OCOM and Knowledge Graphs address different problems. A Knowledge Graph models entities and the relationships between them as data. OCOM models operational objects together with their identity, governance, lifecycle, ownership and evidence. A Knowledge Graph is a way to represent knowledge; OCOM is an operating model for governing reality. The two are complementary: an OCOM model can be projected as a Knowledge Graph, but a Knowledge Graph does not, by itself, supply governance or lifecycle.

Scope

Compared

  • How each represents entities, relationships and identity
  • How each treats provenance and evidence
  • What each is fundamentally for

Not compared

  • Specific serializations (RDF, property graphs) or query languages (SPARQL, Cypher)
  • Storage engines or performance characteristics
  • Vendor implementations

Terminology mapping

OCOMKnowledge GraphEquivalent
ObjectEntityPartial
RelationshipEdgeSimilar
IdentityNode identifierPartial
MetadataPropertiesSimilar
ReferenceEdge / IRIPartial
OwnershipNone
LifecycleNone
EvidenceProvenancePartial

Conceptual differences

AspectOCOMKnowledge Graph
PurposeGoverns operational objects and their realityRepresents knowledge as entities and relationships
NatureAn operating model with rules and conformanceA data structure for facts
GovernanceFirst-class: ownership, policy, constraint, contractNot defined by the model
LifecycleFirst-class: objects have states over timeNot defined by the model

Capability matrix

CapabilityOCOMKnowledge Graph
Identity
Relationships
Metadata
Lifecycle
Governance
Ownership
Provenance / EvidencePartial
AI retrieval

Interoperability

References