Scope
Compared
- How each defines concepts, classes and properties
- How each treats meaning, reasoning and validation
- What each is fundamentally for
Not compared
- Specific languages (RDFS, OWL, SHACL) or reasoners
- Description-logic expressivity profiles
- Vendor triple stores or tools
Terminology mapping
| OCOM | Ontology | Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Object | Class / Individual | Partial |
| Classification | Class, subClassOf | Similar |
| Relationship | ObjectProperty | Similar |
| Metadata | DatatypeProperty / Annotation | Similar |
| Constraint | Axiom / SHACL shape | Partial |
| Identity | IRI | Partial |
| Ownership | — | None |
| Lifecycle | — | None |
| Evidence | Provenance annotations | Partial |
Conceptual differences
| Aspect | OCOM | Ontology |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Governs operational objects and their reality | Formalises meaning so machines can infer |
| Nature | An operating model with rules and conformance | A logical theory of a domain |
| Reasoning | Validation and conformance | Inference and entailment |
| Governance | First-class: ownership, policy, contract | Not defined by the model |
| Lifecycle | First-class: objects have states over time | Not defined by the model |
Concept coverage
| Concept | OCOM | Ontology |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | Covered | Covered |
| Relationships | Covered | Covered |
| Classification | Covered | Covered |
| Metadata | Covered | Covered |
| Formal inference | Out of scope | Covered |
| Constraints / validation | Covered | Covered |
| Lifecycle | Covered | Out of scope |
| Governance | Partial | Out of scope |
| Ownership | Covered | Out of scope |
| Provenance / Evidence | Partial | Partial |
Two OCOM cells read Partial rather than Covered (Governance, Provenance / Evidence), and the reason for each is recorded in the specification's own register: Governance is a Core Characteristic of every Object that no document defines as one (AO-023); Evidence has no Meta, Models or Language definition, its Definition being reserved for a future version (AO-021). Workflow and Event are defined normatively at the Models tier and carry no Core Vocabulary term record.
Covered: the model defines the concept explicitly. Partial: the concept appears indirectly or by convention. Out of scope: the model does not set out to describe it; a boundary, not a deficiency.
Interoperability
- An OCOM model may be expressed as an ontology; its terms map to classes and properties, and OCOM already publishes its vocabulary as machine-readable JSON-LD.
- An ontology may describe OCOM's vocabulary and add inference, but does not by itself supply ownership, lifecycle or governance.
- The recommended composition is to use an ontology for shared meaning and reasoning as one projection of an OCOM model, not as a replacement for it.
References
- OCOM Object
- OCOM Classification
- OCOM Constraint
- RDFS, OWL and SHACL ontology languages