Identity

Definition

Identity is the persistent and unique representation of an Object. Identity distinguishes one Object from all others regardless of changes to its metadata, state, relationships, or implementation. Identity shall remain stable throughout the lifetime of an Object.

Purpose

This document defines Identity within the OCOM Specification.

Identity provides the mechanism by which Objects are uniquely recognized, referenced, and managed throughout their existence.

Identity enables interoperability, traceability, governance, and consistent object management across the OCOM ecosystem.

Business meaning

Identity allows organizations to reliably identify and manage Objects across systems, workflows, and business domains.

A stable Identity ensures that operational history, governance, evaluations, and relationships remain attached to the same Object over time.

Design principles

Identity shall:

• be unique
• be persistent
• be immutable
• be globally distinguishable within its defined scope
• support interoperability
• remain technology independent

Core characteristics

Every Identity shall:

• uniquely identify an Object
• remain unchanged during the Object Lifecycle
• support references from other Objects
• support auditability
• support traceability

Relationship to other specifications

Identity is used by:

• ocom:Object
• ocom:Metadata
• ocom:Relationship
• ocom:Reference
• ocom:Registry
• ocom:Lifecycle
• ocom:Governance
• ocom:Evaluation

All managed Objects shall possess an Identity.

Compared with

Read as: OCOM term, the nearest concept in the other model, and how close they are. Similar means the two carry the same intent; Partial means they overlap but differ in scope or obligation; None means the other model has no counterpart. The verdicts are site-published editorial judgments, not normative.

• OCOM vs Digital Twin: Similar (Asset identifier)
• OCOM vs Knowledge Graph: Partial (Node identifier)
• OCOM vs Ontology: Partial (IRI)
• OCOM vs Data Model: Similar (Primary key)
• OCOM vs Process Model: Partial (Process instance identifier)
• OCOM vs MDM: Partial (Golden Record)

Independence

The Identity specification does not prescribe:

• identifier formats
• UUID standards
• database keys
• naming conventions
• implementation technologies

Organizations remain free to implement Identity using any compatible mechanism.

Identity Scope

Identity scope may include:

• Organization
• Business Domain
• Registry
• External System
• Global Ecosystem

Organizations shall define the appropriate scope for each Identity.

Identity Types

Examples include:

• Internal Identity
• External Identity
• Global Identity
• Local Identity
• Composite Identity

Organizations may define additional Identity types.

Identity Assignment

Identity shall be assigned when an Object is created.

Once assigned, Identity shall not be reused for another Object.

Replacement of an Object shall result in a new Identity unless organizational policy specifies otherwise.

Identity Persistence

Identity shall survive changes to:

• metadata
• ownership
• lifecycle state
• relationships
• capabilities
• implementation technology

Identity represents the continuity of the Object rather than its current characteristics.

Identity Resolution

Organizations may implement mechanisms for resolving:

• aliases
• migrated identities
• external mappings
• historical references

Identity resolution shall preserve traceability.

Conformance

A compliant implementation shall:

• assign a unique Identity to every managed Object
• preserve Identity throughout the Object Lifecycle
• prevent Identity reuse
• support traceability
• remain technology independent

Provenance

Governance records: —

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