Definition
Ownership is the assignment of responsibility for one or more managed Objects. Ownership identifies the individual, team, organizational unit, or system responsible for governing an Object during all or part of its lifecycle. Ownership does not necessarily imply authorship or implementation responsibility.
Purpose
This document defines Ownership within the OCOM Specification.
Ownership establishes accountability and responsibility for managed Objects throughout their lifecycle.
Ownership enables organizations to assign clear responsibility for governance, maintenance, decision-making, and operational stewardship.
Business meaning
Ownership ensures that every managed Object has a clearly identified accountable party.
Clear ownership supports governance, operational continuity, change management, auditability, and organizational accountability.
Design principles
Every Ownership shall:
- be explicit
- be traceable
- support accountability
- support governance
- support lifecycle management
- remain technology independent
Core characteristics
- Identifier
- Owner
- Owned Object
- Responsibility Scope
- Effective Date
- Ownership Type
- Delegation
- Review Schedule
- Expiration Date
- Successor Owner
Relationship to other specifications
Ownership interacts with:
ocom:Objectocom:Identityocom:Metadataocom:Registryocom:Policyocom:Contractocom:Lifecycleocom:Evaluationocom:Organization
Ownership establishes accountability without changing Object behavior.
Compared with
- OCOM vs Digital Twin — None
- OCOM vs Knowledge Graph — None
Independence — does not prescribe
- organizational structures
- job titles
- access control systems
- implementation technologies
Conformance
A compliant implementation shall ensure that every managed Ownership:
- assign Ownership to managed Objects where applicable
- preserve Ownership history
- support governance
- maintain auditability
- remain technology independent
Provenance
Governance records: CAND-005
| Version | Date | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | 20 July 2026 | Initial draft |
| 0.1 | 25 July 2026 | Added Organization to Relationship to Other Specifications, per ADR CAND-005 (Option C) |