{"id":19138,"date":"2023-10-31T11:30:32","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T15:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/?p=19138"},"modified":"2025-04-16T10:14:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T14:14:10","slug":"breaking-it-down-what-is-an-ontology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/breaking-it-down-what-is-an-ontology\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking it Down: What is an Ontology?"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p>Happy Halloween! If I had to pick a word relating to my work that incites the most heated debates about its meaning and purpose, I would have to go with <em>ontology<\/em>. Let\u2019s be honest, it sounds like a term that should only be used in an academic setting, or by someone trying to appear smart. Ontologies often get confused with taxonomies, and <a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/whats-the-difference-between-an-ontology-and-a-knowledge-graph\/\">the distinction between ontologies and knowledge graphs<\/a> can be unclear; clients usually ask why they even need one, as the introduction of an ontology is a new concept for the business.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>It\u2019s a haunted time of year, so let\u2019s make this scary word a little more approachable. In this blog, I want to help alleviate concerns about ontologies by defining what the word means for an organization so that you can discuss them with your colleagues without inducing fear.<\/p>\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-9.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-23843 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-9.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"764\" height=\"294\" srcset=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-9.png 512w, https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-9-336x129.png 336w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 764px) 100vw, 764px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How EK defines Ontology<\/h2>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>Enterprise Knowledge (EK) <a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/what-is-an-ontology\/\">defines an ontology<\/a> as \u201ca defined model that organizes structured and unstructured information through entities, their properties, and the way they relate to one another.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-10.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-23845 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-10.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"843\" height=\"209\" srcset=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-10.png 512w, https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-10-336x83.png 336w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 843px) 100vw, 843px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>Let\u2019s tackle each part of that definition separately.<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Defined Model<\/h3>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>The simplest way to think about an ontology is as a data model. I commonly use \u201cdata models\u201d as an alternative to ontologies \u2013 this similarity is best realized by looking at its <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Data_model\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wikipedia definition<\/a>:<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>A data model is an abstract model that organizes elements of data and <\/em><br \/><em>standardizes how they relate to one another and to the properties of real-world entities.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>Ontologies and data models both provide detailed and visual representations of information, helping us understand what we have and what we can do with it. Both can be designed in Excel or through model-specific languages such as UML (Unified Modeling Language) or OWL (Web Ontology Language). However, ontologies slightly differ from data models in that they focus on describing an entire data domain, such as sustainability or finance. Also, ontologies define the meaning of a domain by providing structure and <em>definitions<\/em>, whereas data models are normally only the structure. EK experts have defined <a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/keys-to-successful-ontology-design\/\">several steps<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/ontology-design-best-practices-part\/\">best practices<\/a> to help you build a successful model.<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Organizes Structured and Unstructured Information<\/h3>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>Every organization has a wealth of potential data waiting to be leveraged. Deliverables (documents), shared documentation sites (like Confluence and SharePoint), and structured data sources (HR or project data, databases, etc.) are all relevant inputs to help an organization answer questions. In our model, we want to <a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/employee-360-views-what-are-they\/\">bring this data together<\/a> and describe it well enough that all our users can understand and leverage it. Ontologies excel in data aggregation situations, as their purpose is to represent a <a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/breaking-it-down-what-is-a-taxonomy\/\">concept of information<\/a>, regardless of the shape the data takes (structured or unstructured).<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Through Entities, Their Properties, and How They Relate<\/h3>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>When we describe the data that we have, we organize it into groups. For example, at EK, we could create groups for employees, clients, projects, and deliverables. Each one of the groups is a <em>type of entity<\/em>, and each individual in the group is an <em>entity<\/em>. That is, all of my colleagues would be entities, and so are the projects we have worked on. Every entity we examine has some information associated with it, like a name, description, or date: these are the <em>properties<\/em>. And, at EK, we know that employees work on projects for clients. This association is an example of how our entities <em>relate<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ontology Use Cases<\/h2>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-image stk-block-image stk-block stk-a2fe85c\" data-block-id=\"a2fe85c\"><style>.stk-a2fe85c .stk-img-wrapper{width:878px !important;}<\/style>\r\n<figure><span class=\"stk-img-wrapper stk-image--shape-stretch\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"stk-img wp-image-23846\" src=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-11.png\" width=\"878\" height=\"416\" srcset=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-11.png 878w, https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-11-336x159.png 336w, https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-11-771x365.png 771w, https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-11-768x364.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 878px) 100vw, 878px\" \/><\/span><\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>We put in all of this effort defining an organization\u2019s information and, as a result, we have a pretty diagram of connected bubbles.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>Now what? While it\u2019s possible to create a data model for an organization for the pure purpose of understanding the domain, there are usually\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/top-knowledge-management-use-cases-with-real-world-examples\/\">knowledge management use cases<\/a>\u00a0driving the model.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<p><!-- \/wp:post-content --><\/p>\r\n<p><!-- wp:heading {\"level\":3} --><\/p>\r\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Unified Views of Knowledge<\/h3>\r\n<p><!-- \/wp:heading --><\/p>\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\r\n<p>Developing an ontology, or data model, is an important <a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/five-steps-to-implement-search-with-a-knowledge-graph\/\">part<\/a> of understanding what an organization has, how it can be brought together, and how it can be leveraged to support a successfully unified user experience. Often described as <a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/employee-360-views-common-use-cases\/\">360 Views<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/solutions\/knowledge-portals\">Knowledge Portals<\/a>, a unified view of an organization\u2019s knowledge enables internal and external users to find and discover information from multiple sources in one place.<\/p>\r\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\r\n<p>From an internal user perspective, knowing <a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/expert-analysis-how-do-i-build-an-expert-finder\/\">who is an expert<\/a> in a particular topic or who has worked with which clients on which projects \u2013 and being able to find all of that information in one place \u2013 enables employees to make decisions and take action faster. This information is usually scattered across multiple systems, but an ontology provides evidence of how an organization understands data across systems, allowing architects and designers to approach a solution with an organization-wide mindset.<\/p>\r\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\r\n<p>From an external perspective, being able to find all product documentation, support cases, and FAQs in one place <a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/the-benefits-of-km-for-contact-centers-and-help-desks\/\">alleviates customer frustration<\/a> when looking for answers. In this case, the ontology enables an organization to identify and prioritize knowledge that should be made readily available to users.<\/p>\r\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\r\n<p><!-- wp:heading {\"level\":3} --><\/p>\r\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Powering Recommendation Logic<\/h3>\r\n<p><!-- \/wp:heading --><\/p>\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\r\n<p>One of my colleagues recently published \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/5-steps-for-building-your-enterprise-semantic-recommendation-engine\/\">5 Steps For Building Your Enterprise Semantic Recommendation Engine<\/a>,\u201d and, lo and behold, step two is \u201cCreate Supporting Data Models\u201d. To support a comprehensive recommendation engine, an organization should create ontologies to define the web of complex relationships within data. These relationships between people, clients, projects, and so on help to realize the recommendation results, as a developer can leverage those relationships to create paths from some input to the desired output.<\/p>\r\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\r\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\r\n<p>For example, EK worked on a <a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/a-course-recommendation-system-based-on-a-knowledge-graph\/\">course recommendation system<\/a> for a healthcare provider. The recommendation engine leveraged the relationships between key learning competencies and courses to help <a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/breaking-it-down-what-is-personalization\/\">personalize<\/a> course recommendations for individuals based on their learning goals. Additionally, the ontology helped highlight areas where the organization could add information and improve data quality to provide more recommendation pathways to consider.<\/p>\r\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\r\n<p><!-- wp:heading --><\/p>\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\r\n<p><!-- \/wp:heading --><\/p>\r\n<p><!-- wp:stackable\/columns {\"uniqueId\":\"c4cbf5f\"} --><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-columns stk-block-columns stk-block stk-c4cbf5f\" data-block-id=\"c4cbf5f\">\r\n<div class=\"stk-row stk-inner-blocks stk-block-content stk-content-align stk-c4cbf5f-column\"><!-- wp:stackable\/column {\"uniqueId\":\"2a93c3c\",\"columnWidth\":17.5,\"columnAdjacentCount\":2,\"contentAlign\":\"left\",\"columnAlign\":\"flex-start\",\"innerBlockAlign\":\"flex-start\",\"columnSpacing\":{\"top\":16,\"right\":16,\"bottom\":16,\"left\":16},\"alignLastBlockToBottom\":false,\"className\":\"\"} -->\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-column stk-block-column stk-column stk-block stk-2708ec6\" data-v=\"4\" data-block-id=\"2708ec6\">\r\n<div class=\"stk-column-wrapper stk-block-column__content stk-container stk-2708ec6-container stk--no-background stk--no-padding\">\r\n<div class=\"has-text-align-left stk-block-content stk-inner-blocks stk-2708ec6-inner-blocks\"><!-- wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-12.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-23847 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-12-771x771.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"116\" height=\"116\" srcset=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-12-771x771.png 771w, https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-12-336x336.png 336w, https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-12-140x140.png 140w, https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-12-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/unnamed-12.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 116px) 100vw, 116px\" \/><\/a>Ontology may be a scary word, but the power of data models helps organizations take their knowledge to the next level. When speaking to ontologies, we recommend focusing on the outcomes, both in the models themselves and the use cases they support. EK\u2019s ontology design and implementation team is prepared to help your organization unify the language, models, and data necessary to take advantage of your knowledge. Contact us if you\u2019d like to collaborate on your next ontology effort or have a topic you want us to cover next.<\/p>\r\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p><!-- \/wp:stackable\/column --><\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p><!-- \/wp:stackable\/columns --><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Happy Halloween! If I had to pick a word relating to my work that incites the most heated debates about its meaning and purpose, I would have to go with ontology. Let\u2019s be honest, it sounds like a term that &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/breaking-it-down-what-is-an-ontology\/\"  class=\"with-arrow\">Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[184],"tags":[239,236,241],"article-type":[100],"solution":[1090,1089,1275,1111],"ppma_author":[1391],"class_list":["post-19138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-taxonomy-ontology-design","tag-business-ontology","tag-ontology","tag-ontology-design","article-type-blog","solution-enterprise-360","solution-km-transformation","solution-semantic-layer","solution-taxonomy-ontology"],"acf":[],"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","slideshow":"","slideshow-2x":"","banner":"","home-large":"","home-medium":"","home-small":"","gform-image-choice-sm":"","gform-image-choice-md":"","gform-image-choice-lg":""},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"<p>Happy Halloween! If I had to pick a word relating to my work that incites the most heated debates about its meaning and purpose, I would have to go with ontology. Let\u2019s be honest, it sounds like a term that should only be used in an academic setting, or by someone trying to appear smart. Ontologies often get confused with taxonomies, and the distinction between ontologies and knowledge graphs can be unclear; clients usually ask why they even need one, as the introduction of an ontology is a new concept for the business. It\u2019s a haunted time of year, so&hellip;<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"<a href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/category\/taxonomy-ontology-design\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Taxonomy &amp; Ontology Design<\/a>","author_info_v2":{"name":"EK Team","url":"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/author\/enterprise-knowledge\/"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Breaking it Down: What is an Ontology? - Enterprise Knowledge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how Enterprise Knowledge defines ontologies, their role in organizing data, and use cases in creating knowledge and powering recommendation engines.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/enterprise-knowledge.com\/breaking-it-down-what-is-an-ontology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Breaking it Down: What is an Ontology? 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