Context (archaeology)

World Wide Web

Engineering

Biology

Semantic computing

Semantic interoperability

Semantic Web

Enterprise information system

Information system

Systems engineering

Interoperability

Telecommunications

Computer science

Semantics (computer science)

Information exchange

Interoperation

Business

Paleontology

Enterprise resource planning

Process management

Semantic heterogeneity

Semantic integration

Enterprise system

Software engineering

Programming language

Domain knowledge

Knowledge management

Cross-domain interoperability

Ontology-based data integration

Electrical engineering

Computers in Industry

The growing complexity of modern organisations poses a series of challenges, among them the cooperation between autonomous and heterogeneous information systems in distributed networks. Actually, information systems (IS) are said to be cooperative if they share common goals in their environment and jointly contribute to achieve these common goals. Obviously, this presupposes the ability to exchange information and then to use it in accordance with each information system required. In the literature, these features refer to interoperability. In this context, one of the main issues concerns the evaluation of the lack of interoperability between Cooperative Information Systems (CIS) through the measurement of their semantic gaps. In order to achieve this purpose, this paper proposes a mathematical formalisation of the semantic relationships between CIS conceptual models. The resulting formal model is then analysed for evaluating the lack of interoperability implications to the global information systems shared goals. The proposed approach is illustrated through a case study dealing with a B2M (Business to Manufacturing) interoperability requirement between an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) application.

Formal measures for semantic interoperability assessment in cooperative enterprise information systems