Nemo

A Core Reference Ontology of Services

The notion of “service” has had a major impact on marketing, operations and computer science over the last decades, leading to cross-discipline efforts under the banners of “Service Science” and “Service Computing”. Several authors from different disciplines have attempted to define this notion under various perspectives, leading to a variety of characterizations for “services” (“services as interactions”, “services as capabilities”, “services as behaviour”, “services as value co-creation”, etc.).

UFO-S addresses many of these perspectives in a harmonized way. It is a core ontology of services based on Unified Foundational Ontology (UFO). UFO provides us with basic concepts for objects and events, their types, relations and properties; as well as intentional and social elements to account for agents, the social relations they establish, the actions they undertake, etc. By grounding UFO-S in a foundational ontology we are able to reveal important conceptual distinctions that would otherwise be ignored in informal characterizations of services.

The Ph.D. thesis of Julio Nardi discusses the development of UFO-S in detail:

J. C. Nardi, “A Commitment-based Reference Ontology for Service: Harmonizing Service Perspectives,” PhD Thesis, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, 2014.
[Bibtex]

@phdthesis{a_commitment_based_reference_ontology_for_service__harmonizing_service_perspectives_2014,
title = {{A Commitment-based Reference Ontology for Service: Harmonizing Service Perspectives}},
author = {Nardi, Julio Cesar},
institution = {Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo},
year = {2014}
}

Papers describing UFO-S include:

J. C. Nardi, R. A. Falbo, J. P. A. Almeida, G. Guizzardi, L. Ferreira Pires, M. J. van Sinderen, N. Guarino, and C. M. Fonseca, “A commitment-based reference ontology for services,” Information Systems (Oxford), vol. 54, p. 263–288, 2015.
[Bibtex]

@article{a_commitment_based_reference_ontology_for_services_2015,
title = {{A commitment-based reference ontology for services}},
author = {Nardi, J.C. AND Falbo, R.A. AND Almeida, J.P.A. AND Guizzardi, G. AND Ferreira Pires, L. AND van Sinderen, M. J. AND Guarino, N. AND Fonseca, C.M.},
journal = {{Information Systems (Oxford)}},
volume = {54},
pages = {263--288},
doi = {10.1016/j.is.2015.01.012},
issn = {03064379},
year = {2015}
}

J. C. Nardi, R. A. Falbo, J. P. A. Almeida, G. Guizzardi, L. Ferreira Pires, M. J. van Sinderen, and N. Guarino, “Towards a Commitment-Based Reference Ontology for Services,” in 2013 17th IEEE International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference, 2013, p. 175–10.
[Bibtex]

@inproceedings{towards_a_commitment_based_reference_ontology_for_services_2013,
title = {{Towards a Commitment-Based Reference Ontology for Services}},
author = {Nardi, J.C. AND Falbo, R.A. AND Almeida, J.P.A. AND Guizzardi, G. AND Ferreira Pires, L. AND van Sinderen, M. J. AND Guarino, N.},
booktitle = {{2013 17th IEEE International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference}},
pages = {175--10},
doi = {10.1109/edoc.2013.28},
year = {2013}
}

Over the years, we have employed UFO-S in the analysis and redesign of service modeling approaches, most notably the ArchiMate framework and language:

C. Griffo, J. P. A. Almeida, G. Guizzardi, and J. C. Nardi, “Service contract modeling in enterprise architecture: an ontology-based approach,” Information systems, 2019.
[Bibtex]

@article{service_contract_modeling_in_enterprise_architecture__an_ontology_based_approach_2019,
doi = {10.1016/j.is.2019.101454},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.is.2019.101454},
year = {2019},
month = oct,
publisher = {Elsevier {BV}},
author = {Griffo, C. AND Almeida, J.P.A AND Guizzardi, G. AND Nardi, J.C.},
title = {Service contract modeling in enterprise architecture: An ontology-based approach},
journal = {Information Systems}
}

J. C. Nardi, A. J.P.A., P. H. Silva, and G. Guizzardi, “An Ontology-based Diagnosis of Mainstream Service Modeling Languages,” in 23rd IEEE International EDOC Conference (EDOC 2019), 2019, p. 112–121.
[Bibtex]

@inproceedings{an_ontology_based_diagnosis_of_mainstream_service_modeling_languages_2019,
title = {{An Ontology-based Diagnosis of Mainstream Service Modeling Languages}},
author = {Nardi, J.C. AND Almeida J.P.A. AND Silva, P.H. AND Guizzardi, G.},
booktitle = {{23rd IEEE International EDOC Conference (EDOC 2019)}},
year = {2019},
doi = {10.1109/EDOC.2019.00023},
pages={112--121}
}

C. Griffo, J. P. A. Almeida, G. Guizzardi, and J. C. Nardi, “From an Ontology of Service Contracts to Contract Modeling in Enterprise Architecture,” in 2017 IEEE 21st International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference (EDOC), 2017, p. 40–49.
[Bibtex]

@inproceedings{from_an_ontology_of_service_contracts_to_contract_modeling_in_enterprise_architecture_2017,
title = {{From an Ontology of Service Contracts to Contract Modeling in Enterprise Architecture}},
author = {Griffo, C. AND Almeida, J.P.A. AND Guizzardi, G. AND Nardi, J.C.},
booktitle = {{2017 IEEE 21st International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference (EDOC)}},
pages = {40--49},
doi = {10.1109/edoc.2017.15},
year = {2017}
}

J. C. Nardi, J. P. A. Almeida, M. A. C. Pereira, M. van Sinderen, and L. Ferreira Pires, “Service Commitments and Capabilities across the ArchiMate Architectural Layers,” in 2016 IEEE 20th International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Workshop (EDOCW), 2016, p. 1–10.
[Bibtex]

@inproceedings{service_commitments_and_capabilities_across_the_archimate_architectural_layers_2016,
title = {{Service Commitments and Capabilities across the ArchiMate Architectural Layers}},
author = {Nardi, J.C. AND Almeida, J.P.A. AND Pereira, M.A.C. AND van Sinderen, M. AND Ferreira Pires, L.},
booktitle = {{2016 IEEE 20th International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Workshop (EDOCW)}},
pages = {1--10},
doi = {10.1109/edocw.2016.7584386},
year = {2016}
}

J. C. Nardi, R. A. Falbo, and J. P. A. Almeida, “An Ontological Analysis of Service Modeling at ArchiMate’s Business Layer,” in 2014 IEEE 18th International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference, 2014, p. 92–10.
[Bibtex]

@inproceedings{an_ontological_analysis_of_service_modeling_at_archimate_s_business_layer_2014,
title = {{An Ontological Analysis of Service Modeling at ArchiMate's Business Layer}},
author = {Nardi, J.C. AND Falbo, R.A. AND Almeida, J.P.A.},
booktitle = {{2014 IEEE 18th International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference}},
pages = {92--10},
doi = {10.1109/EDOC.2014.22},
publisher = {{IEEE}},
year = {2014}
}

J. C. Nardi, R. A. Falbo, and J. P. A. Almeida, “Revealing Service Commitments in Service-Oriented Enterprise Architecture,” in 2014 IEEE 18th International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference Workshops and Demonstrations, 2014, p. 286–10.
[Bibtex]

@inproceedings{revealing_service_commitments_in_service_oriented_enterprise_architecture_2014,
title = {{Revealing Service Commitments in Service-Oriented Enterprise Architecture}},
author = {Nardi, J.C. AND Falbo, R.A. AND Almeida, J.P.A.},
booktitle = {{2014 IEEE 18th International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference Workshops and Demonstrations}},
pages = {286--10},
doi = {10.1109/EDOCW.2014.49},
publisher = {{IEEE}},
year = {2014}
}