Ontologies for semantic integration

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Many tasks require correct and meaningful communication and integration among intelligent agents and information resources. A major barrier to such interoperability is semantic heterogeneity: different applications, databases, and agents may ascribe disparate meanings to the same terms or use distinct terms to convey the same meaning. It has been recognized that the emerging technology concerned with the development and application of ontologies will play a central role in achieving semantic integration. An ontology is a computer-interpretable specification that is used by an agent, application, or other information resource to declare what terms it uses, and what the terms mean. The objective of this proposal is to conduct basic research into the design of ontologies using mathematical logic and the application of this work to support semantic integration of software systems. In particular, the research will focus on the ontology of the Process Specification Language, and the application of ontologies will focus on two keytechnologies -- the generation of semantic mappings and the specification of semantic web services.