ABSTRACT
This paper presents a method that enables exchange of Systems Engineering information between involved parties in projects. This method is based on the usage of an ontology, described by a set of information models and a Reference Data Library as defined in ISO 15926. ISO 15962 is a well-known life cycle data integration standard from the process industry. This paper also describes implementation aspects of an ontology, based on RDF (Resource Description Framework) as defined by the World Wide Web Consortium.
The presented method can also applied in combination with e.g. the Dutch CBNL as reference library, the Object Type Library (OTL) and SE-BIM standard as reference model for Systems Engineering.
During the engineering phase of several capital facility projects in the Netherlands, the method has also shown to be helpful in the communication about Systems Engineering between involved parties, improving interoperability. The presented ontology has been validated within real projects respectively based on the software tool Relatics and a RDF implementation as well and offers a new way practicing asset management.
Experiences with the described ontology have shown that the topic of ontology is important for Systems Engineering and that there is merit in further examining the suitability of ISO 15288 as an ontological foundation, enabling formalized modeled based Systems Engineering.
