A Generic DEMO Model for Co-creation and Co-production as a Basis for a Truthful and Appropriate REA Model Representation

Abstract

DEMO (Design Engineering Methodology for Organization) has its foundation in the DEMO Enterprise Ontology (DEO), and provides a strong theoretical foundation and a generic platform for business process modeling. The REA (Resource-Event-Agent) ontology, which originates from accountancy systems, provides a domain-specific platform for value modeling business processes. Rather than traditional approaches to accountancy, REA captures the details of each resource under an enterprise’s control, and thus is able to offer a wider, more precise, and more up-to-date range of reports. Despite its great potential, REA ontology suffers from anomalies which have their origin in the absence of rigorous theoretical foundations. These anomalies can be overcome either by introducing rigorous theoretical foundations for the current REA ontology, or by useful collaboration of REA ontology with an ontology that provides a strong theoretical foundation. The paper deals with the latter option. It not only contemplates different aspects of both ontologies, but also analyzes and proposes a possible way for collaboration between these modeling frameworks.