Knowledge Engineering Tools and Processes in Enterprise Environments

Abstract

Despite a lot of persuasive scientific studies on the benefits of semantic technologies, Knowledge Engineering (KE) in enterprise environments is far away from wide practical implementation. The consultancy Gartner locates “Enterprise Taxonomy and Ontology Management" in its 2016 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies on the half way down to “Through of Disillusionment" with an expectation of more than 10 years to mainstream adoption. The paper aims at analyzing this contradiction and at investigating systematically the obstacles for successful and sustainable KE in enterprises. This is based on two case studies and an ethnographical survey in organizations from different sectors: IT services and software production, public administration, and life sciences. For analyzing and visualizing characteristic use cases, processes and roles, methods of system analysis are applied; among others the triad of business process modeling BPMN, CMMN and DMN. A focus is put on the analysis and systematization of tools and services available for KE. The results of the paper form a basic framework for the constitution of KE as a business function crucial for bringing semantic technologies in enterprise environments to life.