Digital Ontology Research Articles

Concept of the digital state: concept, nature and ontology

The article is devoted to the study of the phenomenon and concept of the digital state. The general concept and meaning of digitization in public administration is revealed. The problems of relevant interpretation and the limits of applicability of this concept to public administration are explained. The author’s concept and definition are presented, explaining the concept, nature and ontology of the digital state. The author suggests to consider the digital state in 4 interpretive projections: 1) as an ecosystem of operational, multi-service and proactive state digital super-services; 2) as an integrated computer-software meta-platform (platform system); 3) as an organizational and technological approach and corresponding paradigm; 4) as the digital ontology of state-building and functioning, public administration and public policy. According to the author’s interpretation, the concept of the “digital state” structurally includes the concepts: 1) the concept of the “digital government”; 2) the “digital democracy” concept; 3) the concept of the “digital justice”; 4) the concept of the “digital electoral technologies”; 5) the concept of the “digital public control over public administration”. The article details the author’s concept of “digital government”. The article is based on application of research methods of analysis and synthesis, induction, deduction and abduction, classification and formalization; through application of research methods, the essential descriptive characteristics of the phenomenon and the concept of the digital state were revealed.

Digital Ontology and Digital Hermeneutics

Digital Ontology and Digital Hermeneutics

The Symbols of the Divine: Approaching a Post-human Ontology of Digital Design via the Study of Discards

Thinking about design in post-human terms (Forlano, 2017) challenges designers to consider the effects of their designs on the more-than-human world, and in particular to consider non-human actors as users of our designs (Forlano 2017, Cruickshank & Trivedi 2017). However, the post-human turn also calls into question the modernist assumption that “good design” is predicated on notions of instrumental use, which underpins user-centred design, the dominant perspective in digital and interaction design. I propose an alternative, based on Willis’s ontological designing (Willis 2006) and Yuk Hui’s digital ontology (Hui 2016), which highlights the role of ongoing care and maintenance in the ontology of the digital, and argue that discards, and in particular digital discards, have a peculiar ontological status within this theory which offer promise for future study of digital design beyond instrumental use, and it’s entanglements with the more-than-human.

Social Perception of Artificial Intelligence and Digitization of Cultural Heritage: Russian Context

The article considers the social perception of artificial intelligence (AI) as an essential factor having an impact on the digitization, transfer, and popularization of cultural heritage. The article aims at the theoretical comprehension of the digital ontology and implementation of AI in the context of Russian realia. The research relies on comprehensive analysis based on statistical data, using descriptive and comparative methods. The interdisciplinary approach adopted includes reflexive analysis of both positive and negative consequences of the digitalization process. The article examines the peculiarities of the “digital ontology”, deterritorization effect, new actors in the digital process, the effect of digital trust, and opposite views of AI-enthusiasts and AI-alarmists. The article describes objective and subjective reasons for the negative perception of digital artifacts, and states the need to consider the influence of key figures in digital ontology: influencers, stakeholders, and data scientists. The ambivalence of public perception of both artificial intelligence and digital cultural heritage is stated. The research reveals digitization frontiers, which involve three factors: the axiological factor, indicating the need for consistency between a human values system and AI development programs; the subject vector, emphasizing the role of a new type of digital heritage bearers and digital influence actors; ethical factor associated with the need to transform relations with information technologies in order to subordinate them to human reflection and comprehension. The authors conclude that cultural heritage digitization should be aimed at generating a human-centered future.

A blockchain-based cooperative modeling method for digital twin ontology model of the mechanical product

With the rapid increase of multi-source heterogeneous dynamic data of mechanical products, the digital twin technology is considered to be an important method to realize the deep integration of product data and intelligent manufacturing. As a digital archive of the physical entity in entire life cycle, the mechanical product digital twin model is cross-phased and multi-domain. Therefore, safe and stable cooperative modeling has become a basic technical problem that needs to be solved urgently. In this paper, we proposed a blockchain-based collaborative modeling method for the digital twin ontology model of mechanical products. First, an authorization network was constructed among stakeholders. Then modeling processes of the digital twin were mapped to ontology operations and formatted through extensible markup language. Finally, consensuses were obtained based on practical byzantine fault tolerance. And a material modification process of a helicopter damper bearing was taken as an example to verify. The proposed method enables all participants to accurately obtain the latest state of the digital twin model, and has the advantages of tamper-proof, traceability, and decentralization.

Герменевтика естественных наук

When in 1987 D. Marcus claimed the virtual lack of hermeneutics of the natural science as a field of recognizable individual cognitive interests, his argument made a deep impression on the philosophers of science. However, in 1998 P. Hi­lan, polemicizing with Marcus, put forward the thesis about the existence of “strong hermeneutics” – a philosophical genre of hermeneutics of the natural sci­ence. In a number of subsequent works, he gave a detailed exposition of his point of view, establishing links between the modern philosophy of the natu­ral sciences and philosophical hermeneutics. It was based on the inclusion in the philosophy of science those aspects of historicity, culture and tradition that lack in the traditional analysis of the relationship between theory and explana­tion. The expansion of the range of hermeneutics’ participation in scientific knowledge turned out to be associated with the answer to the question of whether hermeneutics can improve our understanding, primarily the understand­ing of the essence of those things that fall into the sphere of natural sciences. Given that human subjects and communities are inseparable from nature, this un­derstanding must necessarily take into account the biological aspects of this unity. This forces us to include in the interpretive field of hermeneutics living matter, which should be understood not only as an object of hermeneutic inter­pretation by people, but at a deep level and as an interpretation of living beings themselves. The formation and legalization of the interpretation of this type dates back to 2002, when A. Markos published the book “Readers of the Book of Life”, which called for the study of the “biohermeneutic” understanding of sign processes in living systems. The possibility of using this type of interpre­tation in a situation that arose in connection with the increasing exploitation of information technology and the Internet was also extremely interesting. Herme­neutics, which uses an interpretation of this type, is called “digital hermeneu­tics”. It is based on the concept of “digital ontology”, which was introduced by M. Eldred and R. Capurro: things exist (are understood) as much as we are able to digitize them. Digital hermeneutics should be considered as a general prob­lematization of the supposed homology between reality and its digital represen­tations.

Religious Subjectivities and Digital Collectivities on Social Networking Sites in India

This article analyses how the infrastructural architecture of social networking sites (SNS) is conducive to the emergence of religious subjects and digital collectivities. I argue that SNS enable social connections, and subjectivities are created to reify discriminatory religious and political practices and discourses online. This study identifies and responds to three critical arguments about SNS and religious subjectivities. First, it challenges the liberal assumptions that advancement in SNS will lead to the creation of depoliticized and more rational societies. I argue that SNS deepens the already existing social segregations in the society through the creation of digital collectivities. Digital collectivities inform functional possibilities (ontology) and discursive modes (epistemology) of enacting religious subjectivities. These collectivities not only shape the ways in which users articulate their religious and political allegiance but also the content of their online presence. Finally, in unpacking the formation and existence of digital collectivities and how they are linked with the emergence of religious subjects, I examine the question of digital ontology—the debate regarding what a religious subject on SNS is and of epistemology—how is a religious subject defined.

The Era of "Digital Transformation" : A reflection on the digital ontology and aesthetic characteristics of films

数字化转型;数字文化;电影本体;人机融合

THE CONCEPT OF THE DIGITAL STATE: DEFINITION, NATURE, STRUCTURE, AND ONTOLOGY

The article studies the phenomenon and concept of the digital state. The author reveals the general concept and importance of digitalization in public administration. The article explains the problems of relevant interpretation and the limits of applicability of the concept to the system of public administration. The author considers methods, approaches, and prospects for improving the efficiency of public administration in the context of the digitalization of society and puts forward his concept for the term “digital government”. Using methods of analysis and synthesis, induction, deduction and abduction, classification, and formalization, the work reveals the essential descriptive characteristics of the phenomenon and concept of the digital state. After the data analysis, it is proposed to consider the concept of digital state in four interpretative definitions: as an ecosystem of multiservice and proactive state digital services; as an integrated computer and software meta-platform; as an organizational and technological approach and corresponding paradigm; and as a digital ontology of state-building and functioning, public administration and public policy. According to the author’s interpretation, the concept of the “digital state” includes: “digital government”, “digital democracy”, “digital justice”, “digital electoral technologies”, “digital public control of public administration”.

Digital Voodoo: Who Does What?

Abstract It is obvious that AI is marking its entry onto the global scene. Anyway, since any AI is supposed to perform a task in such a way that the outcome would be indistinguishable from the outcome of a human agent working to achieve the same task, it is more and more difficult to recognize its presence in our daily life. Issues of transparency and ethics are crucial not only to be aware of the presence of an AI, but mostly to know how the algorithm is actually working and to verify the ‘quality’ of its dataset. It is important to realize that only the engineers know what an AI does, even if it enacts actions in real life. For common people, and even for regulators, it may turn out to be a digital voodoo that goes far beyond their understanding. Who does what? That is the question. The first part of the essay discusses the claims of “digital philosophy” (or “digital ontology”) under the light of legal analysis. The assumption that humankind and “intelligent” machines share the same digital/algorithmic ontology (as parts of an all-encompassing “digital universe”) could deprive the law of its ethical and emotional foundations. A sound regulation of both the circulation of digital information and AI requires adequate knowledge of technology (transparency) and the capacity to make ethical choices based on wide social consensus, in order to safeguard the fundamentally “human” nature of the law. The second part of the essay is an inquiry into AI as a machine-writing system, that is into the capacity of an AI to produce literary texts. Three examples will be discussed and a comparison to electronic literature will be pointed out. What seems to be fundamental is the idea of a literary output stuck on the very moment of its generation (process of writing) which is conceived by the reader as an anaesthetic experience. More than creativity, it is the perception of creativity that rules such literary works. This literary production can make readers aware of the power of an underlying algorithm.

Introduction: Digital Ontology and Epistemology. Between Law, Literature and the Visual Arts

Introduction: Digital Ontology and Epistemology. Between Law, Literature and the Visual Arts

THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF CREATIVITY IN DIGITAL ERA

The paper aims to discuss the features of art practices and the specifics of art work existence in the digital culture paradigm. The research methodology is determined by the heuristic potential of art and cultural philosophic studies in digital culture combined with the communicative and existential analytics. The characteristics of author’s individual art strategies in the interactive locus of existence is the scientific novelty of the work and allows us to conclude that the interactive media landscape has considerably changed the configuration of art work in culture. Being the projection of the digital ontology of reality and having received unlimited access to communication, an artist primarily demonstrates creative workflow, provides information on the creation and his or her own quasi-existence, avoiding similarity and anonymity. Sometimes process documentation is more important than art itself and it can replace an artwork. Contemporary art is represented not only by finished products (“objects”), but also by relations (the frequency of participatory practices, performance, life experience of the epoch when the artwork was created). These relations enable to implement new rationalization. Owing to the above practices, an artist and a viewer are both actively involved in the creative process of converging design, content and logic of artwork development. The contemporary reality is mediated not only by transcendent or language, but also by new media (partially linguistic, partially pragmatic), being merely fiction, or construct. This is the way of representation that has fulfills a serious ontological function: the subject existence as a homo mediatus is verified by his or her presence in the network. Accordingly, artist’s creativity, as well as his internal world, will be perceived if he is proactive in digital culture.

Цифровизация и виртуализация жизненного мира: оценки и позиции

The development of digital technologies, the emergence of digital objects, their increasing influence on society, culture and people determine changes in various spheres of social and human life. The concepts of digitalization and virtualization are used to describe these processes. The article is aimed at consideration of the impact of modern technologies on the culture and lifeworld of a person. For this, an analysis of the concepts of digitalization, virtualization and virtualization of the lifeworld is carried out, as well as approaches and assessments of these processes presented in the philosophical literature are proposed. The article uses the works of Russian (Ivanov D. V., Kasavina N. A., Mironov V. V., Leshkevich T. G., Sokuler Z. A., Frolov A. V.) and Western researchers (A. Kirby, Yuk Hui, O. Ollinaho, E. Schmidt, J. Cohen). The methodological basis is the principle of sociocultural determination, which determines the impact of the modern digital era on the lifeworld of a person, as well as the semantic analysis of the concepts. The main findings are as follows. First, digitalization and virtualization are two interconnected processes, while virtualization is driven by digitalization. Secondly, the concept of digitalization means the modern stage of scientific, technical and technological development, the concept of virtualization is endowing all spheres of human life with the features of virtual reality, the concept of virtualization of the lifeworld is the addition and change of the lifeworld of a person with the world of virtual reality. Thirdly, digital objects and technologies determine the emergence of new research areas — digital ontology and digimodernism. Fourthly, digitalization and virtualization of the lifeworld receive both positive (expanding the possibilities for personal development, saving resources, etc.) and negative assessments (replacing the real world with a virtual one, lack of integrity of consciousness, Internet addiction). Opposite assessments problematize the study of these processes from the standpoint of both ontology and the theory of knowledge, and axiology, ethics, philosophy of science and technology.

Facilitating Digital Transformation: Success Factors and Multi-Aspect Ontologies

Today, companies feel a need to invest in digital transformation due to changing customer demands and increasing market pressure, but at the same time also experience many challenges in planning and implementing digital transformation processes. The aim of the paper is to support digital transformation in the following two areas: 1) identification of dimensions and factors on digital transformation projects to be observed in enterprises; 2) multi-aspect digital transformation ontology formalising the elements and inter-relationships of these factors. As most of the factors are of qualitative nature and difficult to measure, the multi-aspect ontology serves as means for operationalising them. To this end, an illustrative example and application steps are presented.

新たな技術文明のための人間性とその力能 : 離散的存在論（Digital Ontology: DO）の可能性

新たな技術文明のための人間性とその力能 : 離散的存在論（Digital Ontology: DO）の可能性

From Graphical User Interface Design to the Configuration of a Digital Object. Materiality and Digital Ontology

This article addresses the graphical interface as an array of digital objects that are structured in a matrix. This matrix is characterized by a particular materiality, not necessarily technical or symbolic, but one that stresses the condition of the natural and the technical objects, generating digital objects, which have long been problematized in the literature on digital ontology. The progression of the arguments, supported by literature on digital materiality, will depart from the problematization of the digital objects to locate the ways in which the matrix enables these objects in a process of flow and transformation. The intention is to stay apart from the conception of the interface as a surface for mediation in order to understand it as a 'matrix of digital objects'. However, this article does not seek to refute the idea of the graphical interface as a mediation surface; instead, the intention is to address it as an arrangement of objects that can be configured under the consideration of a digital materiality. This is achieved by commenting on two assumptions that I understand as depicts: the metaphorical trap, that is, the idea that designing interfaces implies configuring metaphors; and the behavioral trap, that is, the idea that to know the behavior of the user is sufficient to carry out the design of graphical interfaces.

Chance: Individual Indeterminacy or Collective Randomness?

What is it for a philosophical account to be atomist? What is the attraction of an atomistic metaphysics? These questions are best approached by considering representative varieties of atomism. The present paper offers a preliminary account of atomism in general and then, in order to shed light on atomism in general and its appeal, considers two very different varieties of atomism: that of Democritus (as understood by Aristotle) and that of Fredkin's "digital ontology." Atomistic accounts are philosophically attractive for two related reasons. First, on an atomistic account, the units of explanation are determinate, and for that reason are in principle ultimately intelligible, as are the complexes derived from them. Both examples of atomism that the author takes as examples display these features. Second, atomism is reductionistic. Ancient atomism has this feature, but it is not an inevitable result of an atomistic strategy. It is absent from Fredkin's digital ontology.

ISR is Still a Digital Ontology

I will analyse Floridi’s rejection of digital ontologies and his positive proposal for an informational structural realism (ISR). I intend to show that ISR is still fundamentally a digital ontology, albeit with some different metaphysical commitments to those that Floridi rejects. I will argue that even though Floridi deploys the method of levels of abstraction adapted from computer science, and has established a Kantian transcendentalist conception of both information and structure, ISR still reduces to a discretised binary, and therefore digital, ontology. The digital ontologies that Floridi rejects are John Wheeler’s “It from Bit” conception and computational (including pancomputational) metaphysics (although there are others). They’re rejected predominantly on the basis that they rely upon a false dichotomy between digital discrete and continuous metaphysics (with which I agree). ISR involves a Kantian transcendentalist conception of de re relations that is intended to avoid this false dichotomy. However, I’ll argue that the binary, discrete, digital component of digital ontology is retained in ISR, and therefore ISR is still a digital ontology since its conception of information reduces to binary discrete de re relations. As such, ISR comes down on one side of the rejected ontic dichotomy of digital metaphysics, and so an informational metaphysics that is not a digital ontology is still a promissory note in the philosophy of information.

Key Concept Identification: A Comprehensive Analysis of Frequency and Topical Graph-Based Approaches

Automatic key concept extraction from text is the main challenging task in information extraction, information retrieval and digital libraries, ontology learning, and text analysis. The statistical frequency and topical graph-based ranking are the two kinds of potentially powerful and leading unsupervised approaches in this area, devised to address the problem. To utilize the potential of these approaches and improve key concept identification, a comprehensive performance analysis of these approaches on datasets from different domains is needed. The objective of the study presented in this paper is to perform a comprehensive empirical analysis of selected frequency and topical graph-based algorithms for key concept extraction on three different datasets, to identify the major sources of error in these approaches. For experimental analysis, we have selected TF-IDF, KP-Miner and TopicRank. Three major sources of error, i.e., frequency errors, syntactical errors and semantical errors, and the factors that contribute to these errors are identified. Analysis of the results reveals that performance of the selected approaches is significantly degraded by these errors. These findings can help us develop an intelligent solution for key concept extraction in the future.

Interrupting Healthcare’s Imminent Meltdown and Why One Digital Ontology is the Only Option

Healthcare in the United States is imploding and it’s only a matter of time before we lose our tenuous grip on high-quality care. It looks ominous enough from the outside with yearly costs ballooning 50% in the last 10 years to nearly $3.8 trillion in 2016 and insurance premiums steadily rising, but it’s not until you peek inside that you see how dangerous the situation has become. Routine over-diagnosis, frequent over-treatment, expropriated incentives, unnecessary busywork and provider burnout with little money, less time and no clear path to a better system makes a dangerous combination. When spending tightens, and you can bet it will, what happens to quality? Healthcare today in this country or any other can’t perform at half the price. So, what’s keeping an industry steeped in technology from exploiting the blazing computer speed and widespread connectivity that’s transforming other industries? Amazon wants to know. Google, Apple, and IBM want to know. Certainly, the U.S. government wants to know. While there’s a lot of money to be made by the company that simplifies healthcare, the amount of money we’d save by transforming our broken system is staggering. Recouping revenues from the past decade’s failed policies alone amounts to $1.4 trillion per year and we were far from cost-effective in 2008. Before I reveal the answer everyone’s looking for, I need to introduce a term. An essential term that you may not have heard before but one that will change how you view Healthcare’s problems, and solutions, from now on. This term is Ontology.