Ontologies for modeling and simulation: issues and approaches

Ontologies represent the next important phase of the World Wide Web, creating a semantic Web which links together disparate pieces of information and knowledge. Creating ontologies within computer simulation can be seen as a logical next phase of the Web-based modeling and simulation thrust, where the emphasis is on knowledge and its representation rather than on run-time network characteristics. We introduce the concept of an ontology and then survey two groups performing research in this area at the Universities of Florida and Georgia, respectively.