An increasing number of individuals and organizations are looking to the world of ontologies for methods to formalize semantic properties. But like any relatively new field, it comes with new terminology, new concepts, uncertainty, and, yes, confusion.

This presentation will provide an introduction to the world of ontologies and include examples of ontology initiatives from a variety of corporations and standards bodies.

This presentation will deal with the following questions:

- What's an ontology?

- What are the different types of ontologies?

- What's the difference between an ontology and a formalized ontology?

- How do ontologies relate to other approaches for formalizing semantics?

- Why are organizations developing ontologies? How do you know if you need one?

- How do you get one? What are some of the basic methods for analysis, modeling, and design?

- What do you do with it once you've got it?

- How do you maintain an ontology?

- How do you know if it is broken and/or fallen out of alignment?