Towards a methodology for ontology development in small and medium-sized enterprises

Ontologies are widely used as technique for representation and reuse of knowledge. In an enterprise context, they reflect the relevant knowledge based on enterprise-specific concepts and their relations. We consider these enterprise ontologies as building blocks for demand-oriented information supply in networked organisations, like small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or SME-networks. This paper focuses on methodologies for ontology development. Based on an analysis of existing methodologies, we explore possibilities for improvement. Our main intention is to reduce development time and effort in order to meet the demands of small-scale application contexts. The core ideas of our enhanced methodology are (a) reuse of fragments of existing ontologies, (b) instruction-like detailed definition of all steps of the development process, and (c) extensive use of guidelines and other aids.