Ontology Management in an Industrial Environment: The BASF Governance Operational Model for Ontologies (GOMO)

Governance on ontology development and maintenance practices within an organization has many advantages over ungoverned, siloed approaches that many organizations exhibit nowadays. This paper presents the BASF Governance Operational Model for Ontologies (GOMO), which addresses all stages of the ontology lifecycle and provides a framework for the development and maintenance of ontologies within BASF. GOMO is comprised of Principles, Standards and Quality Assurance criteria, Best Practices, Training and Outreach and is the result of a collaborative effort between industry and academia in the semantic web field. GOMO Principles, Standards and Best Practices are being applied to all running ontology-based projects in BASF. Through outreach presentations with sections of the BASF community, GOMO has reached a wider audience to foster understanding on the utility and implementation of ontologies. Finally, GOMO stands as a framework that is fit for adoption by other organizations facing similar challenges in ontology governance.