Research Projects
NCOR is involved in a variety of research projects that advance the field of ontology.
Standards & Frameworks​
Basic Formal Ontology (BFO)​
The Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) is an ISO/IEC standard that serves as a foundational framework for organizing and categorizing knowledge across various domains. It provides a structured approach to understanding the fundamental categories and relationships that underpin all forms of knowledge representation. By establishing a common vocabulary and set of principles, BFO facilitates the development of interoperable ontologies, enabling seamless integration and communication between diverse information systems. Its adoption as an ISO/IEC standard underscores its significance in promoting consistency and coherence in ontological modeling, making it a critical resource for researchers and practitioners alike.
Common Core Ontologies (CCO)​
The Common Core Ontologies (CCO) is a suite of eleven vetted ontologies that collectively comprise a mid-level ontology. Initiated by CUBRC, Inc. in 2010 under an IARPA Knowledge Discovery and Dissemination grant, CCO is widely used in defense and intelligence sectors to support data standardization, interoperability, reproducibility, and automated reasoning across numerous domains. For many years, CCO development and application were conducted with limited transparency. However, as of 2017, CCO has been available under a BSD-3 license, with a public GitHub repository open to collaboration. This public availability has significantly increased interest in CCO development. Notably, in 2022, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) P3195 Standard for Requirements for a Mid-Level Ontology and Extensions working group initiated a review of CCO to establish it as the first mid-level ontology standard. More recently, in 2024, CCO was endorsed as a "baseline standard" for all formal ontology development across the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community.
Agentic Brain Infrastructure (ABI)​
The ABI (Agent Based Intelligence) project is a Python-based backend framework designed to serve as the core infrastructure for building an Agentic AI Ontology Engine. Maintained by NaasAI, Inc. (https://naas.ai), this system empowers organizations to integrate, manage, and scale AI-driven operations with a focus on ontology, agent-driven workflows, and analytics. By providing a flexible and scalable framework, ABI enables organizations to create intelligent, automated systems tailored to their specific needs. Its emphasis on modularity and customization allows for effective adaptation of AI-driven operations. When combined with the Naas.ai ecosystem, ABI acts as the central component of your organization's agentic AI applications, driving innovation and collaboration in the field of ontology development.
Foundries
- OBO Foundry : The Open Biological and Biomedical Ontologies Foundry
- IOF Foundry : The Industrial Ontology Foundry
- DoD-IC Foundry: The Department of Defense and Intelligence Community Ontology Foundry