What is Integrity Rule

For e-business, the computer-based processing of value-creation, especially for knowledge-intensive business processes, plays a prominent role with the help of modern information and communication techniques. At least since the further development of the classical Internet for the Semantic Web, the content-based knowledge processing and knowledge transfer have gained more importance. In this chapter it is shown that ontologies represent an auspicious instrument to ensure the interoperability of information and communication systems that have to work together on the work-sharing development of knowledge-intensive business processes. Ontologies become important when agents with heterogeneous knowledge backgrounds co-operate on such business processes. Firstly, the complex and often ill-considered use of the definition of ontology will be discussed critically and its meaning specified. Thereupon it will be shown (with the help of two application areas) how ontologies can be used effectively to support knowledge-intensive business processes in e-business. On the one hand, the chapter is concerned with the management of knowledge of competences, which agents have to have a command of for successful process execution. On the other hand, it is about the management of know-how, which has already been collected from completed projects and should be reused in new projects.