An Ontological Framework for Model-Based Problem-Solving

Multidisciplinary projects to solve real world problems of increasing complexity are more and more plagued by obstacles such as miscommunication between modellers with different disciplinary backgrounds and bad modelling practices. To tackle these difficulties, a body of knowledge on problems, on modelling and on models to solve problems, has been made explicit and organised in ontological knowledge bases, which are structured in layers, ranging from generic to detailed and specific. This approach facilitates the solution of the 'language' and communication problem between team members from different disciplines, between the project team and its commissioner and other stakeholders and also makes parts of the knowledge reusable. Finally, we developed tools, available as Web-based services, that enable to fill the knowledge bases and support modelling projects (guidance from the knowledge base, logbook and project management). The modelling approach, the ontologies and the tools together constitute a more complete and better modelling framework.