1. The Information Artifact Ontology
Barry Smith

2. presentation tomorrow at 2pm (Session 1B)
IAO-Intel An Ontology of Information Artifacts in the Intelligence Domain
Barry Smith
University at Buffalo
NY, USA
Tatiana Malyuta
CUNY, NY, USA
Data Tactics, McLean, VA
Ron Rudnicki
CUBRC, Buffalo
William Mandrick
Data Tactics
McLean, VA, USA
David Salmen
Peter Morosoff
E-Maps, Inc.
Washington, DC, USA
Danielle K. Duff
I2WD
Aberdeen, MD, USA
James Schoening
Kesny Parent
describes work being carried out for the US Army’s Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS-A) Standard Cloud (DSC) initiative; part of a strategy for the horizontal integration of warfighter intelligence data

3. IAO
IAO: The Information Artifact Ontology, developed by scientific researchers as a vehicle for annotating data about measurement results, publications, protocols, databases, consent forms, licenses
in a way that will allow discovery, integration and analysis
Two kinds of data about data:
1. what are the data about  Domain Ontologies
2. how the data are packaged (collected, presented, formatted, stored)  IAO Ontologies

5. IAO-Intel
IAO-Intel – an extension of IAO and incorporating features of the AIRS Information Ontology – to provide common resources for the consistent description of information artifacts of relevance to the intelligence community

6. IAO: Report / IAO-Intel: Intelligence Report
IAO-Intel terms are defined by using terms from the ontologies in the yellow box via relations such as:
is-about
created-by
derives-from
and so forth

7. Extension Strategy + Modular Organization
top level
mid-level
domain level
Basic Formal Ontology (BFO)
Information Artifact Ontology
(IAO)
Ontology for Biomedical Investigations
(OBI)
Spatial Ontology
(BSPO)
Anatomy Ontology
(FMA*, CARO)
Environment
Ontology
(EnvO)
Infectious Disease Ontology
(IDO*)
Biological Process
Ontology (GO*)
Cell Ontology
(CL)
Cellular
Component
(FMA*, GO*)
Phenotypic Quality
Ontology (PaTO)
Subcellular Anatomy Ontology (SAO)
Sequence Ontology
(SO*)
Molecular Function
(GO*)
Protein Ontology
(PRO*)
* = dedicated NIH funding
Extension Strategy + Modular Organization

8. 8

9. top level
mid-level
(generic hub)
domain level
(spokes populating downwards)
Basic Formal Ontology (BFO)
Information Artifact Ontology
(IAO)
IAO-Science
IAO-Intel
IAO-Library
Science (~Dublin Core)
IAO-Computing
IAO-Biology
IAO-Physics
IAO-Intel-Navy
IAO-Intel-Army
IAO-Intel-FBI
IAO-Hardware
IAO-Software
The Ontology
* = dedicated NIH funding
IAO provides the hub for a gradually evolving set of modular spokes; each module built by downward population from its parent

10. Strategy of downward population
IAO
IAO-Intel (examples)
Report
Intelligence Report (FM , 126)
Summary
Electronic Warfare Mission Summary (FM , 87)
Diagram
Network Analysis Diagram (from JP , II-51)
Overlay
Combined Information Overlay (JP , II 33)
Assessment
Assessment of Impact of Damage (FM , 53)
Estimate
Adversary Course of Action Estimate
List
List of High-Value Targets (JP , II 61)
Order
Airspace Control Order (FM , 17)
Matrix
Target Value Matrix (JP , II-63)
Template
Ground and Air Adversary Template (JP , II-57)

11. Information Artifacts
artifact =def. an entity created through some deliberate act or acts by one or more human beings and which endures through time
information artifact: an artifact that can be the bearer of information
(a) information bearing entity (IBE) – a hard drive, a passport, a piece of paper with a drawing of a map
(b) information content entity (ICE) – an entity which is about something and which can potentially exist in multiple (for example digital or printed) copies – a jpg file, a pdf file

12. Types and tokens
Copyable information artifacts can exist both as tokensPeirce and as typesPeirce
Token = the particular information artifact of interest, tied to some particular physical information bearer: the photographic image on this piece of paper retrieved from this enemy combatant
Type = The copyable information content that is carried by the artifact in question. The same photographic image type may be printed out in multiple paper tokens
Warning: this is not the same as the instance-class distinction

13. Need for controlled vocabulary to describe data about information artifacts
DoD Directive (version dated August 5, 2013) requires
1. all authoritative DoD data sources to be registered in the DoD Data Services Environment (DSE)
2. that all salient metadata be discoverable, searchable, retrievable, and understandable
“Data standards and specifications that require associated semantic and structural metadata, including vocabularies, taxonomies, and ontologies, will be published in the DSE, or in a registry that is federated with the DSE.” FEAR LINKED OPEN DATA

14. The Dublin Core: How not to solve the problem of creating consistent information artifact metadata

15. Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI)
an open organization supporting innovation in metadata design and best practices across the metadata ecology Resource (as in ‘RDF’) + 15 basic ‘elements’:
0. RESOURCE
8. TYPE  
1. TITLE
9. FORMAT  
2. CREATOR  
10. IDENTIFIER 
3. SUBJECT  
11. SOURCE  
4. DESCRIPTION  
12. LANGUAGE 
5. PUBLISHER  
13. RELATION   
6. CONTRIBUTORS
14. COVERAGE
7. DATE 
15. RIGHTS MANAGEMENT

16. Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI)
An open organization supporting innovation in metadata design and best practices across the metadata ecology

19. The Core Resource (as in ‘RDF’) + 15 basic ‘elements’: 0. RESOURCE
8. TYPE  
1. TITLE
9. FORMAT  
2. CREATOR  
10. IDENTIFIER 
3. SUBJECT  
11. SOURCE  
4. DESCRIPTION  
12. LANGUAGE 
5. PUBLISHER  
13. RELATION   
6. CONTRIBUTORS
14. COVERAGE
7. DATE 
15. RIGHTS MANAGEMENT

20. 2) How do “elements” apply to “resources”?
1) What’s a “resource”?
A resource is anything that has identity. Familiar examples include an electronic document, an image, a service (e.g., "today's weather report for Los Angeles"), and a collection of other resources.
Assumption: resource = information artifact
An Element is a characteristic that a resource may “have”, such as a Title, Publisher, or Subject.
2) How do “elements” apply to “resources”?

21. The same resource can be instantiated in different ways
The Core (cont.)
The same resource can be instantiated in different ways
Format: The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource. Examples of dimensions include size and duration.
Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary such as the list of Internet Media Types [MIME]. Example: image/jpeg.

22. What describes the content / topic / subject-matter?
The Core (cont.)
What describes the content / topic / subject-matter?
Title: The name given to the resource.
Description: An account of the content of the resource. Description may include but is not limited to: an abstract, table of contents, reference to a graphical representation of content or a free-text account of the content.
Subject: The topic of the content of the resource. Typically, a subject will be expressed as keywords or key phrases or classification codes that describe the topic of the resource.

23. Benefits of Dublin Core
Available in multiple formats
W3C recommended
Mapping to PROV 

24. Problems with Dublin Core
Scope not defined (‘anthing that has identity’)
Does not provide logical definitions, but relies rather on vague natural language expressions (including use of “scare” “quotes” to warn the user that terms are not intended literally)
Provides only suggestive guidance as to use of associated standards
Does not interoperate well with other (topic) ontologies

25. Confuses words and things
Source: A reference to a resource from which the present resource is derived. The present resource may be derived from the Source resource in whole or part.

26. Engages in sloppy bundling
Type: The nature or genre of the content of the resource. Type includes terms describing general categories, functions, genres, or aggregation levels for content.
What is ‘content of the resource’?
Is the nature of the content distinct from the nature of the resource?
No taxonomic organization, but rather a tangled hierarchy
No distinction between things (continuants) and processes (occurrents) – consider performance of a work

27. Goals of a Metadata Ontology
Ability to expand consistently to new application areas
Ability to gracefully integrate with domain ontologies and with other IA-related ontologies
Ability to represent metadata of different categories
Complex application-specific content
specific ways in which one IA relates to another IA
Content vs. Bearers of content

28. Requirements to Achieve These Goals
Conformance to ontology best practices
Conformance to an upper level ontology as starting point for coherent definitions
Separation of aspects of an information artifact such as physical bearer, content, content organization

29. DC Does Not Conform to Best Practices
Does not follow naming conventions and is inconsistent in its naming approach, e.g.
Property names: ABSTRACT, COVERAGE, LANGUAGE or CREATED or AVAILABLE (instead of has-abstract, is-created)
Class names: Location Period Or Jurisdiction
Term Name:    LocationPeriodOrJurisdiction 
URI:
Label:
Location, Period, or Jurisdiction
Definition:
A location, period of time, or jurisdiction.

30. DC Does Not Conform to Best Practices
Term Name:    LocationPeriodOrJurisdiction 
URI:
Label:
Location, Period, or Jurisdiction
Definition:
A location, period of time, or jurisdiction.
Location Period Or Jurisdiction is defined in the DC hierarchy as a subclass of Location

31. Problems with verbal definitions
PROVENANCE – “A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation.”
The same definition is applied to the class and the property: PROVENANCE STATEMENT that is the Range of PROVENANCE is defined in exactly the same way.

32. DC Does Not Conform to Best Practices (cont.)
Formal definitions are insufficient, and will inevitably lead to inconsistent annotations
Ranges of data properties are defined as Literals, e.g. Range for properties Available and Created that refine (i.e. are subclasses of) (here they could have used a standardized XML Schema data type DATE)
Ranges of object properties do not have predefined sets of individuals, e.g. the property LANGUAGE has Range LINGUISTIC SYSTEM that is not connected in any way to the lists of country codes that are mentioned in Encoding Schemes

33. Does Not Conform to an ULO
DC does not conform to an upper level ontology and does not show signs of downward development from more general to more specific terms.
As a result
Generic element associations are absent or arbitrary or informal.
If such associations were established, they would need to be established manually instead of being inherited. For example, there are such classes as AGENT and AGENT CLASS where AGENT CLASS is defined as “A group of agents” but no formal relation with the class AGENT is asserted.

34. Does Not Conform to an ULO (cont.)
In the absence of a high-level single hierarchy, the relations between classes are not clear. For example
PROVENANCE is defined as “A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation” seems to overlap with CREATOR, CONTRIBUTOR, and IS VERSION OF.
But how?

35. Limited Usability of DC
DC does not try to separately address such aspects of an information artifact as its physical bearer, content, and content organization
Will not allow for rich explications and annotations of document repositories, in particular repositories of military documents, and for various classifications of documents that are based on the content or bearer 

36. Limited Use of DC (cont.)
DC in the EUROPEANA project

37. Consequences These issues will
Prevent acceptance of DC in solving DoD metadata problems
Make its future development and integration with other ontologies difficult
Not allow for deep data integration

38. IAO is designed to address the need for metadata standards, not by replacing existing standards,
but rather by providing a single, consistent framework for tagging (‘semantic enhancement’) of existing data stores
Its purpose is to provide a uniform, non-redundant, algorithmically processable and easily extendible consensus system of tags

39. Uses of IAO-Intel – Example 1
IA #1: a Modified Combined Obstacle Overlay (MCOO) –product of a joint intelligence preparation of the operational environment used to portray militarily significant features such as obstacles restricting movement, key geography, and military objectives IA #2 – the plan (document) in accordance with which the IA #1 was prepared

40. IAO enables three kinds of discovery and analysis
Annotations to the attributes of IA #1
has-artifact-kind MCOO
has-physical-kind: Acetate Sheet
uses-symbology MIL-STD-2525C
authored-by person #4644
Annotations linking IA #1 to other IAS
– IA#1 output of process realizing plan IA#2
Annotations relating to the aboutness of IA#1
Avenue of Approach
Strategic Defense Belt
Amphibious Operations
Objective

41. Uses of IAO-Intel – Example 2
A collection of documents prepared according to FM of kinds:
Intelligence Report [INTREP]
Intelligence Summary [INTSUM]
Logistics Situation Report [LOGSITREP]
Operations Summary [OPSUM]
Patrol Report [PATROLREP]
Reconnaissance Exploitation Report [RECCEXREP]
SAEDA Report [SAEDAREP]

42. IAO enables document metadata from different sources of to be combined together
We need to computationally cross-reference these with comparable sets of documents prepared by other commands.
FM provides definitions of the mentioned report kinds, but does not take the step of formulating these definitions computationally.
IAO-Intel provides the needed common, algorithmically useful, set of terms that can allow consistent explication of these and related kinds as they appear in different doctrinal resources.
The results can then be used for computer-aided aggregation of the data represented using corresponding IA types

43. Attributes of Information Artifacts

44. Attributes of IAs
Information artifacts have attributes along a number of distinct dimensions, treated in low-level ontology modules
Terms in these modules will be applied to explicate information relating to IAs of different sorts, and to annotate data pertaining to IA instances
Attributes of IAs vs. Attributes of subject-matters, targets, topics, …

45. Attributes of IAs (cont.)
Some dimensions of IA attributes are common to all areas, both military and non-military
Purpose
Life­cycle Stage (draft, finished version, revision)
Language,
Format
Provenance
Source (person, organization)

46. Generic Attributes of IAs (for IAO)
Purpose
Descriptive purpose: scientific paper, newspaper article, after-action report
Prescriptive purpose: legal code, license, statement of rules of engagement
Directive purpose (of specifying a plan or method for achieving something): instruction, manual, protocol
Designative purpose: a registry of members of an organization, a phone book, a database linking proper names of persons with their social security numbers
Purposes specific to IAO-Intel
Inform­ing the commander,
Providing targeting support
Intelligence preparation of the battlefield.

47. Purpose of an Information Artifact
Descriptive purpose =def. the purpose of describing some portion of reality Examples: scientific paper, newspaper article, diary, experimenter log notebook Prescriptive purpose =def. the purpose of prescribing or permitting or allowing some activity Examples: a legal code, a license

48. Purpose of an Information Artifact
Directive purpose =def. the purpose of specifying a plan or method for achieving something Examples: instruction, manual, recipe, protocol Designative purpose =def. the purpose of uniquely designating some entity or the members of some class of entities Examples: a registry of members of an organization, a phone book, a database linking proper names of persons with their social security numbers.

49. Lowest Level Ontologies
Low Level Ontologies (LLOs) represent the simplest one-dimensional domains, e.g. eyeColor, securityClassification, etc.
LLOs are orthogonal (do not have terms in common)
LLOs are small and shallow
It is relatively easy to agree on LLOs
Facilitate maintenance and surveyability of the ontology

50. LLOs for IA attributes
Each LLO corresponds to a single dimension of attributes
Provide a set simple components to be used
In construction and definitions of more complex terms of IAO, e.g. an Intelligence Report is-a Report that has-discipline Intelligence
In explications of terms used by different agencies, in different data sources, etc.
In annotations of instance data, e.g. analysts’ reports; harvested s; signals data

51. Examples of Generic Attributes of IAs
Purpose
Lifecycle Stage (draft, finished version, revision)
Language
Format
Provenance
Source (person, organization)
These terms will be included in IAO
Each corresponds to a specific low level ontology

52. Generic (IAO) purpose taxonomy (based on speech act taxonomy)
Descriptive purpose (scientific paper, newspaper article, after-action report)
Prescriptive purpose (legal code, license, statement of rules of engagement)
Directive purpose – of specifying a plan or method for achieving something (instruction, manual, protocol)
Designative purpose (registry of members of an organization, phone book, database linking proper names of persons with their social security numbers) …
a given IA can have multiple purposes in a given context (Communicative, Forensic, Deceptive, …)

53. Examples of Intel-Specific Purpose Attributes (IAO-Intel terms created by downward population from IAO:Purpose)
Informing the commander
Providing targeting support
Intelligence preparation of the battlefield
Supporting planning and execution
Defining the operational environment
Describing the impact of the operational environment
Evaluating the adversary
Describing adversary courses of action
Counter adversary deception
Assess the effects of operations

54. Attributes of IAs Specific to Intelligence IAs
Role in the Intelligence Process (JP 3-0, III-11)
Priority Intelligence Requirement (PIR)
Commander’s Critical Information Requirement (CCIR)
Essential Element of Information (EEI)
Essential Element of Friendly Information (EEFI)
Confidence Level (JP 2.0, Appendix A)
Highly Likely
Likely
Even Chance
Unlikely
Highly Unlikely
Discipline (JP 2.0, I-5)
Legal
Ideology
Religion
Propaganda
Intelligence
Signal
Human
Rumor intelligence
Web intelligence
Intelligence Excellence (JP 2.0, II-6)
Anticipatory
Timely
Accurate
Usable
Complete
Relevant
Objective
Available

55. IAO-Intel Defined Attributes relating to source of an IA
Document Source
Organization
Government Agency
Military Agency
Intelligence Agency
Personal source
Intelligence agent, bystander, witness …
Two kinds of source relations:
between an IA and a source kind
between an IA and a source instance (e.g. some specific intelligence agency, some specific person)

56. Other IAO-Intel Attribute Dimensions
Role in the Intelligence Process (JP 3-0, III-11)
Priority Intelligence Requirement (PIR)
Commander’s Critical Information Requirement (CCIR)
Essential Element of Information (EEI)
Essential Element of Friendly Information (EEFI)
Confidence Level (JP 2.0, Appendix A)
Highly Likely
Likely
Even Chance
Unlikely
Highly Unlikely
Discipline (JP 2.0, I-5)
Legal
Ideology
Religion
Propaganda
Intelligence
Signal
Human
Rumor intelligence
Web intelligence
Intelligence Excellence (JP 2.0, II-6)
Anticipatory
Timely
Accurate
Usable
Complete
Relevant
Objective
Available

57. Other IAO-Intel Attribute Dimensions
Classification
Unclassified, open source
Secret
Top Secret
Level
Strategic
Operational
Tactical
Encryption Status
Encryption Strength

58. Strategy for Building IAO-Intel
Incremental expansion; the ontology is planned to include artifacts spanning the entire range of IAs, from authoritative data sources to unprocessed reports
Identify orthogonal dimensions of IA attributes and create Low-Level Ontology modules (LLOs)
Small, shallow, and structured following the principle of single inheritance
Used to
Construct more complex terms and define IAO terms
Explicate the meanings of terms standardly used by different agencies
Annotate instance data

59. IAO and BFO BFO: Generically Dependent Continuant
BFO: Independent Continuant
BFO: Specifically Dependent Continuant
Information Content Entity (ICE)
Information Quality Entity (Pattern) (IQE)
Information Structure Entity (ISE)
Information Bearing Entity (IBE)

60. IA
IBE
ISE
ICE
MS Word file (.doc, .docx)
Hard drive (magnetized sector)
MS Word format
Varies
KML file
KML
Map overlay
JPEG file (.jpg)
JPEG format
Image
file
Internet Message Format (e.g., RFC 5322 compliant)
Message
USMTF Message file
A specific government network
USMTF Format
Passport
Paper document; (may include photographs, RFID tags)
ID formats, security marking formats …
Name, Personal data, Passport number, Visas
Title Deed
Official paper document
Report
Overlay Sheet
( e.g. Map Overlay Sheet)
Acetate sheet
MIL-STD-2525 Symbols; FM Operational Terms and Graphics

61. Basic Formal Ontology (BFO)
BFO roots
Basic Formal Ontology (BFO)
Information Artifact Ontology (IAO)
IAO-Intel
Ontology
* = dedicated NIH funding
More than 100 Ontology projects using BFO

62. Users of BFO Examples AIRS Ontologies cROP Ontologies
MilPortal Ontologies
NIF Standard Ontologies
OBO Foundry Ontologies
OAE Ontology of Adverse Events
EnvO Emotion Ontology
IDO Infectious Disease Ontology (NIAID)
US Army Biometrics Ontology

63. .... ..... ....... Basic Formal Ontology universals instances
Continuant
Occurrent
process
(copying a file to
another computer)
Independent
Continuant
thing
(hard drive,
camera, …)
Dependent
Continuant
quality
(color,
shape, …)
instances

64. Occurrents depend on participants
instances this bombing on 15 May that insurgency attack on 5 April occurrent kinds bombing attack participant kinds explosive device terrorist group

65. .... ..... ....... Basic Formal Ontology quality depends on bearer
Continuant
Occurrent
process
Independent
Continuant
thing
Dependent
Continuant
quality
quality depends
on bearer

66. Blinding Flash of the Obvious
Continuant
Occurrent
process, event
Independent
Continuant
thing
Dependent
Continuant
quality, …
event depends
on participant

67. Continuant
Occurrent
Independent
Continuant
Dependent
Continuant
Realizable
Dependent
Continuant
Quality
Process
Disposition
Role

68. Distance Measurement Result
Universals and Instances (from Bill Mandrick)
Geographic
Coordinates Set
designates
Geopolitical
Entity
instance_of
Spatial Region
has location
Village Name
is_a
has location
Distance Measurement Result
designates
Village
Well
Latrine
instance_of
instance_of
instance_of
instance_of
instance_of
’16 meters’
‘VT ’
‘Khanabad Village’
measurement_of
located near
located in

69. Specifically Dependent Continuant
if any bearer ceases to exist, then the quality or function ceases to exist
the color of my skin
the function of my heart
Quality,
Role, Disposition
Realizable
Dependent
Continuant

70. Specifically Dependent Continuant
Red color
of my skin
Red color
of your skin
Accidens non migrat de subjecto in subjectum.
Accidents do not migrate from one substance to another
depends_on
depends_on
see also
You Me

71. Generically Dependent Continuant
if one bearer ceases to exist, then the entity can survive, because there are other bearers
(copyability)
the pdf file on my laptop
the DNA (sequence) in this chromosome
pdf file
jpg file
Gene
Sequence

72. Information artifacts
pdf file poem symphony algorithm symbol – can migrate from one information bearer to another

73. Continuant
Independent
Continuant
Specifically
Dependent
Continuant
Generically
Dependent
Continuant
Realizable
Dependent
Continuant
Quality
Gene
Sequence
Information
Artifact
Disposition
Role

74. Continuant
Independent
Continuant
Specifically
Dependent
Continuant
Generically
Dependent
Continuant
Material
Entity
Quality
Gene
Sequence
Information
Artifact
Information
Bearing
Entity

75. Continuant Independent Continuant Specifically Dependent Continuant
Generically
Dependent
Continuant
Material
Entity
Quality
Information
Artifact
Information
Bearing
Entity (your
hard drive
Information
Quality Entity
(pattern on
your hard drive)
depends_on

76. Continuant Independent Continuant Specifically Dependent Continuant
Generically
Dependent
Continuant
Material
Entity
Quality
Information
Artifact
Information
Bearing
Entity
Information
Quality
Entity
depends_on
concretized_by

77. IAO: information content entity
=def. an entity that is generically dependent on some artifact and stands in the relation of aboutness to some entity

78. Shimon Edelman’s Riddle of Representation
two humans, a monkey, and a robot
are looking at a piece of cheese;
what is common to the representational processes in their visual systems?

79. Answer: The cheese, of course
With thanks to Shimon Edelman. See

80. The real cheese
With thanks to Shimon Edelman. See

81. Concretization
Each IA is concretized_by at least one IQE (Information Quality Entity) The same IA can be concretized in multiple different media (paper, silicon, neuron …)

82. Generically dependent continuants such as plans, laws …
are concretized in specifically dependent continuants (the plan in your head, the protocol being realized by your research team, the law being implemented by this government agency)

83. Patterns can be complex
Types and tokens
A A A
One type, three tokens
A type is a pattern
Patterns can be complex

84. fragment of the War and Peace pattern

85. War and Peace is an instance of the universal novel
Independent
Continuant
Specifically
Dependent
Continuant
Generically
Dependent
Continuant
instance_of
instance_of
instance_of
This bound
copy of
War and Peace
War and Peace
quality
The novel
War and Peace
depends_on
concretized_by

86. What is a work of literature?
Is War and Peace a kind or an instance?
If War and Peace were a kind, and the copies of War and Peace in my library and in your library were instances, then
there would be many War(s) and Peaces.
Hence War and Peace is an instance.

87. There are not two Declarations of Independence
There can be two copies of the US Declaration of Independence
There cannot be two US Declarations of Independence
There cannot be subkinds of the US Declaration of Independence
Hence the US Declaration of Independent is an instance and not a kind.

88. Rule for universals Their names are pluralizable
There can be three people
There cannot be three Michelle Obamas.
Information Content Entities are GDCs = entities which can exist in many copies

89. Generically dependent continuants are distinct from universals
they have a different kind of provenance
Aspirin as product of Bayer GmbH
aspirin as molecular structure
This Financial Report is submitted to the SEC

90. IAO and BFO BFO: Generically Dependent Continuant
BFO: Independent Continuant
BFO: Specifically Dependent Continuant
Information Content Entity (ICE)
Information Quality Entity (Pattern) (IQE)
Information Structure Entity (ISE)
Information Bearing Entity (IBE)

91. Information Content Entities (ICEs)
ICEs are about something in reality (they have this something as a subject; they represent, or mention or describe this something; they inform us about this something).
Aboutness may be identifiable from different perspectives. Thus one analyst may interpret a given ICE as being about the geography of a given encampment; another may view it as providing information about the morale of those encamped there.

92. Information Bearing Entities – IBEs
An IBE is a material entity that has been created to serve as a bearer of information. IBEs are either (1) self-sufficient material wholes, or (2) proper material parts of such wholes.
Examples under (1): a hard drive, a paper printout (e.g., a report)
Examples under (2): a specific sector on a hard drive, a single page of a paper printout.

93. Information Quality Entities (IQEs)
An IQE is the pattern on an IBE in virtue of which it is a bearer of some information
An IQE exists in a given IBE because of a certain patterned arrangement for example of ink or other chemicals, or of electromagnetic excitations.
Every ICE is concretized by at least one IQE

94. Information Structure Entities (ISEs)
Information Structure Entity (ISE) is a structural part of an ICE, for example an empty cell in a spread­sheet; or a blank Microsoft Word file. ISEs thus capture part of what is involved when we talk about the ‘format’ of an IA.

95. Organization of IAO-Intel – IA
‘IA’ refers either
to some combination of ICEs and ISEs (roughly: the IA as body of copyable information content);  or
to some concreti­zation of ICEs and ISEs in some IBE in which some IQE inheres (the information artifact is: this content here and now, on this specific computer screen or this printed page).
Different information artifact kinds will differ in different ways along these dimensions, as illustrated in Table 2.

96. IA
IBE
ISE
ICE
MS Word file (.doc, .docx)
Hard drive (magnetized sector)
MS Word format
Varies
KML file
KML
Map overlay
JPEG file (.jpg)
JPEG format
Image
file
Internet Message Format (e.g., RFC 5322 compliant)
Message
USMTF Message file
A specific government network
USMTF Format
Passport
Paper document; (may include photographs, RFID tags)
ID formats, security marking formats …
Name, Personal data, Passport number, Visas
Title Deed
Official paper document
Report
Overlay Sheet
( e.g. Map Overlay Sheet)
Acetate sheet
MIL-STD-2525 Symbols; FM Operational Terms and Graphics

97. IAO and BFO BFO: Generically Dependent Continuant
BFO: Independent Continuant
BFO: Specifically Dependent Continuant
Information Content Entity (ICE)
Information Quality Entity (Pattern) (IQE)
Information Structure Entity (ISE)
Information Bearing Entity (IBE)

98. IAO and BFO (cont.)
BFO relations between ICEs, ISEs, IQEs and IBEs can be set forth as follows:
ICE generically-depends-on IBE
ISE generically-depends-on IBE
IQE specifically-depends-on IBE
ICE concretized-by IQE
ISE concretized-by IQE
IAO contains in addition relations which allow to formulate metadata concerning attributes of IAs such as author, creation date, classification status, and so forth