RCM data integration — Ontologies and the third tier…

Historically the railway industry has experienced considerable difficulty in effectively integrating RCM data. Previous work on information integration led to the implementation of a simple three tier architecture, where RCM data was collected from legacy systems, stored in a data repository (or warehouse) and processed using analysis tools. This paper discusses the history of RCM data integration and the path followed up to the present situation within the railway industry. It proposes an alternative to the third tier of the architecture, enabling the effective capture of the context of asset data, ensuring domain expert collaboration and supporting effective data analysis. Previous experience has demonstrated that, using a Web Ontology Language (OWL), we can automatically deduce (or infer) valuable information from integrated RCM data, using asset context and expert knowledge that is captured in an ontology. This paper describes how an OWL ontology may form part of a specification for RCM integration, highlighting its part in the solution to mass data integration.