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Data Source Ontology

Definition: An entity that provides access to data or information, representing the origin or provider of data that can be consumed by other systems or processes.

Parent: Generically Dependent Continuant

See also: Data Source Component, Backing Data Source

note

This application ontology is not fully vetted and is subject to changes as we refine the modeling approach for third-party integrations.

Modeling Notes​

  • Application-level ontology for managing data sources and relationships
  • Provides systematic data source hierarchy and component structure
  • Includes data quality and metadata management concepts
  • Supports backing relationships between entities and their data sources
  • Essential for AI system data integration and quality monitoring

Data Source Hierarchy​

Core Data Source Types​

  • Database Source - Structured data in database systems
  • API Source - Data through Application Programming Interfaces
  • File System Source - Data stored in files within file systems
  • Stream Source - Real-time data streams

Data Source Components​

  • Database Table - Specific tables within databases
  • API Endpoint Component - Specific endpoints within APIs
  • File Directory - Directories containing data files
  • Data Stream - Individual data streams

Data Quality Framework​

Quality Concepts​

  • Data Quality - Reliability, accuracy, and completeness characteristics
  • Data Freshness - How recently data was updated or refreshed
  • Data Accuracy - How correctly data represents real-world entities

Metadata Management​

  • Data Schema - Structure and format definitions
  • Source Type - Technology categorization (REST_API, SQL_DATABASE, etc.)
  • Source Path - Location or path information
  • Extracted At - Timestamp of data extraction

Implementation Example​

# Enterprise data source with quality metrics
abi:customer_database a abi:DatabaseSource ;
    rdfs:label "Customer Database"@en ;
    abi:hasComponent abi:customer_table, abi:orders_table ;
    abi:source_type "SQL_DATABASE" ;
    bfo:BFO_0000086 abi:high_data_quality . # has quality

# Data source component
abi:customer_table a abi:DatabaseTable ;
    rdfs:label "Customer Table"@en ;
    abi:isComponentOf abi:customer_database ;
    abi:hasDataSchema abi:customer_schema .

# Data quality assessment
abi:high_data_quality a abi:DataQuality ;
    rdfs:label "High Data Quality"@en ;
    abi:hasAccuracyScore "0.95"^^xsd:decimal ;
    abi:hasFreshnessScore "0.90"^^xsd:decimal .

# Backing relationship
abi:customer_report abi:hasBackingDataSource abi:customer_database .

Key Properties​

  • abi:hasComponent / abi:isComponentOf - Data source composition
  • abi:hasBackingDataSource - Entity to data source relationships
  • abi:dependsOn - Data source dependencies
  • abi:hasDataSchema - Schema definitions
  • abi:extracted_at - Extraction timestamps