A priori ontology modularisation in ill-defined domains

Modularisation is crucial to create re-usable and manageable ontologies. The modularisation is usually performed a posteriori, i.e. after the ontology is developed, and has been applied mainly to well-structured domains. With the increasing popularity of social media, Semantic web technologies are moving towards ill-defined domains that involve cognitively-complex processes carried out by humans and require tacit knowledge (e.g. decisionmaking, sensemaking, interpersonal communication, negotiating, motivating). In such domains, a priori modularisation can enable ontology creation to handle the complexity and the dynamic nature of knowledge. This paper outlines an a priori modularisation methodology for multi-layered development of ontologies in ill-defined domains, including an upper ontology layer, high-level and reusable domain layers, and case-specific layers. The methodology is being applied in several use cases in two EU projects - Dicode and ImREAL.