Engaged ontology development to bridge fragmented digital realities

Fragmented knowledge bases in construction are the result of varying views on how to capture and represent knowledge. For asset management of utility infrastructure, knowledge is often either stored implicitly or in heterogeneously structured data models. Consequently, it becomes difficult to connect and implement the different data models coming from numerous individual asset owners. To unify these various knowledge representations of utility infrastructure data, we adopt the computer science concept of the 'ontology'. By using a design science-inspired research approach, we demonstrate the development of an ontology with the intent to cope better with the fragmentation in the utility infrastructure sector. We further demonstrate that the co-development of an ontology with domain professionals may emerge into a shared conceptualisation of the domain. Based on this process, we claim that engaged ontology development can play an important role in bridging the fragmentation between digital realities, in turn making digital modelling concepts such as digital twins more likely to become adopted by the utility construction sector. Future work is required to assess the impact of the ontology once applied on a larger scale.