Ontology-Based Information Integration: A State-of-the-Art Review in Road Asset Management

Abstract

As a novel and efficient method of knowledge management, ontology provides a machine-processable technique to establish structured knowledge/information for effective management. The advantages, disadvantages, and future directions of ontology in road asset management, which relies heavily on acquiring and using data, are attracting much research attention over the past few years. This paper aims to provide a thorough and systematic review of ontology, including its development and implementation, in road asset management. In total, 45 journal papers and 12 conference papers published over the last 14 years were reviewed, sorted, and analysed. It is observed that: (1) most ontologies in road asset management target at traffic service and road assets; (2) most ontologies are designed to support the operation and maintenance stage; and (3) RDF-based language and OWL semantics are the two most popular ontology technique. From the review, it is found that the current development and implementation of ontology in road asset management also have a few limitations, including the lack of specific ontology engineering approach, the lack of an automatic mechanism to capture instances, properties and relationships, limited ontologies techniques in this field, and the lack of sharing and linking ontologies of different domains. This study provides useful reference for the architecture, engineering and construction industry to understand and select the most appropriate ontology techniques for creating structured knowledge bases and making effective knowledge management decisions.