Ontology Summit 2016 Communique: Ontologies within semantic interoperability ecosystems

Ontologies and related reasoning systems are key to the facilitation of semantic integration and interoperability. But several key questions are involved. How do we define the tools, methodologies and frameworks which support this interoperability? What is required to achieve optimal performance ac ross applications and domains? How do we frame the conversation when discussing the role of ontologies in support of interoperability with various stakeholders? Ontology Summit 2016 explored these questions. This document is a summary of the Ontology Summit, where we present an overview of semantic interoperability challenges, provide examples from several domains, discuss design approaches, strategies and next steps for the field moving forward.