text:
Results for 'formal ontology'
1000+ found
Formal Ontology for Natural Language Processing and the Integration of Biomedical Databases.Jonathan Simon, James M. Fielding, Mariana C. Dos Santos & Barry Smith - 2005 - International Journal of Medical Informatics 75 (3-4):224-231.details
The central hypothesis of the collaboration between Language and Computing (L&C) and the Institute for Formal Ontology and Medical Information Science (IFOMIS) is that the methodology and conceptual rigor of a philosophically inspired formal ontology greatly benefits application ontologies. To this end r®, L&C's ontology, which is designed to integrate and reason across various external databases simultaneously, has been submitted to the conceptual demands of IFOMIS's Basic Formal Ontology (BFO). With this project we (...) aim to move beyond the level of controlled vocabularies to yield an ontology with the ability to support reasoning applications. Our general procedure has been the implementation of a meta-ontological definition space in which the definitions of all the concepts and relations in LinKBase® are standardized in a framework of first-order logic. In this paper we describe how this standardization has already led to an improvement in the LinKBase® structure that allows for a greater degree of internal coherence than ever before possible. We then show the use of this philosophical standardization for the purpose of mapping external databases to one another, using LinKBase® as translation hub, with a greater degree of success than possible hitherto. We demonstrate how this offers a genuine advance over other application ontologies that have not submitted themselves to the demands of philosophical scrutiny. LinKBase® is one of the world's largest applications-oriented medical domain ontologies, and BFO is one of the world's first philosophically driven reference ontologies. The collaboration of the two thus initiates a new phase in the quest to solve the so-called "Tower of Babel". (shrink)
Formal Ontology, Common Sense, and Cognitive Science.Barry Smith - 1995 - International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 43 (5-6):641–667.details
Common sense is on the one hand a certain set of processes of natural cognition - of speaking, reasoning, seeing, and so on. On the other hand common sense is a system of beliefs (of folk physics, folk psychology and so on). Over against both of these is the world of common sense, the world of objects to which the processes of natural cognition and the corresponding belief-contents standardly relate. What are the structures of this world? How does the scientific (...) treatment of this world relate to traditional and contemporary metaphysics and formal ontology? Can we embrace a thesis of common-sense realism to the effect that the world of common sense exists uniquely? Or must we adopt instead a position of cultural relativism which would assign distinct worlds of common sense to each group and epoch? The present paper draws on recent work in computer science (especially in the fields of naive and qualitative physics), in perceptual and developmental psychology, and in cognitive anthropology, in order to consider in a new light these and related questions and to draw conclusions for the methodology and philosophical foundations of the cognitive sciences. (shrink)
A Formal Ontology of Artefacts.Gilles Kassel - 2010 - Applied Ontology 5 (3):223-246.details
This article presents a formal ontology which accounts for the general nature of artefacts. The objective is to help structure application ontologies in areas where specific artefacts are present - in other words, virtually any area of activity. The conceptualization relies on recent philosophical and psychological research on artefacts, having resulted in a largely consensual theoretical basis. Furthermore, this ontology of artefacts extends the foundational DOLCE ontology and supplements its axiomatization. The conceptual primitives are as follows: (...) artificial entity, intentional production of entities, (state of) capacity, capacity to play a role in actions of a given type, function and functional object. These primitives enable artefacts in general to be characterized as intentionally and successfully produced entities, and isolate an important subclass of "technical" artefacts to which a function is ascribed. Lastly, we emphasize the novelty of this ontology by comparing it with other works with similar objectives. (shrink)
Functions in Basic Formal Ontology.Andrew D. Spear, Werner Ceusters & Barry Smith - 2016 - Applied ontology 11 (2):103-128.details
The notion of function is indispensable to our understanding of distinctions such as that between being broken and being in working order (for artifacts) and between being diseased and being healthy (for organisms). A clear account of the ontology of functions and functioning is thus an important desideratum for any top-level ontology intended for application to domains such as engineering or medicine. The benefit of using top-level ontologies in applied ontology can only be realized when each of (...) the categories identified and defined by a top-level ontology is integrated with the others in a coherent fashion. Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) has from the beginning included function as one of its categories, exploiting a version of the etiological account of function that is framed at a level of generality sufficient to accommodate both biological and artifactual functions. This account has been subjected to a series of criticisms and refinements. We here articulate BFO's account of function, provide some reasons for favoring it over competing views, and defend it against objections. (shrink)
Framework for Formal Ontology.Barry Smith & Kevin Mulligan - 1983 - Topoi 2 (1):73-85.details
The discussions which follow rest on a distinction, first expounded by Husserl, between formal logic and formal ontology. The former concerns itself with (formal) meaning-structures; the latter with formal structures amongst objects and their parts. The paper attempts to show how, when formal ontological considerations are brought into play, contemporary extensionalist theories of part and whole, and above all the mereology of Leniewski, can be generalised to embrace not only relations between concrete objects and (...) object-pieces, but also relations between what we shall call dependent parts or moments. A two-dimensional formal language is canvassed for the resultant ontological theory, a language which owes more to the tradition of Euler, Boole and Venn than to the quantifier-centred languages which have predominated amongst analytic philosophers since the time of Frege and Russell. Analytic philosophical arguments against moments, and against the entire project of a formal ontology, are considered and rejected. The paper concludes with a brief account of some applications of the theory presented. (shrink)
Logic and Formal Ontology.Barry Smith - 2000 - Manuscrito 23 (2):275-323.details
Revised version of chapter in J. N. Mohanty and W. McKenna (eds.), Husserl's Phenomenology: A Textbook, Lanham: University Press of America, 1989, 29–67. -/- Logic for Husserl is a science of science, a science of what all sciences have in common in their modes of validation. Thus logic deals with universal laws relating to truth, to deduction, to verification and falsification, and with laws relating to theory as such, and to what makes for theoretical unity, both on the side of (...) the propositions of a theory and on the side of the domain of objects to which these propositions refer. This essay presents a systematic overview of Husserl's views on these matters as put forward in his Logical Investigations. It shows how Husserl's theory of linguistic meanings as species of mental acts, his formal ontology of part, whole and dependence, his theory of meaning categories, and his theory of categorial intuition combine with his theory of science to form a single whole. Finally, it explores the ways in which Husserl's ideas on these matters can be put to use in solving problems in the philosophy of language, logic and mathematics in a way which does justice to the role of mental activity in each of these domains while at the same time avoiding the pitfalls of psychologism. (shrink)
Basic Concepts of Formal Ontology.Barry Smith - 1998 - In Nicola Guarino (ed.), Formal Ontology in Information Systems. IOS Press. pp. 19-28.details
The term 'formal ontology' was first used by the philosopher Edmund Husserl in his Logical Investigations to signify the study of those formal structures and relations – above all relations of part and whole – which are exemplified in the subject-matters of the different material sciences. We follow Husserl in presenting the basic concepts of formal ontology as falling into three groups: the theory of part and whole, the theory of dependence, and the theory of (...) boundary, continuity and contact. These basic concepts are presented in relation to the problem of providing an account of the formal ontology of the mesoscopic realm of everyday experience, and specifically of providing an account of the concept of individual substance. (shrink)
An Essay in Formal Ontology.Barry Smith - 1978 - Grazer Philosophische Studien 6 (1):39-62.details
As conceived by analytic philosophers ontology consists in the application of the methods of mathematical logic to the analysis of ontological discourse. As conceived by realist philosophers such as Meinong and the early Husserl, Reinach and Ingarden, it consists in the investigation of the forms of entities of various types. The suggestion is that formal methods be employed by phenomenological ontologists, and that phenomenological insights may contribute to the construction of adequate formal-ontological languages. The paper sketches an (...) account of what might be involved in this new discipline, an account which is illustrated in application to the formal-ontological problems raised by negative states of affairs. (shrink)
The Formal Ontology of Boundaries.Barry Smith & Achille C. Varzi - 1997 - Electronic Journal of Analytic Philosophy 5 (5).details
Revised version published as Barry Smith and Achille Varzi, "Fiat and Bona Fide Boundaries", Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 60: 2 (March 2000), 401–420.
An Axiomatisation of Basic Formal Ontology with Projection Functions.Kerry Trentelman, Alan Ruttenberg & Barry Smith - 2010 - In Kerry Taylor (ed.), Advances in Ontologies, Proceedings of the Sixth Australasian Ontology Workshop. University of Adelaide. pp. 71-80.details
This paper proposes a reformulation of the treatment of boundaries, at parts and aggregates of entities in Basic Formal Ontology. These are currently treated as mutually exclusive, which is inadequate for biological representation since some entities may simultaneously be at parts, boundaries and/or aggregates. We introduce functions which map entities to their boundaries, at parts or aggregations. We make use of time, space and spacetime projection functions which, along the way, allow us to develop a simple temporal theory.
On Classifying Material Entities in Basic Formal Ontology.Barry Smith - 2012 - In Interdisciplinary Ontology: Proceedings of the Third Interdisciplinary Ontology Meeting. Keio University Press. pp. 1-13.details
Basic Formal Ontology was created in 2002 as an upper-level ontology to support the creation of consistent lower-level ontologies, initially in the subdomains of biomedical research, now also in other areas, including defense and security. BFO is currently undergoing revisions in preparation for the release of BFO version 2.0. We summarize some of the proposed revisions in what follows, focusing on BFO's treatment of material entities, and specifically of the category object.
Function, Role and Disposition in Basic Formal Ontology.Robert Arp & Barry Smith - 2008 - Proceedings of Bio-Ontologies Workshop, Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB), Toronto.details
Numerous research groups are now utilizing Basic Formal Ontology as an upper-level framework to assist in the organization and integration of biomedical information. This paper provides elucidation of the three existing BFO subcategories of realizable entity, namely function, role, and disposition. It proposes one further sub-category of tendency, and considers the merits of recognizing two sub-categories of function for domain ontologies, namely, artifactual and biological function. The motivation is to help advance the coherent ontological treatment of functions, roles, (...) and dispositions, to help provide the potential for more detailed classification, and to shed light on BFO's general make-up and use. (shrink)
Parts and Moments. Studies in Logic and Formal Ontology.Barry Smith (ed.) - 1982 - Philosophia Verlag.details
A collection of material on Husserl's Logical Investigations, and specifically on Husserl's formal theory of parts, wholes and dependence and its influence in ontology, logic and psychology. Includes translations of classic works by Adolf Reinach and Eugenie Ginsberg, as well as original contributions by Wolfgang Künne, Kevin Mulligan, Gilbert Null, Barry Smith, Peter M. Simons, Roger A. Simons and Dallas Willard. Documents work on Husserl's ontology arising out of early meetings of the Seminar for Austro-German Philosophy.
Logic and Formal Ontology.B. Smith - 1989 - In J. N. Mohanty & W. McKenna (eds.), Husserl's Phenomenology: A Textbook. Lanham: University Press of America. pp. 29-67.details
The current resurgence of interest in cognition and in the nature of cognitive processing has brought with it also a renewed interest in the early work of Husserl, which contains one of the most sustained attempts to come to grips with the problems of logic from a cognitive point of view. Logic, for Husserl, is a theory of science; but it is a theory which takes seriously the idea that scientific theories are constituted by the mental acts of cognitive subjects. (...) The present essay begins with an exposition of Husserl's act-based conception of what a science is, and goes on to consider his account of the role of linguistic meanings, of the ontology of scientific objects, and of evidence and truth. The essay concentrates almost exclusively on the Logical Investigations of 1900/01. This is not only because this work, which is surely Husserl's single most important masterpiece, has been overshadowed first of all by his Ideas I and then later by the Crisis. It is also because the Investigations contain, in a peculiarly clear and pregnant form, a whole panoply of ideas on logic and cognitive theory which either simply disappeared in Husserl's own later writings or became obfuscated by an admixture of that great mystery which is 'transcendental phenomenology'. (shrink)
Formal Ontology as an Operative Tool in the Theories of the Objects of the Life-World.Horacio Banega - 2012 - Symposium 16 (2):64-88.details
Formal ontology as it is presented in Husserl`s Third Logical Investigation can be interpreted as a fundamental tool to describe objects in a formal sense. It is presented one of the main sources: chapter five of Carl Stumpf`s Ûber den psycholoogischen Ursprung der Raumovorstellung (1873), and then it is described how Husserlian Formal Ontology is applied in Fifth Logical Investigation. Finally, it is applied to dramatic structures, in the spirit of Roman Ingarden.
Basic Formal Ontology for Bioinformatics.Barry Smith, Anand Kumar & Thomas Bittner - 2005 - IFOMIS Reports.details
Two senses of 'ontology' can be distinguished in the current literature. First is the sense favored by information scientists, who view ontologies as software implementations designed to capture in some formal way the consensus conceptualization shared by those working on information systems or databases in a given domain. [Gruber 1993] Second is the sense favored by philosophers, who regard ontologies as theories of different types of entities (objects, processes, relations, functions) [Smith 2003]. Where information systems ontologists seek to (...) maximize reasoning efficiency even at the price of simplifications on the side of representation, philosophical ontologists argue that representational adequacy can bring benefits for the stability and resistance to error of an ontological framework and also for its extendibility in the future. In bioinformatics, however, a third sense of 'ontology' has established itself, above all as a result of the successes of the Gene Ontology (hereafter: GO), which is a tool for the representation and processing of information about gene products and their biological functions [Gene Ontology Consortium 2000]. We show how Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) has established itself as an overarching ontology drawing on all three of the strands distinguished above, and describe applications of BFO especially in the treatment of biological granularity. (shrink)
Formal Ontology for Biomedical Knowledge Systems Integration.J. M. Fielding, J. Simon & Barry Smith - 2004 - Proceedings of Euromise:12-17.details
The central hypothesis of the collaboration between Language and Computing (L&C) and the Institute for Formal Ontology and Medical Information Science (IFOMIS) is that the methodology and conceptual rigor of a philosophically inspired formal ontology will greatly benefit software application ontologies. To this end LinKBase®, L&C's ontology, which is designed to integrate and reason across various external databases simultaneously, has been submitted to the conceptual demands of IFOMIS's Basic Formal Ontology (BFO). With this, (...) we aim to move beyond the level of controlled vocabularies to yield an ontology with the ability to support reasoning applications. (shrink)
Normalizing Medical Ontologies Using Basic Formal Ontology.Thomas Bittner & Barry Smith - 2004 - In K. Versorgung & V. Forschung (eds.), Ubiquitäre Information (Proceedings of GMDS 2004). Videel OHG. pp. 199-201.details
Description Logics are nowadays widely accepted as formalisms which provide reasoning facilities which allow us to discover inconsistencies in ontologies in an automatic fashion. Where ontologies are developed in modular fashion, they allow changes in one module to propogated through the system of ontologies automatically in a way which helps to maintain consistency and stability. For this feature to be utilized effectively, however, requires that domain ontologies be represented in a normalized form.
On the Application of Formal Principles to Life Science Data: A Case Study in the Gene Ontology.Jacob Köhler, Anand Kumar & Barry Smith - 2004 - In Proceedings of DILS 2004 (Data Integration in the Life Sciences), (Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics 2994). Berlin: Springer. pp. 79-94.details
Formal principles governing best practices in classification and definition have for too long been neglected in the construction of biomedical ontologies, in ways which have important negative consequences for data integration and ontology alignment. We argue that the use of such principles in ontology construction can serve as a valuable tool in error-detection and also in supporting reliable manual curation. We argue also that such principles are a prerequisite for the successful application of advanced data integration techniques (...) such as ontology-based multi-database querying, automated ontology alignment and ontology-based text-mining. These theses are illustrated by means of a case study of the Gene Ontology, a project of increasing importance within the field of biomedical data integration. (shrink)
A First-Order Logic Formalization of the Industrial Ontology Foundry Signature Using Basic Formal Ontology.Barry Smith, Farhad Ameri, Hyunmin Cheong, Dimitris Kiritsis, Dusan Sormaz, Chris Will & J. Neil Otte - 2019 - In Proceedings of the Joint Ontology Workshops (JOWO), Graz.details
Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) is a top-level ontology used in hundreds of active projects in scientific and other domains. BFO has been selected to serve as top-level ontology in the Industrial Ontologies Foundry (IOF), an initiative to create a suite of ontologies to support digital manufacturing on the part of representatives from a number of branches of the advanced manufacturing industries. We here present a first draft set of axioms and definitions of an IOF upper (...) class='Hi'>ontology descending from BFO. The axiomatization is designed to capture the meanings of terms commonly used in manufacturing and is designed to serve as starting point for the construction of the IOF ontology suite. (shrink)
Applying the Realism-Based Ontology-Versioning Method for Tracking Changes in the Basic Formal Ontology.Selja Seppälä, Barry Smith & Werner Ceusters - 2014 - In P. Garbacz & O. Kutz (eds.), Formal Ontology in Information Systems (FOIS 2014). IOS Press. pp. 227-240.details
Changes in an upper level ontology have obvious conse-quences for the domain ontologies that use it at lower levels. It is therefore crucial to document the changes made between successive versions of ontologies of this kind. We describe and apply a method for tracking, explaining and measuring changes between successive versions of upper level ontologies such as the Basic Formal Ontology (BFO). The proposed change-tracking method extends earlier work on Realism-Based Ontology Versioning (RBOV) and Evolutionary Terminology (...) Auditing (ETA). We describe here the application of this evaluation method to changes between BFO 1.0, BFO 1.1, and BFO 2.0. We discuss the issues raised by this application and describe the extensions which we added to the original evaluation schema in order to account for changes in an ontology of this type. Our results show that BFO has undergone eight types of changes that can be systematically explained by the extended evaluation schema. Finally, we discuss problematic cases, possible pitfalls and certain limits of our study that we propose to address in future work. (shrink)
Wholistic Reference, Truth-Values, Universes of Discourse, and Formal Ontology: Tréplica to Oswaldo Chateaubriand.John Corcoran - 2005 - Manuscrito 28 (1):143-167.details
ABSTRACT: In its strongest unqualified form, the principle of wholistic reference is that in any given discourse, each proposition refers to the whole universe of that discourse, regardless of how limited the referents of its non-logical or content terms. According to this principle every proposition of number theory, even an equation such as "5 + 7 = 12", refers not only to the individual numbers that it happens to mention but to the whole universe of numbers. This principle, its history, (...) and its relevance to some of Oswaldo Chateaubriand's work are discussed in my 2004 paper "The Principle of Wholistic Reference" in Essays on Chateaubriand's "Logical Forms". In Chateaubriand's réplica (reply), which is printed with my paper, he raised several important additional issues including the three I focus on in this tréplica (reply to his reply): truth-values, universes of discourse, and formal ontology. This paper is self-contained: it is not necessary to have read the above-mentioned works. The principle of wholistic reference (PWR) was first put forth by George Boole in 1847 when he espoused a monistic fixed-universe viewpoint similar to the one Frege and Russell espoused throughout their careers. Later, Boole elaborated PWR in 1854 from the pluralistic multiple-universes perspective. (shrink)
Facts, Formal Objects and Ontology.Kevin Mulligan - 2009 - Swiss Philosophical Preprints.details
What is a fact ? Are there such things ?
An Overview of the BFO - Basic Formal Ontology - and Its Applicability for Satellite Systems.Adolfo Americano Brandão & Geilson Loureiro - 2020 - In Franciele Braga Machado Tullio & Lucio Mauro Braga Machado (eds.), Ampliação e Aprofundamento de Conhecimentos nas Áreas das Engenharias,. Ponta Grossa, Brazil: Atena Editora. pp. 30-38.details
This work aims to present an overview of the top-level ontology BFO - Basic Formal Ontology - and its applicability for Satellite Systems. As an upper level ontology, the BFO was designed to be extended, providing the basis for the specification of detailed representational artifacts about scientific information domains. These aspects and the challenges of satellite systems complexity and large size compose a suitable scenario for the creation of a specialized dialect to improve efficiency and accuracy (...) when modeling such systems. By analyzing BFO based ontologies in other disciplines and existing satellite models it is possible to describe an application for satellite systems, which can provide a foundation for the creation of a concrete ontology to be applied on satellite modeling. (shrink)
Interoperability of Disparate Engineering Domain Ontologies Using Basic Formal Ontology.Thomas J. Hagedorn, Barry Smith, Sundar Krishnamurty & Ian R. Grosse - 2019 - Journal of Engineering Design 31.details
As engineering applications require management of ever larger volumes of data, ontologies offer the potential to capture, manage, and augment data with the capability for automated reasoning and semantic querying. Unfortunately, considerable barriers hinder wider deployment of ontologies in engineering. Key among these is lack of a shared top-level ontology to unify and organise disparate aspects of the field and coordinate co-development of orthogonal ontologies. As a result, many engineering ontologies are limited to their scope, and functionally difficult to (...) extend or interoperate with other engineering ontologies. This paper demonstrates how the use of a top-level ontology, specifically the Basic Formal Ontology (BFO), greatly facilitates interoperability of multiple engineering-related ontologies. We constructed a system of formal linked ontologies by re-engineering legacy ontologies to be conformant with BFO and developing new BFO-conformant ontologies to capture knowledge in the engineering design, enterprise, human factors, manufacturing, and application domain of additive manufacturing. The resulting Integrated Framework for Additively Manufactured Products (IFAMP), including the body knowledge instantiated on its basis, serve as the basis for a proposed Design with Additive Manufacturing Method (DWAM), which we believe can support the design of innovative products with semantically enhanced ideation tools and enhanced access to application domain knowledge. The method and its facilitation through the ontological framework are demonstrated using a case study in medicine. (shrink)
Biodynamic Ontology: Applying BFO in the Biomedical Domain.Barry Smith, Pierre Grenon & Louis Goldberg - 2004 - Studies in Health and Technology Informatics 102:20–38.details
Current approaches to formal representation in biomedicine are characterized by their focus on either the static or the dynamic aspects of biological reality. We here outline a theory that combines both perspectives and at the same time tackles the by no means trivial issue of their coherent integration. Our position is that a good ontology must be capable of accounting for reality both synchronically (as it exists at a time) and diachronically (as it unfolds through time), but that (...) these are two quite different tasks, whose simultaneous realization is by no means trivial. The paper is structured as follows. We begin by laying out the methodological and philosophical background of our approach. We then summarize the structure and elements of the Basic Formal Ontology on which it rests, in particular the SNAP ontology of objects and the SPAN ontology of processes. Finally, we apply the general framework to the specific domain of biomedicine. (shrink)
The Ontology for Biomedical Investigations.Anita Bandrowski, Ryan Brinkman, Mathias Brochhausen, Matthew H. Brush, Bill Bug, Marcus C. Chibucos, Kevin Clancy, Mélanie Courtot, Dirk Derom, Michel Dumontier, Liju Fan, Jennifer Fostel, Gilberto Fragoso, Frank Gibson, Alejandra Gonzalez-Beltran, Melissa A. Haendel, Yongqun He, Mervi Heiskanen, Tina Hernandez-Boussard, Mark Jensen, Yu Lin, Allyson L. Lister, Phillip Lord, James Malone, Elisabetta Manduchi, Monnie McGee, Norman Morrison, James A. Overton, Helen Parkinson, Bjoern Peters, Philippe Rocca-Serra, Alan Ruttenberg, Susanna-Assunta Sansone, Richard H. Scheuermann, Daniel Schober, Barry Smith, Larisa N. Soldatova, Christian J. Stoeckert, Chris F. Taylor, Carlo Torniai, Jessica A. Turner, Randi Vita, Patricia L. Whetzel & Jie Zheng - 2016 - PLoS ONE 11 (4):e0154556.details
The Ontology for Biomedical Investigations (OBI) is an ontology that provides terms with precisely defined meanings to describe all aspects of how investigations in the biological and medical domains are conducted. OBI re-uses ontologies that provide a representation of biomedical knowledge from the Open Biological and Biomedical Ontologies (OBO) project and adds the ability to describe how this knowledge was derived. We here describe the state of OBI and several applications that are using it, such as adding semantic (...) expressivity to existing databases, building data entry forms, and enabling interoperability between knowledge resources. OBI covers all phases of the investigation process, such as planning, execution and reporting. It represents information and material entities that participate in these processes, as well as roles and functions. Prior to OBI, it was not possible to use a single internally consistent resource that could be applied to multiple types of experiments for these applications. OBI has made this possible by creating terms for entities involved in biological and medical investigations and by importing parts of other biomedical ontologies such as GO, Chemical Entities of Biological Interest (ChEBI) and Phenotype Attribute and Trait Ontology (PATO) without altering their meaning. OBI is being used in a wide range of projects covering genomics, multi-omics, immunology, and catalogs of services. OBI has also spawned other ontologies (Information Artifact Ontology) and methods for importing parts of ontologies (Minimum information to reference an external ontology term (MIREOT)). The OBI project is an open cross-disciplinary collaborative effort, encompassing multiple research communities from around the globe. To date, OBI has created 2366 classes and 40 relations along with textual and formal definitions. The OBI Consortium maintains a web resource providing details on the people, policies, and issues being addressed in association with OBI. (shrink)
Ontology-Based Fusion of Sensor Data and Natural Language.Erik Thomsen & Barry Smith - 2018 - Applied Ontology 13 (4):295-333.details
We describe a prototype ontology-driven information system (ODIS) that exploits what we call Portion of Reality (POR) representations. The system takes both sensor data and natural language text as inputs and composes on this basis logically structured POR assertions. The goal of our prototype is to represent both natural language and sensor data within a single framework that is able to support both axiomatic reasoning and computation. In addition, the framework should be capable of discovering and representing new kinds (...) of situations and thematic roles, (e.g., roles such as agent, patient and instrument), based on new compositions of existing representations. We applied our prototype in an intelligence analysis use case to test the hypothesis that a framework of this sort can produce usefully structured information from combined natural language and sensor data inputs. We further tested our hypothesis by adding an enhanced US Air Force ontology framework to our ODIS in order to (1) process a collection of sensor data, intel reports, and mission plans; (2) build composite POR representations from these data; and (3) machine analyze the fused results to infer mission threats. (shrink)
Strengths and Limitations of Formal Ontologies in the Biomedical Domain.Barry Smith - 2009 - Electronic Journal of Communication, Information and Innovation in Health 3 (1):31-45.details
We propose a typology of representational artifacts for health care and life sciences domains and associate this typology with different kinds of formal ontology and logic, drawing conclusions as to the strengths and limitations for ontology in a description logics framework. The four types of domain representation we consider are: (i) lexico-semantic representation, (ii) representation of types of entities, (iii) representations of background knowledge, and (iv) representation of individuals. We advocate a clear distinction of the four kinds (...) of representation in order to provide a more rational basis for using ontologies and related artifacts to advance integration of data and enhance interoperability of associated reasoning systems. We highlight the fact that only a minor portion of scientifically relevant facts in a domain such as biomedicine can be adequately represented by formal ontologies as long as the latter are conceived as representations of entity types. In particular, the attempt to encode default or probabilistic knowledge using ontologies so conceived is prone to produce unintended, erroneous models. (shrink)
Ontology and the Logistic Analysis of Reality.Barry Smith - 1993 - In Nicola Guarino & Roberto Poli (eds.), Proceedings of the International Workshop on Formal Ontology in Conceptual Analysis and Knowledge Representation. Italian National Research Council. pp. 51-68.details
I shall attempt in what follows to show how mereology, taken together with certain topological notions, can yield the basis for future investigations in formal ontology. I shall attempt to show also how the mereological framework here advanced can allow the direct and natural formulation of a series of theses – for example pertaining to the concept of boundary – which can be formulated only indirectly (if at all) in set-theoretic terms.
Duality and Ontology.Baptiste Le Bihan & James Read - 2018 - Philosophy Compass 13 (12):e12555.details
A 'duality' is a formal mapping between the spaces of solutions of two empirically equivalent theories. In recent times, dualities have been found to be pervasive in string theory and quantum field theory. Naïvely interpreted, duality-related theories appear to make very different ontological claims about the world—differing in e.g. space-time structure, fundamental ontology, and mereological structure. In light of this, duality-related theories raise questions familiar from discussions of underdetermination in the philosophy of science: in the presence of dual (...) theories, what is one to say about the ontology of the world? In this paper, we undertake a comprehensive and non-technical survey of the landscape of possible ontological interpretations of duality-related theories. We provide a significantly enriched and clarified taxonomy of options—several of which are novel to the literature. (shrink)
The Ontology of Collective Action.Kirk Ludwig - 2014 - In Sara Chant Frank Hindriks & Gerhard Preyer (eds.), From Individual to Collective Intentionality: New Essays. Oxford University Press.details
What is the ontology of collective action? I have in mind three connected questions. 1. Do the truth conditions of action sentences about groups require there to be group agents over and above individual agents? 2. Is there a difference, in this connection, between action sentences about informal groups that use plural noun phrases, such as 'We pushed the car' and 'The women left the party early', and action sentences about formal or institutional groups that use singular noun (...) phrases, such as 'The United States declared war on Japan on December 8th, 1941' and 'The Supreme Court ruled that segregation is unconstitutional in 1954 in Brown vs. Board of Education'? 3. Under what conditions does it make sense to speak of a group doing something together, and what, if anything, is a collective action? In this paper, I argue that a) understanding action sentences about groups does not commit us to the existence of group agents per se, but only to the existence of individual agents; b) there is no difference in this regard between sentences which attribute actions to informal groups on the one hand and institutional groups on the other; c) collective action can be both intentional and unintentional; d) any random group of agents each of whom does something is also a group which does something together; e) while there is a sense in which groups per se perform no primitive collective actions, and therefore no actions at all, f) there is a sensible extension of talk of actions to groups, though it should be treated strictly speaking, like talk of group agents, as a façon de parler, for g) the only agents per se are individuals and the only actions are theirs. -/-. (shrink)
Ontology: Towards a New Synthesis.Barry Smith & Chris Welty - 2001 - In Formal Ontology in Information Systems. New York: ACM Press.details
This introduction to the second international conference on Formal Ontology and Information Systems presents a brief history of ontology as a discipline spanning the boundaries of philosophy and information science. We sketch some of the reasons for the growth of ontology in the information science field, and offer a preliminary stocktaking of how the term 'ontology' is currently used. We conclude by suggesting some grounds for optimism as concerns the future collaboration between philosophical ontologists and (...) information scientists. (shrink)
Parts: A Study in Ontology.Peter Simons - 1987 - Oxford University Press.details
Although the relationship of part to whole is one of the most fundamental there is, this is the first full-length study of this key concept. Showing that mereology, or the formal theory of part and whole, is essential to ontology, Simons surveys and critiques previous theories--especially the standard extensional view--and proposes a new account that encompasses both temporal and modal considerations. Simons's revised theory not only allows him to offer fresh solutions to long-standing problems, but also has far-reaching (...) consequences for our understanding of a host of classical philosophical concepts. (shrink)
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Foundation for a Realist Ontology of Cognitive Processes.David Kasmier, David Limbaugh & Barry Smith - 2019 - In Proceedings of the International Conference on Biomedical Ontology (ICBO), University at Buffalo, NY.details
What follows is a first step towards an ontology of conscious mental processes. We provide a theoretical foundation and characterization of conscious mental processes based on a realist theory of intentionality and using BFO as our top-level ontology. We distinguish three components of intentional mental process: character, directedness, and objective referent, and describe several features of the process character and directedness significant to defining and classifying mental processes. We arrive at the definition of representational mental process as a (...) process that is the bringing into being, sustaining, modifying, or terminating of a mental representation. We conclude by outlining some benefits and applications of this approach. (shrink)
Classifying Processes: An Essay in Applied Ontology.Barry Smith - 2012 - Ratio 25 (4):463-488.details
We begin by describing recent developments in the burgeoning discipline of applied ontology, focusing especially on the ways ontologies are providing a means for the consistent representation of scientific data. We then introduce Basic Formal Ontology (BFO), a top-level ontology that is serving as domain-neutral framework for the development of lower level ontologies in many specialist disciplines, above all in biology and medicine. BFO is a bicategorial ontology, embracing both three-dimensionalist (continuant) and four-dimensionalist (occurrent) perspectives (...) within a single framework. We examine how BFO-conformant domain ontologies can deal with the consistent representation of scientific data deriving from the measurement of processes of different types, and we outline on this basis the first steps of an approach to the classification of such processes within the BFO framework. (shrink)
Ontology with Human Subjects Testing: An Empirical Investigation of Geographic Categories.Barry Smith & David M. Mark - 1998 - American Journal of Economics and Sociology 58 (2):245–272.details
Ontology, since Aristotle, has been conceived as a sort of highly general physics, a science of the types of entities in reality, of the objects, properties, categories and relations which make up the world. At the same time ontology has been for some two thousand years a speculative enterprise. It has rested methodologically on introspection and on the construction and analysis of elaborate world-models and of abstract formal-ontological theories. In the work of Quine and others this ontological (...) theorizing in abstract fashion about the world was supplemented by the study, based on the use of logical methods, of the ontological commitments or presuppositions embodied in scientific theories. In recent years both types of ontological study have found application in the world of information systems, for example in the construction of frameworks for knowledge representation and in database design and translation. As ontology is in this way drawn closer to the domain of real-world applications, the question arises as to whether it is possible to use empirical methods in studying ontological theories. More specifically: can we use empirical methods to test the ontological theories embodied in human cognition? We set forth the outlines of a framework for the formulation and testing of such theories as they relate to the specific domain of geographic objects and categories. (shrink)
SNAP and SPAN: Towards Dynamic Spatial Ontology.Pierre Grenon & Barry Smith - 2004 - Spatial Cognition and Computation 4 (1):69–103.details
We propose a modular ontology of the dynamic features of reality. This amounts, on the one hand, to a purely spatial ontology supporting snapshot views of the world at successive instants of time and, on the other hand, to a purely spatiotemporal ontology of change and process. We argue that dynamic spatial ontology must combine these two distinct types of inventory of the entities and relationships in reality, and we provide characterizations of spatiotemporal reasoning in the (...) light of the interconnections between them. (shrink)
The Ontology of Impossible Worlds.David A. Vander Laan - 1997 - Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic 38 (4):597-620.details
The best arguments for possible worlds as states of affairs furnish us with equally good arguments for impossible worlds of the same sort. I argue for a theory of impossible worlds on which the impossible worlds correspond to maximal inconsistent classes of propositions. Three objections are rejected. In the final part of the paper, I present a menu of impossible worlds and explore some of their interesting formal properties.
Foundations for a Realist Ontology of Mental Disease.Werner Ceusters & Barry Smith - 2010 - Journal of Biomedical Semantics 1 (10):1-23.details
While classifications of mental disorders have existed for over one hundred years, it still remains unspecified what terms such as 'mental disorder', 'disease' and 'illness' might actually denote. While ontologies have been called in aid to address this shortfall since the GALEN project of the early 1990s, most attempts thus far have sought to provide a formal description of the structure of some pre-existing terminology or classification, rather than of the corresponding structures and processes on the side of the (...) patient. We here present a view of mental disease that is based on ontological realism and which follows the principles embodied in Basic Formal Ontology and in the application of BFO in the Ontology of General Medical Science. We analyzed statements about what counts as a mental disease provided in the research agenda for the DSM-V, and in Pies' model. The results were used to assess whether the representational units of BFO and OGMS were adequate as foundations for a formal representation of the entities in reality that these statements attempt to describe. We then analyzed the representational units specific to mental disease and provided corresponding definitions. Our key contributions lie in the identification of confusions and conflations in the existing terminology of mental disease and in providing what we believe is a framework for the sort of clear and unambiguous reference to entities on the side of the patient that is needed in order to avoid these confusions in the future. (shrink)
Ontology for the Intelligence Analyst.Barry Smith - 2012 - CrossTalk 14 (Nov/Dec):18-25.details
As available intelligence data and information expand in both quantity and variety, new techniques must be deployed for search and analytics. One technique involves the semantic enhancement of data through the creation of what are called 'ontologies' or 'controlled vocabularies.' When multiple different bodies of heterogeneous data are tagged by means of terms from common ontologies, then these data become linked together in ways which allow more effective retrieval and integration. We describe a simple case study to show how these (...) benefits are being achieved, and we describe our strategy for developing a suite of ontologies to serve the needs of the war-fighter in the ever more complex battlespace environments of the future. (shrink)
The Ontology-Epistemology Divide: A Case Study in Medical Terminology.OIivier Bodenreider, Barry Smith & Anita Burgun - 2004 - In Achille Varzi & Laure Vieu (eds.), Formal Ontology in Information Systems. Proceedings of the Third International Conference (FOIS 2004). IOS Press.details
Medical terminology collects and organizes the many different kinds of terms employed in the biomedical domain both by practitioners and also in the course of biomedical research. In addition to serving as labels for biomedical classes, these names reflect the organizational principles of biomedical vocabularies and ontologies. Some names represent invariant features (classes, universals) of biomedical reality (i.e., they are a matter for ontology). Other names, however, convey also how this reality is perceived, measured, and understood by health professionals (...) (i.e., they belong to the domain of epistemology). We analyze terms from several biomedical vocabularies in order to throw light on the interactions between ontological and epistemological components of these terminologies. We identify four cases: 1) terms containing classification criteria, 2) terms reflecting detectability, modality, uncertainty, and vagueness, 3) terms created in order to obtain a complete partition of a given domain, and 4) terms reflecting mere fiat boundaries. We show that epistemology-loaded terms are pervasive in biomedical vocabularies, that the "classes" they name often do not comply with sound classification principles, and that they are therefore likely to cause problems in the evolution and alignment of terminologies and associated ontologies. (shrink)
Beyond Concepts: Ontology as Reality Representation.Barry Smith - 2004 - In Achille C. Varzi & Laure Vieu (eds.), Formal Ontology in Information Systems (FOIS). pp. 1-12.details
The present essay is devoted to the application of ontology in support of research in the natural sciences. It defends the thesis that ontologies developed for such purposes should be understood as having as their subject matter, not concepts, but rather the universals and particulars which exist in reality and are captured in scientific laws. We outline the benefits of a view along these lines by showing how it yields rigorous formal definitions of the foundational relations used in (...) many influential ontologies, illustrating our results by reference to examples drawn from the domain of the life sciences. (shrink)
A Formal Theory of Substances, Qualities, and Universals.Fabian Neuhaus, Pierre Grenon & Barry Smith - 2004 - In Achille Varzi & Laure Vieu (eds.), Formal Ontology in Information Systems. Proceedings of the Third International Conference. IOS Press.details
One of the tasks of ontology in information science is to support the classification of entities according to their kinds and qualities. We hold that to realize this task as far as entities such as material objects are concerned we need to distinguish four kinds of entities: substance particulars, quality particulars, substance universals, and quality universals. These form, so to speak, an ontological square. We present a formal theory of classification based on this idea, including both a semantics (...) for the theory and a provably sound axiomatization. (shrink)
Formal Ontologies of Space and Time. IFOMIS Report.Thomas Bittner & Barry Smith - 2003 - In IFOMIS Report.details
We propose an ontological theory that is powerful enough to describe both complex spatio-temporal processes (occurrents) and the enduring entities (continuants) that participate in such processes. For this purpose we distinguish between meta-ontology and token ontologies. Token ontologies fall into two major categories: ontologies of type SPAN and ontologies of type SNAP. These represent two complementary perspectives on reality and result in distinct though compatible systems of categories. The meta-ontological level then describes the relationships between the different token ontologies. (...) In a SNAP (snapshot) ontology we have enduring entities such as substances, qualities, roles, functions as these exist to be inventoried at a given moment of time. In a SPAN ontology we have perduring entities such as processes and their parts and aggregates. We argue that both kinds of ontological theory are required, together with the metaontology which joins them together, in order to give a non-reductionistic account of both static and dynamic aspects of the geospatial world. (shrink)
The Protein Ontology: A Structured Representation of Protein Forms and Complexes.Darren Natale, Cecilia N. Arighi, Winona C. Barker, Judith A. Blake, Carol J. Bult, Michael Caudy, Harold J. Drabkin, Peter D'Eustachio, Alexei V. Evsikov, Hongzhan Huang, Jules Nchoutmboube, Natalia V. Roberts, Barry Smith, Jian Zhang & Cathy H. Wu - 2011 - Nucleic Acids Research 39 (1):D539-D545.details
The Protein Ontology (PRO) provides a formal, logically-based classification of specific protein classes including structured representations of protein isoforms, variants and modified forms. Initially focused on proteins found in human, mouse and Escherichia coli, PRO now includes representations of protein complexes. The PRO Consortium works in concert with the developers of other biomedical ontologies and protein knowledge bases to provide the ability to formally organize and integrate representations of precise protein forms so as to enhance accessibility to results (...) of protein research. PRO (http://pir.georgetown.edu/pro) is part of the Open Biomedical Ontologies (OBO) Foundry. (shrink)
Development of a Manufacturing Ontology for Functionally Graded Materials.Francesco Furini, Rahul Rai, Barry Smith, Georgio Colombo & Venkat Krovi - 2016 - In Proceedings of International Design Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (IDETC/CIE).details
The development of manufacturing technologies for new materials involves the generation of a large and continually evolving volume of information. The analysis, integration and management of such large volumes of data, typically stored in multiple independently developed databases, creates significant challenges for practitioners. There is a critical need especially for open-sharing of data pertaining to engineering design which together with effective decision support tools can enable innovation. We believe that ontology applied to engineering (OE) represents a viable strategy for (...) the alignment, reconciliation and integration of diverse and disparate data. The scope of OE includes: consistent capture of knowledge pertaining to the types of entities involved; facilitation of cooperation among diverse group of experts; more effective ongoing curation, and update of manufacturing data; collaborative design and knowledge reuse. As an illustrative case study we propose an ontology focused on the representation of composite materials focusing in particular on the class of Functionally Graded Materials (FGM) in particular. The scope of the ontology is to provide information about the components of such materials, the manufacturing processes involved in creation, and diversity of application ranging from additive manufacturing to restorative dentistry. The ontology is developed using Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) and the Ontology for Biomedical Investigations (OBI). (shrink)
Ontology-Based Error Detection in SNOMED-CT.Werner Ceusters, Barry Smith, Anand Kumar & Christoffel Dhaen - 2004 - Proceedings of Medinfo 2004:482-6.details
Quality assurance in large terminologies is a difficult issue. We present two algorithms that can help terminology developers and users to identify potential mistakes. We demonstrate the methodology by outlining the different types of mistakes that are found when the algorithms are applied to SNOMED-CT. On the basis of the results, we argue that both formal logical and linguistic tools should be used in the development and quality-assurance process of large terminologies.
Some Formal Moments of Truth.Barry Smith - 1982 - In Werner Leinfellner (ed.), Language and Ontology. Vienna: Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky / Reidel. pp. 186-90.details
A preliminary statement of the formal theory of the truthmaker relation advanced in the paper "Truth-makers" (Mulligan, Simons and Smith) in 1984. Correspondence theories of truth have. I give a brief account of some more or less obvious formal characteristics of this almost forgotten basic truthmaker relation. I then attempt to show how this account may be extended to provide elements of a theory of truth which is in keeping with the spirit of Wittgenstein's Tractatus.
Ontology as Product-Service System: Lessons Learned From GO, BFO and DOLCE.Barry Smith - 2019 - In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Biomedical Ontology (ICBO), Buffalo, NY.details
This paper defends a view of the Gene Ontology (GO) and of Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) as examples of what the manufacturing industry calls product-service systems. This means that they are products (the ontologies) bundled with a range of ontology services such as updates, training, help desk, and permanent identifiers. The paper argues that GO and BFO are contrasted in this respect with DOLCE, which approximates more closely to a scientific theory or a scientific publication. The (...) paper provides a detailed overview of ontology services and concludes with a discussion of some implications of the product-service system approach for the understanding of the nature of applied ontology. Ontology developer communities are compared in this respect with developers of scientific theories and of standards (such as W3C). For each of these we can ask: what kinds of products do they develop and what kinds of services do they provide for the users of these products? (shrink)
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CAPE TOWN, July 28 — The Southern African Development Community's (SADC) organ Troika has reiterated its call on the political leaders of Madagascar to resolve their differences through dialogue, the South African government said on Friday.
A recent meeting between the two leaders of Madagascar was a clear indication of their commitment toward finding a lasting solution to end the political crisis in the country, the Troika said in a statement distributed by the South African Government Communication and Information System.
The statement was issued after Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina and the man he toppled in 2009, Marc Ravalomanana, met for the first time earlier this week in Seychelles. South African President Jacob Zuma mediated the meeting.
"Discussions were cordial and the participants displayed good leadership. All the parties were satisfied with the progress that had been made in bringing H.E Andry Rajoelina and H.E Marc Ravalomanana together in search for a lasting political solution in Madagascar," said the statement.
No breakthrough was made in the meeting, but the two men are set to meet again in the coming weeks to try and break the deadlock.
Madagascar has been mired in political crisis since Rajoelina ousted Ravalomanana in March 2009 with the army's backing.
Although the two have agreed to restore peace under the auspices of the SADC Roadmap signed in September last year, power sharing remains a hot issue between the political rivals, and currently the transitional government is jointly led by supporters of both Rajoelina and Ravalomanana amid apparent difficulties of cohabitation.
In June, the SADC Summit held in Angola called on the Troika to facilitate an urgent meeting between Ravalomanana and Rajoelina to discuss the full implementation of the roadmap.


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Skråholmen () is an islet about 2 miles (3 km) northeast of Schareholmane. It is part of Thousand Islands, an archipelago south of Edgeøya.

References

 Norwegian Polar Institute Place Names of Svalbard Database

Islands of Svalbard

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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« Think tonight will be a walk over the Wolfpack? Not so fast, my Seminole friend | Main | Beamer looks ahead to FSU: "We have to find out what we did wrong and what we need to do better" »
How Ugly Was Thursday Night's Win?
Hey, they can't all be beautiful. Not like the Miami game that was only half ugly. But to beat columnists and commentators to the punch, FSU can't play like that against a good team and have any chance of winning.
Too many flags, missed assignments, questionable play calls, plus bumbled execution, abysmal tackling, confused coaches ("Hey, Jimbo, did ya know that was our last time out?")...whew, and that's only a short list.
But let's look a little closer and discover the bright spots in this cow pie:
Half the number of penalties. FSU finished with only six (though it sure looked like more), about half of their 9.80 average of the first five games. N.C. State actually had one more flag (7 for 70 yards).
Ponder passed the test. Despite some big drops and often poor protection, FSU showed it can move the ball through the air, finishing with 254 yards and a TD.
Special teams didn't disappoint. First, they kept the rush from harassing Gano, giving him time to nail four field goals. Second, they allowed no huge kick returns, like the kind that helped the Canes get back in the game.
Antone's encore. In a TD romp similar to his instant classic at Miami, Smith made like a pinball, bouncing off defenders, breaking tackles and refusing to be denied.
Best of all? Though they started flat and dug themselves a hole, despite all the mistakes and frustrating penalties, the jacked up crowd and upset-minded Pack, the Noles refused to lose. And that's something that probably wouldn't have happened in 2006 and '07. Chalk it up as another Can-Do confidence builder for a young team in search of an identity.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


After three editions in Sofia, Bulgaria and a successful first international edition in 2017 in three countries, the Cultural Management Academy will continue its post-graduate program in 2018 simultaneously in Bucharest, Thessaloniki, Sarajevo and Sofia, with a joint online learning platform and on-site events. The program was initiated and developed under the guidance of Goethe-Institute Bulgaria, the City of Sofia and Sofia Development Association. The CMA (Cultural Management Academy) in Bucharest is organized in cooperation with the Faculty of Political Science from the University of Bucharest (FSPUB), Municipality of Bucharest through ARCUB, Colectiv A Association and with the kind support of the EUNIC-cluster Romania.
The program consists of a one-week intensive educational course in Bucharest with the topic of `Engaging with Heritage` and it includes lectures, seminars, discussions, debates and individual assignments given by Romanian and international professionals from the heritage sector, an online education platform with individual and group assignments. The program culminates in an international meeting on cultural management and a networking fair in Sofia in September 2018, bringing together participants from Bucharest, Sarajevo, Sofia and Thessaloniki and international guest-speakers. Upon successful completion of the Academy, Goethe-Institute will fund on competitive basis start-up collaborative international projects between participants from Bucharest and their colleagues from the batches in Sarajevo, Sofia and Thessaloniki.
The program will engage participants from both public and independent sector in an experience that will develop their capacity of raising awareness and initiating advocacy campaigns dealing with cultural heritage, it will enhance their capacity to: get funds and to create a coherent cultural program, to understand heritage policies, to educate various inhabitants about the importance of heritage for their community. As such, the program is meant to strengthen the relations between the independent and the public sector.
Participants will have the occasion to engage in international collaborations. They will be offered excellent opportunities to establish their cross-border international network, as well as to build their portfolio as speakers at the international meeting. The students will have a chance not only to develop new collaborative international projects, but also to receive funding and implement them. Last, but not least, participants become part of a network of over 100 cultural managers from the Balkans which has been built since CMA´s establishment in 2015.
The general theme of the program in 2018 is `Engaging with Heritage`.
When we discuss about heritage, perhaps the most common perspective is to see it as a difficult legacy. It is like an old building, which requires more restoration costs than building a new one. Restoring an old building is usually seen as a barrier when it comes to urban developments. In fact, this puts more obstacles in our understanding of heritage.
How about if we try and change this image in our conversations with our interlocutors? We need to show that heritage can be a resource for the community. The question is, though, where to start from? And how to organize our work? We also need to understand what are the most useful methods and tools in order to do this. What is the legal framework within which one can operate? What about building trust and finding a common language about heritage for stakeholders and the community? And, of course, what happens after we have restored a building? How can one open it to the audience and to its residents? Another important aspect that we should not neglect is how to conceive a cultural program for a specific heritage site. We would need to learn to communicate better the appreciation and trust in values that contribute to our identity. What about funds? Where would we get them? And could a digital approach to heritage be useful in our labor?
These are some of the questions that we are trying to answer throughout our seminar. We will rely both on theoretical approach as well as practical experience of several important trainers from our country and abroad.
and in cooperation with the Goethe-Institute Sofia, Goethe-Institute Thessaloniki and Goethe-Institute Sarajevo.


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HomeLiteratureRise of English novel | Development of English novel in 18th century
Rise of English novel | Development of English novel in 18th century
The Rise of English novel was a marked feature of the 18th century literature. In this article I have tried to cover every aspect of the development of English novel in 18th century with reference to some famous literary figures of that period.
Rise of English Novel
The history of English novel dates from the 16th century with Sir Philip Sidney's "Arcadia", and is perceived in Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" , Bunyan's "The Pilgrims Progress" and Swift's "Gulliver's Travels".
But all of them lacked the essence of a novel for which they appeared more as an anecdote than as a novel. It was in the 18th century that it's development began.
Starting with Samuel Richardson's "Pamela" in 1740, this species of literature reached the height of popularity in the hands of Henry Fielding, Smollett, Lawrence Sterne, Oliver Goldsmith, Mrs. Anna Radcliffe and so on.
Novel in 18th century
Samuel Richardson
The immaturity of novels were removed with the introduction of new ideas and scopes by the 18th century novelists. Thus, with the coming of Samuel Richardson a closer study of the inner life began.
Through his epistolary novels, he sought to present the middle class society in its minute details and thereby providing the readers with a sentimental stuff. He thus, brushed aside the paraphernalia of romance and brought it to the level of realism.
Richardson's novels depicts women's virtue and men's lust, with the objective of revealing the feminine heart in an appreciative manner.
Morality is also a marked feature of him. He, thus, emphasized its importance in life and suggested its inculcation for the good of the human race. Thus, in "Pamela" his subject matter is to show the virtue of a maid servant who resist the attempt of the seduction and the violation of her chastity by her master. Richardson crowns her virtue by finally enabling her to win her master as her husband.
In "Clarissa " the tragic death of a virtuous woman is shown, who has became a victim of seduction and family oppression.
His third novel, " Charles Grandison" is the story of a man's love with two women. It shows the triumph of womanly virtues over man's loose morals.
All these novels have a moral note which enshrine the 18th century novels.
When studied from the structural standpoint, we have in his novels a set plot, an apt development and a definite conclusion. Richardson thus, stand out almost unrivalled in his age in the sphere of literature.
Richardson was followed by another successful master of novel - Henry Fielding. In the rise of English novel the contribution of Fielding were many and varied.
With him came in English novel the touch of realism- he introduced solid and plausible realism in his novels.
His method is epical, direct and the story is developed through narration as well as conversation. He, thus appears an innovator in the use of short, dramatic dialogue in his novels.
Fielding introduced the comic epics in English novels and is evident in all of his four well known novels, namely, " Joseph Andrews" , " Tom Jones" , " The History of the life of the Late Mr. Jonathan Wild, the Great" and " Amelia".
Thus, in "Joseph Andrews" we have the reverse situation of "Pamela" . Here is shown the attempt of a mistress to seduce her chaste and honest servant Joseph, avoiding of which he is thrown out of work.
The initial burlesque had thereafter a turn into an engaging tale of adventure of Joseph in the company of Adam, a parson.
There is little of plot, but the situations are well handled and exhibits Fielding's endless fertility of comic Inventions.
This skill is well perceived in his next novel, "Jonathan Wild, The Great" , where he presents a romantic account of a vainglorious scoundrel who feels complacent over his grossly immoral acts.
Fielding's most illustrious work "Tom Jones" is about Jones, an openly passionate and licentious youth who had attempted seduction of a woman named Sophia, but ultimately loved and married her. This novel is characterized as a comic epic in prose, with mock heroic estimate and descriptions, scattered throughout the narrative.
His last novel, " Amelia" , is a touching account of a virtuous woman's attempt to save her misdirected husband.
Fielding's " Amelia" is a new experiment in its 'flash back' technique, so popular in the modern novels. He is also found to set the picaresque tradition in fiction, so much cultivated by his fellow novelist Smollett.
From technical standpoint also, like Richardson, his novels has a set plot, a logical development of action, with suspense and a definite conclusion. Fielding, thus, remained an inexhaustible source of inspiration for his successors and had opened wide the gate of fictional writing.
Tobias Smollett
From Richardson's sentimental morality and Fielding's vigorous comedy, the English novel is found to lead to a new experience in the novels of Tobias Smollett.
Smollett's originality in English literature is found in his introduction of the picaresque novel.
In "Roderick Random" , the hero, Roderick, is a victim of brutality and becomes himself brutal in his turn.
His "Peregrine Pickle" is about a retired naval officer, who thinks, feels, talks and behaves wholly in terms of his own profession . He is also a rogue, leading a boisterous life. He, however, ultimately settles to a quite, orderly life after his marriage with a virtuous lady.
Smollett had to his credit four more novels of the picaresque type, namely, " The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker" , "The Adventure of Ferdinand Count Fathom" , "The life and adventure of Sir Launcelot Greaves" and "The History and Adventure of an Atom".
Although Smollett stands inferior to the two giants of his age- Richardson and Fielding, yet, in the march of the English novel and the extension of the English fictional range, Smollett is a memorable name.
Lawrence Sterne
Another novelist of the age is Lawrence Sterne. Sterne was at once a wholesome corrective of Richardson and his complement. The older man treated sensibility with tragic seriousness, Sterne made it yield not only pathos but humour also.
His " Life and Opinion of Tristram Shandy" occupies a prominent position among the eighteenth century fictional writings and is found to introduce a wholly new concept of form in the fictional world. Told in the first person by the hero and narrator, Tristram, the novel is a sentimental comedy.
" A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy" , is also of the same type, having a fine combination of comic sense and sensibility.
From the structural standpoint also he stands differently from his predecessors. His plot is rather loose and compound. The structure is also not even and the chapters vary in length from several pages to a single short sentence.
Thus, with Sterne a new dimension in English novel was opened. The novel seems to move from the rigid form to formless; from conventionalism to fantasia. The English novel has a liberation from formalism and a passage towards expressionism.
Other Great Novelist of 18th Century
In the rise and development of English fiction, Dr. Samuel Johnson with his "The History of Rasselas" and Oliver Goldsmith with his " The Vicar of Wakefield" stands among their predecessors and contemporaries.
Goldsmith was found to popularise the domestic novels with his "The Vicar of Wakefield" , which also marks the great beginning of autobiographical novels.
This great work of Goldsmith breaks a new ground in the 18th century fiction. It's idyllic quality places it apart from the main stream of realistic novels and brings in the line of pastoral and domestic novels.
Next came the followers and imitators of Richardson and Fielding, who contributed towards the popularity of novels. Among them Henry Mackenzie is a notable name.
Mackenzie had to his credit three novels- " The Man of Feeling" , " Man of the World" and " Julia de Roubinge" .
The first two novels are moral and sentimental; the third one is in the epistolary form of Richardson and deals with the tragedy of a virtuous maid, who loves but marries another. All of them bears the influence of Richardson's technique.
Women novelist also graced English literature in this age. Infact, novel writing by woman was first marked in this age- first in Fanny Burney's "Evelina" .
Among other woman novelist, the contributions of Mrs. Radcliffe, Maria Edgeworth and Susan Ferreira is of particular importance.
Towards the end of the 18th century there grew the Gothic romances- developed and cultivated with great care by Mrs. Radcliffe, Horace Walpole, William Beckford, Clara Reeve and Charlotte Smith.
In the novel attempted by the above writers horror and supernaturalism came to prominence. The was taken away from the realistic trends left behind by Fielding.
"Vathek" by William Beckford in French, translated into English, was the first significant work among the Gothic Romances. Though not written exactly in the Gothic tradition, it has close resemblance with the Gothic Romances which are pervaded with the supernatural horrors.
It was with Horace Walpole's "The Castle of Otranto" in 1765 , Gothic romances had its actual beginning.
Mrs. Radcliffe continued the tradition of this popular form of novel with her "The Mysteries of Udolpho" and "The Italian" .
Started with "Vathek" and the works of Walpole and Mrs. Radcliffe, a new front in the development of English novels is noted. They may be well honoured as the Innovators of the romantic novels, which attained the height of glory in the next century at the hands of Sir Walter Scott and his contemporaries.
Thus, in the 18th century, came the swift and abundant blossoming of English novel, raising the type to the rank of one of the major species of literature.
Upon this strong foundation laid down by Richardson, Fielding, Smollett and Sterne, stands the mighty construction of English novel, going up with the contributions of novelists in every age.
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Back in August when we launched our beta on lakewoodspeaks.org, under the hood the software was a brand new web application–all shiny and new. But the aesthetic of the site, everything that the public sees, was still the design from our summer prototype. It was functional, but a bit antiquated. We're excited to share that we've completed and launched a new look!
Minimal design that is bold and simple, making the site easy to navigate and find the content that is relevant to them.
Responsively designed to present equally well on mobile phones, tablets, and desktop computer.
Clean and bold typography with plenty of spacing, effective visual hierarchy, limited font colors, etc.
A brand new large "hero image" and headline for the homepage where citizens will start their journey when they are coming from the city's direct mail campaigns.
Big buttons that stand out and are easy to find.
Simplified iconography to improve first time visits.
We're excited to see how the new look helps increase the ability for citizens to participate in public hearings!


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Lieberman. 'Going down slippery slope of dark racism'
Photo: Eli Mandelbaum
Yigal Sarna
Let's swap Lieberman and keep Wadi Ara
Op-ed: Foreign minister's proposal to transfer Arab communities to a new Palestinian state is just aimed at inflaming tensions
Yigal Sarna|Published: 01.08.14 , 10:18
There is a wonderful Hebrew term - "a quarrelsome person." A. Lieberman is such a person. As long as it's within the community, who cares? When it turns into a nationwide problem, it's serious trouble.
Once in a while, this angry-faced person, who claims to be living in paradise, comes up with proposals meant to turn life into hell on earth. Violent proposals made by a person who has no interest in peace for anyone but himself in his many comfortable travels beyond what was once called the Iron Curtain. His proposals are always aimed at inflaming tensions, as if they were rage, hatred and anxiety – the stuff A. Lieberman is fed in his eternal paradise.
Israeli by Choice
Israeli Arabs: We don't want to be part of Palestinian state
Israel Moskowitz
Residents of predominantly Arab 'Triangle' see Lieberman land swap plan as unrealistic, say most would move to stay in Israel: 'The population won't agree to give up their citizenship'
This time Lieberman is again bringing up a stale proposal for swapping land filled with people. I am in favor of land exchanges – sand for sand, something based on reciprocity. But Lieberman, as always, has to leave a poisonous sting in the tail of every proposal. He is suggesting transferring Wadi Ara, with all its populated villages and small towns, to the Palestinian Authority. That wadi that Israel insisted upon so much in its agreements with the Jordanians more than 60 years ago, so that it would not be left with a waist that is too narrow and a belly that is too soft.
If that is the case, Lieberman is also proposing to harm a security interest.
By the way, comments similar to his made us drive American immigrant Meir Kahane out of the Knesset running. Now the foreign minister is making them. This is enough to show just how far we have gone down the slippery slope of dark racism.
So if it were in my hands, I would be glad to carry out a much less dramatic and inflammatory population exchange. A. Lieberman, who immigrated at the age of 20 from Kishinev in Moldova, could remain in his home in the settlement of Nokdim as a Jewish enclave under the PA's control beyond the West Bank fence, while my friend, lawyer and human rights activist Hussein Abu Hussein, whose great-grandfather was born in Wadi Ara, would stay put as an Israeli citizen working frequently in the PA territories. Thus everyone's problems would be solved.


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Leda (auch Jupiter XIII) ist einer der kleinsten, bereits vor Einsatz der Voyager-Sonden bekannten Monde des Planeten Jupiter.

Entdeckung
Leda wurde am 14. September 1974 von dem Astronomen Charles Kowal auf fotografischen Platten entdeckt, die drei Tage zuvor am Observatorium auf dem Mount Palomar belichtet wurden. Als offizielles Datum der Entdeckung wird daher der 11. September 1974 angegeben.

Benannt wurde der Mond nach Leda, einer Geliebten des Zeus aus der griechischen Mythologie.

Bahndaten
Leda umkreist Jupiter in einem mittleren Abstand von 11.165.000 km in rund 240 Tagen und 12 Stunden. Die Bahn weist eine Exzentrizität von 0,15 auf und ist mit 27,5° stark gegenüber der lokalen Laplace-Ebene, die ungefähr mit der Bahnebene des Jupiter zusammenfällt, geneigt.

Aufgrund ihrer Bahneigenschaften wird sie der Himalia-Gruppe, benannt nach dem Jupitermond Himalia, zugeordnet.

Physikalische Daten
Leda besitzt einen mittleren Durchmesser von nur 20 km. Ihre Dichte ist mit 2,6 g/cm³ relativ hoch, was darauf hinweist, dass sie überwiegend aus silikatischem Gestein aufgebaut ist.
Sie weist eine sehr dunkle Oberfläche mit einer Albedo von 0,04 auf.

Ihre scheinbare Helligkeit beträgt 19,5m.

Weblinks
  20. September 1974 (Entdeckung)
  7. Oktober 1975 (Benennung)

Jupitermond
Astronomisches Objekt (entdeckt 1974)


Almost a week ago musician and actor Pierre Taki was arrested for being in possession of a small amount of cocaine. As a result all promotion and sales have been halted for "Judgement", a Playstation 4 game starring Pierre and Takuya Kimura.
Pierre's arrest has also put the game's worldwide release in limbo, as Sega is currently further accessing the situation. Pierre had already completed a slew of projects, including acting in one of the main roles in the film "A Gambler's Odyssey 2020".
Today the cast held a press conference promoting the event, lead by Takumi Saito and Becky. Talks were held whether or not the planned theatrical release should still happen, and the studio decided to still go forward with it.
Naturally, Pierre's arrest was one of the main focal points of the press conference. Takumi shared that when he first heard about the news he was very shocked, and then he started to think about the fate of Gambler's Odyssey since Pierre has an important role in the film. He's glad Toei (the studio) decided to go through with the release, since the cast and crew worked so hard to complete it.
Becky had similar thoughts about the fate of the film and hard work put in by the cast and crew, but was relieved to find out everything would be released as normal.
"A Gambler's Odyssey 2020" will be released on April 5th, 2019.


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package com.coshx.drekkar;

/**
 * @class IWebViewJSEndpoint
 * @brief
 */
interface IWebViewJSEndpoint {
    void onMessage(String busName, String eventName, String rawData);
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Oliver Bruneau, a 25-year-old apprentice carpenter, died on March 23 when a chuck of ice fell on him while he was working in a construction pit on the Claridge Icon site at 505 Preston St.
While Bruneau was conscious when paramedics arrived, he lost consciousness and then vital signs as they lifted him out.
He was killed by a 12-metre slab of ice when it slid off the wall and crashed to the bottom of the pit.
Bruneau was employed as an apprentice carpenter by Bellai Brothers Construction Ltd.
CBC reported that there was an earlier incident on Feb. 5 when a different construction worker was hit by ice at the same site.
The worker in that incident was not critically injured.
The Ministry of Labour issued three orders to Claridge following an early investigation into Bruneau's death, CBC reported.
Ensure walls of an excavation shall be stripped of loose rock or other material that may slide, roll, or fall upon a worker.
Submit a plan for review by the Ministry of Labour as to how the constructor shall remove ice buildup on the walls of the excavation before workers enter the excavation on the lower level of the project.
Provide documentation regarding site plan and safety talks relating to falling ice.
Provide documentation regarding the employment of the deceased worker.
Ensure all equipment is used in accordance with operating manuals issued by manufacturer.
Ensure precautions are used to prevent a worker from falling, i.e., a guardrail system.
Ensure precautions are used to prevent a worker from falling through an opening on a work surface. A protective covering that completely covers the opening shall be securely fastened and identified.
Place a ladder on a firm footing.
Ensure that no productive work takes place until all orders have been complied with.
The Ministry of Labour also issued an order to sub-contractor ABF Armatures Bois Franc Inc. to "provide documentation regarding safety meetings related to ice and small stone fragments falling from excavation walls," CBC reported.
Bruneau's union, Carpenters Union Local 93, and the Carpenters' District Council of Ontario issued a statement saying they are united in mourning his death.
Claridge Homes also issued a statement expressing its condolences, saying it is "deeply saddened by the tragic events that took place at the Preston Street construction site," the statement said.


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Grocery shopping trends, Supermarket competition, supermarket competitive edge
Albertsons Named SupermarketNews Retailer of the Year!
In a recently posted announcement, SupermarketNews has named Albertsons Cos., the nation's second-largest supermarket operator, as its Retailer of the Year for 2020.
"The past year has seen Albertsons successfully go public, spur growth and innovation in strategic areas such as e-commerce and private brands, and refresh its store base, among other initiatives," the article stated.
The piece went on to identify key results of the chain's efforts, which included improved customer loyalty and market share gains.
2020 supermarket newsAlbertsonsretailer of the yearSupermarketNews retailer of the year
4 Ideas for Supermarkets in the New Normal
The pandemic has changed the way people shop and what they care about most, says strategy-business.com. And most likely for the long term.
So, as a result, retailers' strategies must also change.
"Whether the trip they're looking to win is inside a store, curbside, or at a customer's front door, emerging from the crisis on a strong footing will require retailers to plan around this new normal. Those that are best at sensing demand and responding quickly with engaging and brand-defining experiences will "win the trip" and see the highest return on their investments in those experiences, or return on experience (ROX)," the article said.
The piece goes on to suggest that retailers have likely seen growth in demand for certain categories, including food and beverage, personal care and wellness, home improvement, and pet care, as most of life's activity has shifted to the home. Consequently, extra care (and inventory) in those categories will be necessary. Supermarkets also have an opportunity to "compete for trips — real and virtual — and reinforce their brand leadership by offering shopper resources, such as recipe ideas and educational content, in these categories."
The authors suggest these four key ways that retailers can compete in the new marketplace:
Improve and personalize targeting.
Reinforce consumers' category interests.
Invest in targeted subscriber acquisition.
Reimagine loyalty programs.
food shopping trendsGrocery shopping trendsnew normal in supermarketsretail strategiessupermarket customer service and loyalty
Reinventing Grocery?
An interesting e-book, "Reinventing Grocery: The Timeline to the New Normal," was recently released by co-creators Agilence and Date Check Pro.
With no sales or marketing messages, the publications shares straightforward content about several key issues affecting the supermarket business, such as:
How former "slow moving" categories may be worth further investment
The role Associates play in future customer acquisition & retention initiatives
Why cleanliness & safety protocols will arise as a key driver to new sales
Why a familiar industry adjacent to the grocery industry may emerge as a direct competitor
The DNA of the New Shopper
More information about downloading the e-book
food shopping trendsGrocery shopping trendssupermarket customer service and loyalty
Supermarket shoppers appear to be optimistic about things "returning to normal" according to a recent study by Acosta Research, thought the results vary a bit based on certain demographics. They also believe that some of the new in-store behaviors being put in place, such as hand sanitizing and mask wearing, may become permanent.
According to the study, 51% of shoppers polled expect life to return to normal in less than six months, while 29% believe it will take more than a year to return to pre-coronavirus behavior and daily life.
Summarized in a SupermarketNews article, the study also indicated that many of the current safety protocols have become second nature to shoppers, and that Millenials and Southerners are the most optimistic about a return to pre-Covid life.
43% of those surveyed believed their state was "reopening" at an appropriate rate, while 39% said steps toward reopening were being taken too soon. Only 13% said their state's reopening plans were moving too slowly.
A bit closer to the aisles, 68% of shoppers reported using a hand sanitizer before or after shopping, and the same percentage reported wearing a mask while shopping. The study found mask usage has doubled since early April (most popular among shoppers in the Northeast) and nearly half of shoppers (49%) reported shopping during off-peak hours to avoid crowds. The use of self-checkout has risen as well with 34% of shoppers choosing to do so.
Not surprisingly, shoppers are over-buying select items depending upon expectations of supply shortages. The current (as of mid-May) item of concern is meat, as opposed to the paper products buying frenzies during the first quarter. Of those who are "stocking up," 34% said they were doing so because they are "eating at home more often" and 31% said the reason was fear of shortages or an attempt to reduce the frequency of shopping trips. 35% noted higher prices,
COVID-19 impact on supermarket shoppingfood shopper datafood shopping trendsGrocery shopping trends
Grocery shopping trends, Process improvement
Innovative Improvements Continue to Emerge in Supermarkets
PREPARING FOR THE "NEW NORMAL"
Today's Wall Street Journal reported that Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize NV is accelerating development of a robotic cleaning arm to help workers clean stores and process orders more effectively due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"All the researchers said this Covid situation is so urgent, we see a direct application for our work right now because there's scarcity of people who can work in stores," said Bart Voorn, Director of Data, AI, and Robotics.
Of course the grocery giant is only one of many organizations taking innovative steps to initiate improvements in how the operate.
The article quoted Paul Daugherty, Accenture PLC's group chief executive for technology, as saying, "Hyper automation is coming. We have now only automated 15 to 20 percent of what we can do."
As noted in previous posts, necessity is, indeed, the "mother of invention" in supermarket chains across the globe; and combining technology with tried-and-true process improvement methodology is the likely path toward preparing for the "new normal" in food shopping.
innovation in grocery storesinnovation in supermarketssupermarket improvementsupermarket improvement planssupermarket trends
engaging people, Grocery shopping trends
Kroger's Innovative Step-up
Spring-boarding from our previous post on emerging innovations within the supermarket industry, Kroger has exemplified such behavior by launching new new drive-thru test sites for coronavirus.
According to a recent SupermarketNews article, the chain will be offering free drive-thru testing for COVID-19 at 50 locations in more than 12 states by the end of May, and expects to have conducted up to 100,000 tests by that time.
So far, Kroger's healthcare arm, said it has performed almost 8,000 tests in 30 locations.
The article goes on to quote Rodney McMullen, Kroger Chairman and CEO, as saying, "As part of Kroger's commitment to help America reopen safely, we are proud to help expand access to COVID-19 testing as a partner in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Public-Private Testing Partnership."
Not only is the drive-thru aspect of Kroger's testing model innovative, but so too is their methodology. Their sites use anterior nares or mid-turbinate nasal swab tests, which are designed to increase safety. The tests are completed in just a few minutes using self-administered test kits, and results are expected within about 48 hours.
In a recent Harvard Business Review article, Bill Taylor, co-founder of Fast Company and the author of Simply Brilliant: How Great Organizations Do Ordinary Things in Extraordinary Ways shared some great examples of how bad times have brought out the best in people and organizations.
Possibly this free testing being offered by Kroger will be remembered as such in the future?
COVID-19 testsfree COVID-19 testsKrogersupermarket customer service
how to improve profitability in retail, Inventory management, Process improvement
Necessity & Innovation
Nearly everyone we ask says that they want to be innovative — the best returns come to those who are first to market with a new product; those who innovate new and better processes can provide much better quality at much lower costs; those who can create a management system or culture that constantly is clicking on all cylinders can have a powerful advantage.
But how often do they happen, and why?
In our experience and research, we find that innovation is truly enigmatic:
Large organizations have more wherewithal to invest in systematic innovation, but smaller organizations seem more capable of capitalizing on innovative ideas.
Most innovations come not from visionaries at the top but from people closest to the work. Yet paradoxically, strong leadership and vision at the top of the organization are required to create an environment that fosters innovation and risk taking. Without strong leadership, organizations become bureaucratic and risk-averse.
Outsiders often have the most innovative ideas, but insiders' know-how and buy-in are required to get them implemented.
And possibly most relevant during the current pandemic, adversity or "necessity" often brings about innovative solutions.
A recent SupermarketNews article notes that current world challenges have been exceptionally tough for supermarkets, and that the associated difficulties have brought about significant and innovative improvements in how stores are being run… now and possibly in the future!
"The first hint of the virus reaching our communities ignited the shock of an overwhelmed supply chain," said Randy Evins, Senior Principal and Industry Advisor.
"A couple of weeks later, the consumer experience was further diversified with online pickup services, home delivery and special hours reserved for vulnerable shoppers. Some local grocers have also installed plexiglass protectors around their checkout stations and added floor markers to help ensure shoppers are standing six feet apart while waiting in line.
"There's unquestionably a lot of ingenuity happening in supermarkets right now. But there is one area of the business that still requires attention — especially if grocers want to continue surviving this constantly evolving time as well as the eventual rebound to come."
The article goes on to stress the importance of leveraging digital technology to ensure that all variables are considered in "real time" when making inventory management and ordering decisions.
"Digital strategies must go even deeper to cover the entire value chain — addressing the need for connected processes, real-time transactional data and immediate visibility into store-level inventory," Evins said.
"Supermarkets can no longer afford to order new products and additional inventory blindly. They need to know what is available on their store shelves, store backrooms and distribution centers — by SKU and quantity and in light of forecasted demand."
In support of this perspective, the article cites predictive data indicating that 25% to 30% of a grocer's sales volume will consist of digital orders by 2025, compared to 6% to 10% today.
Evins went on to say that the use of technology, as described, will enable store employees to "have the visibility and insight they need to work more efficiently, safely and productively while keeping consumers happy and coming back over and over again."
Certainly, given today's circumstances, necessity has truly been the "mother of invention."
Read related newsletter…
continuous improvement in supermarketsgrocery trendsinnovationinventory managementsupermarket innovationsupermarket management
Supermarkets Offering Innovative Improvements & Solutions
Necessity is the mother of invention, the adage says. Certainly, we've seen many examples of innovative thought and practical improvements put in practice in supermarkets throughout the U.S. during this pandemic.
For example, to promote social distancing, H-E-B was among the first to offer its customers a deal that to keep them out of lines and away from large crowds. Their stores across Texas provided free, next-day curbside ordering and pharmacy deliveries to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
"We are working diligently to provide solutions for seniors and Texans in need to access food and supplies with limited public interaction," the company wrote.
They and many others also shortened store hours to better serve customers and to give team members more time to restock more quickly-depleted shelves, thus increasing product availability.
Stop & Shop was among the first to offer designated shopping hours for seniors, a step taken to help create a safer and more comfortable shopping environment for those most susceptible to the virus. Many have followed…
Albertsons was the first major company to announce they will install plexiglass "sneeze-guard" barriers at checkouts in its 2,200 stores… Walmart and Kroger have made similar commitments… Whole Foods also confirmed it's in the process of rolling out sneeze guards at all locations to protect customers and Team Members at the registers.
Additional examples of best practices and suggestions were recently shared by the The Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC that conducts research into new ideas for solving societal problems. Among their recommendations are the following, which many supermarkets have put into practice of their own accord:
"Employers need to implement immediate steps to reduce grocery workers' exposure to COVID-19 by expanding access to personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and gloves and end any restrictions on workers wearing them. While supplies of protective masks and gloves are extremely limited across the country, employers and policymakers should prioritize PPE for grocery workers as they become available."
"Employers should provide adequate cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer, regular opportunities for workers to wash their hands, and frequent equipment cleaning."
"Stores should shorten hours and limit the number of customers at any given time."
"Grocery stores should implement additional measures to protect workers and enforce safe spacing of customers."
COVID-19grocery stores react to virussupermarket shopping trendssupermarkets protecting customers during crisis