The role of ontologies in the verification and validation of knowledge-based systems

In this paper, the author gives some preliminary examination of the ways in which an ontology-an explicit specification of the conceptualization of th e domain-can support the verification and validation of a knowledge-based s ystem. The discussion is focused on a simple, well-known, example relating to the identification of animals. Key elements of the support provided by t he ontology relate to attempting to give coherence to the domain conceptual ization; making the role of experts in verification and validation more str uctured and less at the mercy of interpretation; constraining the number of test cases required to give good coverage of the possible cases; and struc turing the testing to give better assurance of its efficacy, and a possible basis for greater automation of the testing process. Finally, the author m akes some concluding remarks. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.