Using Domain Ontologies as Semantic Dimensions in Data Warehouses

More and more transaction systems collect records that reference concepts of domain ontologies in so-called semantic attributes. This paper investigates how such semantic attributes together with their referenced domain ontology can be best exploited for data analysis in data warehouses. This gives rise to two challenges: first, exploit the rich knowledge represented in domain ontologies for targeted analysis and, second, aggregate data along the subsumption hierarchy of concepts and ensuring summarizability in the absence of predefined aggregation levels. To meet these challenges, the paper extends OLAP (OnLine Analytical Processing) by integrating concept expressions and proper level definitions over domain ontologies into OLAP operations. A prototype demonstrates the feasibility of the approach.