Upcoming Events

Event Title	Beyond Siloed Information: Missing Practices for Semantic Interoperability
Date and time	Wednesday 25th February 2026, 15:00 - 16:30 GMT
Speaker	Jonathan Eyre Jonathan is a Senior Technical Fellow for Interoperability at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre. His research has spanned a range of commercial and grant-funded programmes focusing on digital transformation including digital twins and enabling components such as advanced visualisation, information management, and data connectivity. Currently holding a UKRI industrial fellowship, he specialises in semantic interoperability optimising information exchange across manufacturing supply chains, with expertise in data-driven decision-making, ontologies and system integration.
Abstract	Data remains siloed causing information to not be shared when value could be created. Market forces have driven a technology-first implementation without real understanding of the social or user needs, causing system implementations to inhibit rather than foster collaboration. This presentation will discuss two key areas: today's missing practices needed to achieve interoperability with practical examples focused on how to articulate and surface the information needed, and a deeper dive into how ontological commitments affect the data structures that are communicated between information systems.
Booking	Eventbrite Link

Past Events

SIG LLODIA Lecture #3: Towards Ontology-based Digital Twin Service Construction and Reporting

Date: 21 January 2026
Speaker: Prof. Bentley Oakes
📄 Download Bentley’s Slides (PDF)

Abstract	Digital Twins (DTs) are constructed by multiple stakeholders, reason about multiple domains, and perform multiple services for the physical system. Thus it is natural to consider ontologies to formally capture domain knowledge and to utilize ontological reasoning capabilities for integration, consistency checking, and as a common language for DTs. In this talk, Prof. Bentley Oakes will discuss ongoing work in applying ontological techniques to the construction and reporting of DTs. First, a short introduction to the Ontological Modelling Language (OML) will be provided. An initiative from NASA JPL, OML provides an engineering-focused layer above OWL, aiding in the creation of ontologies. Second, the research on service-driven engineering will be presented, which captures DT services and their development workflows in an ontological form. This allows the user to be guided through service development and deployment. Third, the talk will focus on recent work on DTInsight, which is a game-engine-based tool for displaying a conceptual visualization of a DT, based on a 21-characteristic reporting framework.
Speaker Bio	Prof. Bentley Oakes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer and Software Engineering at Polytechnique Montréal in Canada. He completed his Master’s and PhD at McGill University, before becoming a post-doctoral researcher at both the University of Antwerp and the Université de Montréal. His interests and experiences are diverse, ranging from Digital Twins (including their structure, construction, and reporting) to model-driven engineering, ontologies, verification and validation (including formal verification), machine learning, co-simulation, and many other topics. His research focuses on capturing and utilizing the domain knowledge possessed by domain experts, such that they can more easily construct and reason about their complex systems.

Abstract

Digital Twins (DTs) are constructed by multiple stakeholders, reason about multiple domains, and perform multiple services for the physical system. Thus it is natural to consider ontologies to formally capture domain knowledge and to utilize ontological reasoning capabilities for integration, consistency checking, and as a common language for DTs.

In this talk, Prof. Bentley Oakes will discuss ongoing work in applying ontological techniques to the construction and reporting of DTs. First, a short introduction to the Ontological Modelling Language (OML) will be provided. An initiative from NASA JPL, OML provides an engineering-focused layer above OWL, aiding in the creation of ontologies. Second, the research on service-driven engineering will be presented, which captures DT services and their development workflows in an ontological form. This allows the user to be guided through service development and deployment. Third, the talk will focus on recent work on DTInsight, which is a game-engine-based tool for displaying a conceptual visualization of a DT, based on a 21-characteristic reporting framework.

Speaker Bio

Prof. Bentley Oakes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer and Software Engineering at Polytechnique Montréal in Canada. He completed his Master’s and PhD at McGill University, before becoming a post-doctoral researcher at both the University of Antwerp and the Université de Montréal.

His interests and experiences are diverse, ranging from Digital Twins (including their structure, construction, and reporting) to model-driven engineering, ontologies, verification and validation (including formal verification), machine learning, co-simulation, and many other topics. His research focuses on capturing and utilizing the domain knowledge possessed by domain experts, such that they can more easily construct and reason about their complex systems.

SIG LLODIA Lecture #2: Environmental Digital Twins

Date: 10 July 2025
Speaker: Prof. Gordon Blair
📄 Download Gordon’s Slides (PPTX)

Abstract	Prof. Blair presented the opportunities and distinctive challenges in developing digital twins of the natural environment. He discussed opportunities for collaboration with the LLODIA community, focussing on two key areas. Firstly, he charted the importance of underlying Digital Research Infrastructure to support the development of digital twins, including support for the FAIR Principles applied to a range of digital assets. He then discussed a particular view of digital twins that combines both data understanding and understanding from scientific processes in what is a dynamic system that can learn and improve over time. Finishing with an open discussion on the potential of languages, logics and ontologies in supporting this vision of environmental digital twins.
Speaker Bio	Gordon is Head of Environmental Digital Strategy at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and Emeritus Professor of Distributed Systems at Lancaster University. He co-directs the Centre of Excellence in Environmental Data Science (CEEDS) and has previously held a prestigious EPSRC Senior Fellowship. His research focuses on how digital technologies — including IoT, cloud computing, and AI — can support environmental science. He is especially interested in the future of Digital Research Infrastructure and the development of environmental digital twins.

Abstract

Prof. Blair presented the opportunities and distinctive challenges in developing digital twins of the natural environment. He discussed opportunities for collaboration with the LLODIA community, focussing on two key areas. Firstly, he charted the importance of underlying Digital Research Infrastructure to support the development of digital twins, including support for the FAIR Principles applied to a range of digital assets. He then discussed a particular view of digital twins that combines both data understanding and understanding from scientific processes in what is a dynamic system that can learn and improve over time. Finishing with an open discussion on the potential of languages, logics and ontologies in supporting this vision of environmental digital twins.

Speaker Bio

Gordon is Head of Environmental Digital Strategy at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and Emeritus Professor of Distributed Systems at Lancaster University. He co-directs the Centre of Excellence in Environmental Data Science (CEEDS) and has previously held a prestigious EPSRC Senior Fellowship. His research focuses on how digital technologies — including IoT, cloud computing, and AI — can support environmental science. He is especially interested in the future of Digital Research Infrastructure and the development of environmental digital twins.

Inaugural SIG LLODIA Lecture

Ontology in Digital Twins – Exploring Semantic Interoperability and Systemic Connections
Date: 23 May 2025
Speaker: Mark Enzer OBE FREng
📄 Download Mark’s Slides (PPTX)

Abstract	This talk explored the importance of ontology in built and natural systems. Mark described the crucial relationship between interventions, systems and outcomes. He related this to the value of federating digital twins and the need for Data Sharing Infrastructure, making the case for semantic interoperability as an essential enabler. Mark’s insights support better decision-making and outcomes for people and nature.
Agenda	14:30 – 14:35: Welcome & Introduction – Overview of SIG LLODIA’s mission, objectives, and future goals. 14:35 – 15:20: Keynote Lecture by Mark Enzer 15:20 – 15:35: Q&A Session 15:35 – 15:55: Vision for the Future 15:55 – 16:00: Closing Remarks

Abstract

This talk explored the importance of ontology in built and natural systems. Mark described the crucial relationship between interventions, systems and outcomes. He related this to the value of federating digital twins and the need for Data Sharing Infrastructure, making the case for semantic interoperability as an essential enabler. Mark’s insights support better decision-making and outcomes for people and nature.

Agenda

14:30 – 14:35: Welcome & Introduction – Overview of SIG LLODIA’s mission, objectives, and future goals.
14:35 – 15:20: Keynote Lecture by Mark Enzer
15:20 – 15:35: Q&A Session
15:35 – 15:55: Vision for the Future
15:55 – 16:00: Closing Remarks