Development of an environment for building ontologies which is based on a fundamental consideration of “relationship” and “role”

A methodology of ontology design and a computer system supporting ontology design are needed. Our research goals include a methodology for ontology design and developing an environment for building and using ontologies. Although several systems for building ontologies have been implemented, they do not consider enough ontological theory. We discuss how to apply the “role-concept” and “relationship” in our environment, named Hozo, for creating and using ontologies. We present the architecture, functionalities of its modules, its interface and the different possibilities for the design and use of ontologies.