Our aim in this paper is to outline how the design space for the ontologization process is richer than current practice would suggest. We point out that engineering processes as well as products need to be designed – and identify some components of the design. We investigate the possibility of designing a range of radically new practices, providing examples of the new practices from our work over the last three decades with an outlier methodology, bCLEARer. We also suggest that setting an evolutionary context for ontologization helps one to better understand the nature of these new practices and provides the conceptual scaffolding that shapes fertile processes. Where this evolutionary perspective positions digitalization (the evolutionary emergence of computing technologies) as the latest step in a long evolutionary trail of information transitions. This reframes ontologization as a strategic tool for leveraging the emerging opportunities offered by digitalization.

The aim of this seminar is to suggest that the design space for the ontologization process is richer than current practice would suggest. That it is possible to open the space up to a range of radically new practices. This consciously builds upon the notion that engineering processes as well as products need to be designed. We provide evidence for the new practices from our work over the last three decades with an outlier methodology, bCLEARer. We also provide some contextual scaffolding for a perspective that we have found we needed to better understand the nature of these new practices. This is an evolutionary perspective which sees digitalization (the evolutionary emergence of computing technologies) as part of the latest step in a long evolutionary trail of information transitions. And sees ontologization as a tool for exploiting the emerging opportunities offered by digitalization.