The International Conference on Formal Ontology in Information Systems (FOIS)
Ontology, originally a fundamental part of philosophical enquiry, is concerned with the analysis and categorization of what exists. In recent years, however, a complementary focus of ontological inquiry gained significant momentum fueled by the advent of complex information systems which rely on robust and coherent, formal representations of their subject matter.
The systematic study of such representations, their axiomatics, their corresponding reasoning techniques and their relations to cognition and reality, are at the center of the modern discipline of formal ontology.
Formal ontology in this modern sense is now a research focus in such diverse domains as conceptual modeling, database design, software engineering, organizational modeling, artificial intelligence, computational linguistics, the life sciences, bioinformatics, geographic information science, knowledge engineering, information retrieval, library and information science, and the semantic web. Researchers in all these areas increasingly recognize the need for serious engagement with ontology, understood as a general theory of the types of entities and relations making up their respective domains of enquiry, in providing a solid foundation for their work.
The FOIS conferences are designed to provide a meeting point for researchers from all disciplines with an interest in formal ontology. The conferences encourage submission of high quality articles on both theoretical issues and concrete applications.
Previous editions
FOIS 2023
17-20 July 2023 (Sherbrooke, Canada)
18-20 September 2023 (online)
Host: Université de Sherbrooke
FOIS 2021
13-17 September 2021 (Bolzano, Italy)
Host: Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
FOIS 2020
14-17 September 2020 (online)
Host: Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
FOIS 2018
17-21 September 2018 (Cape Town, South Africa)
Host: University of Cape Town
FOIS 2016
2016 (Annecy, France)
Host: University Savoie-Mt-Blanc
FOIS 2014
2014 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Host: Federal University of Espírito Santo & Getulio Vargas Foundation
FOIS 2012
24-27 July 2012 (Graz, Austria)
Host: Medical University of Graz
FOIS 2010
11-14 May 2008 (Toronto, Canada)
Host: University of Toronto
FOIS 2008
31 October - 3 November 2008 (Saarbrücken, Germany)
Host: German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence
FOIS 2006
9-11 November 2006 (Baltimore, USA)
Host: Ontology Works
FOIS 2004
4-6 November 2004 (Torino, Italy)
Host: University of Turin
FOIS 2001
17-19 October 2001 (Ogunquit, USA)
Host: University at Buffalo
FOIS 1998
June 1998 (Trento, Italy)
Host: Italian National Research Council