Reference standards: when to use them?
An AI agent does not need standards: it understands explicit English names. Standards are only useful to reconcile or compare ontologies with each other.
| Use case | Standard | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Very generic nodes (Person, Organization, Product…) | Schema.org | schema.org |
| Grounding fundamental concepts (entity, process, role) | BFO / DOLCE | basic-formal-ontology.org |
| Taxonomies and controlled vocabularies | SKOS | w3.org/TR/skos-reference |
| Organizational structure (entities, subsidiaries, hierarchies) | ORG Ontology (W3C) | w3.org/TR/vocab-org |
| Design BOM — system → component hierarchy | IEC 81346 | iec.ch |
| Manufacturing BOM — part and component coding | eCl@ss | eclass.eu |
| Industry & Manufacturing BOM / IoT | SAREF4INMA (ETSI) | saref.etsi.org |
| Multi-brand automotive domain | SAREF4AUTO (ETSI) | saref.etsi.org |
| HR — European skills and occupations | ESCO (EU) | esco.ec.europa.eu |
| HR — Positions, contracts, career paths | HR Open Standards | hropenstandards.org |
In all cases: document it with the
reference_standardattribute on the node. Never sacrifice the clarity of the name for compliance with the standard.