Extension and Integration of i* Models with Ontologies

Currently, i* is one of the most well founded organizational modelling techniques. Its main feature is the expressibility to represent intentional social relations among stakeholders. In i* models, each modeling component is described explicitly through text labels. However, the process of labeling model elements is usually an activity which is not rigorous and not well documented for designers. Performing the labeling with freedom and subjectivity often results in unclear labels that are not helpful for interoperability and the understanding of the model semantics. In this paper, we deal with this problems by extending i* models with ontologies. Taking advantage of an ontological definition of concepts and well-defined relationships, we improve the unambiguous interpretation of labels and thus interoperability, reuse and machine-readability of a model. A guided process and tool support for the integration of i* models with an ontology are described in this paper.