REA2: A unified formalisation of the Resource-Event-Agent ontology

Abstract

Abstract. Through a proof of concept in SWI-Prolog, this paper demonstrates a business transaction model by which the trading partners can derive their own, personal perspective from shared data. The demonstration is an innovative formalisation of the Resource-Event-Agent (REA) ontology as it allows for switching viewpoints in real-time between one trading-partner's perspective and that of a trading-partner with an opposing view (i.e., customer or supplier), or a trading-partner independent perspective (e.g. trusted third-party). The business transaction model is achieved by uniting REA with the Open-EDI Business Transaction Ontology (OeBTO). The resulting unified formalisation of the REA ontology (REA 2 ) also highlights implications for the future development of a) enterprise information systems (EIS) in the cloud, b) social-media-based EIS, c) blockchain EIS, and d) EIS interoperability across business paradigms. The EIS interoperability such as between traditional EIS (which typically uses a trading-partner perspective), and EIS for the collaborative economy (which typically uses a trading-partner independent perspective) is particularly highlighted as it becomes much more transparent than previously.

A Core Ontology for Economic Exchanges

“…We can specify the relevant types of actions involved as follows: a and b both prefer the type of actions "a transfer the ownership of the bike to b and b pays the agreed price" to the type of actions "a does not transfer the ownership of the bike to b and b does not pay the agreed amount". In the analysis of REA in [11], the economic agreement is captured by means of the duality relations, (e.g. transfer duality, [11], p. 16).…”

“…In the analysis of REA in [11], the economic agreement is captured by means of the duality relations, (e.g. transfer duality, [11], p. 16). In [11], duality relations are modeled as relators, as we do here.…”

“…transfer duality, [11], p. 16). In [11], duality relations are modeled as relators, as we do here. This enables a direct comparison with our framework: duality relators are simply a specific type of our Economic Agreement, restricted to specific types of actions, e.g.…”

“…Finally, the ATE models economic exchanges from the perspective of both agents involved in a transaction, the so-called "helicopter view", cf. [11]. For the above-mentioned reasons, we claim that ATE is more apt to guide a foundational analysis of economic exchanges than, for instance, the ISO standard for Accounting Information Systems REA (Resource-Event-Action) [13].…”

The impact of conceptual structures on transaction and enterprise architecture practices

“…Through the presentation of the Action Research cycles, the design of the artefacts is defined, subsequently the artefacts are developed through an iterative process of radical innovation and continuous improvement (Laurier et al, 2018).…”