Enabling Interoperable, AI-Ready Research with the Digital Objects Ontology

The Digital Objects Ontology (DOO) transforms fragmented research outputs (datasets, software, models, workflows) into a connected semantic foundation for digital research infrastructure. By standardising how digital objects and their relationships to people, funding and infrastructure are described, the DOO enables cross-domain discoverability and interoperability in integrated digital environments. This explicit semantic structure enables the development of context-aware, trustworthy and transparent AI systems. The DOO has been designed to be applicable to any research domain and is currently being implemented for environmental science outputs at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.