Semantic enrichment of strategic datacubes

Abstract

In the information system view, the reference architecture for strategic and decision support is based on the Data Warehouse architecture, that enables flexible and multidimensional analysis of strategic indexes by means of OLAP tools and reports. In this paper we propose a novel model for semantic annotation of Data Warehouse schema that takes into account domain ontologies as well as a mathematical ontology. Such an ontology describes mathematical formulas underlying elements of the datacube schema, including the semantics of operands and operators. In particular, we discuss and apply the proposed model for the semantic annotation of the schema of a datacube, that is the basis for OLAP analysis and contains information derived from Data Warehouse schema. In the paper, an illustrative case study together with some examples of analysis based on this kind of annotation are provided.