Modelling Operating Factors like Environment etc. for Technology

Hi All.
I am proposing that we model "operating factors" such as data, 
instruments, environmental conditions which affect or are relevant to 
the operation of the technology. These are recommended/necessary in AI 
Act and in documentation efforts such as Model Cards where such factors 
are described in context of necessary conditions for operation, known 
problematic/unsuitable conditions, etc. The full proposal with thought 
process and examples is available at: 
https://harshp.com/dev/dpv/tech-operating-factors

The summary is to add tech:OperatingFactor with subclasses:
- tech:NecessaryOperatingFactor
- tech:SuitableOperatingFactor with subclass tech:IdealOperatingFactor
- tech:UnsuitableOperatingFactor with subclasses 
tech:HazardousOperatingFactor and tech:UntestedOperatingFactor

To describe what is in the factor, both model cards and the AI Act refer 
to groups (people and data categories), technologies, environmental 
conditions, locations, etc. -- for which the existing DPV concepts and 
properties are available for reuse, except for environment. Therefore, I 
propose we add `tech:OperatingEnvironment` to describe the broader 
environment of operation (as needed in AI Act), and 
`tech:EnvironmentalCondition` to represent the conditions such as 
temperature etc. (there should be good industrial ontologies which 
expand upon this). Together with these, the blog post outlines 22 
properties which can be used to define the factor.

To distinguish from the earlier proposal on use-cases as both are 
similar and are specified as categories of `dpv:Process`: Here, the 
'factor' is a description of conditions that affect the technology, 
whereas 'use-case' is a scenario which represent how something might be 
used. They are _very similar_ concepts when considering how they are 
used, but they have _distinct_ uses in documentation. For example, 
manuals contain descriptions of factors as suitable/unsuitable to 
describe the technical nature of the technology, whereas use-cases are 
used as hypotheticals and scenarios to show what could happen or will 
happen e.g. in impact assessments. So both share an conceptual and 
modelling overlap, but they have their uses in different contexts.

Regards,
Harsh

Received on Monday, 21 April 2025 12:29:12 UTC