Unpacking Trust: An Ontological Framework for Information Trustworthiness in Decision-Making

Glenda Amaral; Veronica dos Santos; Edward Hermann Haeusler; Giancarlo Guizzardi; Daniel Schwabe; Sergio Lifschitz

doi:10.1007/978-3-032-08620-4_11

Unpacking Trust: An Ontological Framework for Information Trustworthiness in Decision-Making

Glenda Amaral
, Veronica dos Santos
, Edward Hermann Haeusler
, Giancarlo Guizzardi
, Daniel Schwabe
, Sergio Lifschitz^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

2 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

We explore trustworthiness from a dual perspective, addressing both the content and the container (source). Through an illustrative example, we analyze the challenges and opportunities in assessing trustworthiness using the Reference Ontology of Trust (ONTrust) as well as the explanatory notion of Ontological Unpacking. The key findings reveal that establishing information trustworthiness necessitates a clear understanding of its underlying ontological commitments, followed by a systematic process of negotiating admissible truth-makers and deliberating on appropriate information proxies for these truth-makers. These results underscore the importance of explicitly defining the ontological assumptions behind information and systematically evaluating the proxies used, ensuring more robust and coordinated decision-making processes.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Advances in Conceptual Modeling - ER 2025 Workshops, FCM, CMLS, LLM4Modeling, OntoCom, and QUAMES, Proceedings
Editors	Claudenir M. Fonseca, Anna Bernasconi, Sergio de Cesare, Ladjel Bellatreche, Oscar Pastor
Publisher	Springer
Pages	181-190
Number of pages	10
ISBN (Print)	9783032086198
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-08620-4_11
Publication status	Published - 15 Oct 2025
Event	44th International Conference on Conceptual Modeling, ER 2025: Industrial Track, ER Forum, 8th SCME, Doctoral Consortium, Tutorials, Project Exhibitions, Posters and Demos - Futuscope, Poitiers, France Duration: 20 Oct 2025 → 23 Oct 2025 Conference number: 44 https://er2025.ensma.fr/

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Computer Science
Volume	16190 LNCS
ISSN (Print)	0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)	1611-3349

Conference

Conference	44th International Conference on Conceptual Modeling, ER 2025
Abbreviated title	ER 2025
Country/Territory	France
City	Poitiers
Period	20/10/25 → 23/10/25
Internet address	https://er2025.ensma.fr/

Keywords

2026 OA procedure
Information Trustworthiness
Reliability
Use Cases
DecisionMaking

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-032-08620-4_11

978-3-032-08620-4_11Final published version, 1.67 MBLicence: Taverne

Cite this

Amaral, G., Santos, V. D., Haeusler, E. H., Guizzardi, G., Schwabe, D., & Lifschitz, S. (2025). Unpacking Trust: An Ontological Framework for Information Trustworthiness in Decision-Making. In C. M. Fonseca, A. Bernasconi, S. de Cesare, L. Bellatreche, & O. Pastor (Eds.), Advances in Conceptual Modeling - ER 2025 Workshops, FCM, CMLS, LLM4Modeling, OntoCom, and QUAMES, Proceedings (pp. 181-190). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. 16190 LNCS). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-08620-4_11

Amaral, Glenda ; Santos, Veronica dos ; Haeusler, Edward Hermann et al. / Unpacking Trust : An Ontological Framework for Information Trustworthiness in Decision-Making. Advances in Conceptual Modeling - ER 2025 Workshops, FCM, CMLS, LLM4Modeling, OntoCom, and QUAMES, Proceedings. editor / Claudenir M. Fonseca ; Anna Bernasconi ; Sergio de Cesare ; Ladjel Bellatreche ; Oscar Pastor. Springer, 2025. pp. 181-190 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science).

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abstract = "We explore trustworthiness from a dual perspective, addressing both the content and the container (source). Through an illustrative example, we analyze the challenges and opportunities in assessing trustworthiness using the Reference Ontology of Trust (ONTrust) as well as the explanatory notion of Ontological Unpacking. The key findings reveal that establishing information trustworthiness necessitates a clear understanding of its underlying ontological commitments, followed by a systematic process of negotiating admissible truth-makers and deliberating on appropriate information proxies for these truth-makers. These results underscore the importance of explicitly defining the ontological assumptions behind information and systematically evaluating the proxies used, ensuring more robust and coordinated decision-making processes.",

keywords = "2026 OA procedure, Information Trustworthiness, Reliability, Use Cases, DecisionMaking",

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Amaral, G, Santos, VD, Haeusler, EH, Guizzardi, G, Schwabe, D & Lifschitz, S 2025, Unpacking Trust: An Ontological Framework for Information Trustworthiness in Decision-Making. in C M. Fonseca, A Bernasconi, S de Cesare, L Bellatreche & O Pastor (eds), Advances in Conceptual Modeling - ER 2025 Workshops, FCM, CMLS, LLM4Modeling, OntoCom, and QUAMES, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 16190 LNCS, Springer, pp. 181-190, 44th International Conference on Conceptual Modeling, ER 2025, Poitiers, France, 20/10/25. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-08620-4_11

Unpacking Trust: An Ontological Framework for Information Trustworthiness in Decision-Making. / Amaral, Glenda; Santos, Veronica dos; Haeusler, Edward Hermann et al.
Advances in Conceptual Modeling - ER 2025 Workshops, FCM, CMLS, LLM4Modeling, OntoCom, and QUAMES, Proceedings. ed. / Claudenir M. Fonseca; Anna Bernasconi; Sergio de Cesare; Ladjel Bellatreche; Oscar Pastor. Springer, 2025. p. 181-190 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. 16190 LNCS).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

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AB - We explore trustworthiness from a dual perspective, addressing both the content and the container (source). Through an illustrative example, we analyze the challenges and opportunities in assessing trustworthiness using the Reference Ontology of Trust (ONTrust) as well as the explanatory notion of Ontological Unpacking. The key findings reveal that establishing information trustworthiness necessitates a clear understanding of its underlying ontological commitments, followed by a systematic process of negotiating admissible truth-makers and deliberating on appropriate information proxies for these truth-makers. These results underscore the importance of explicitly defining the ontological assumptions behind information and systematically evaluating the proxies used, ensuring more robust and coordinated decision-making processes.

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Amaral G, Santos VD, Haeusler EH, Guizzardi G, Schwabe D, Lifschitz S. Unpacking Trust: An Ontological Framework for Information Trustworthiness in Decision-Making. In M. Fonseca C, Bernasconi A, de Cesare S, Bellatreche L, Pastor O, editors, Advances in Conceptual Modeling - ER 2025 Workshops, FCM, CMLS, LLM4Modeling, OntoCom, and QUAMES, Proceedings. Springer. 2025. p. 181-190. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science). doi: 10.1007/978-3-032-08620-4_11