Shreekanth M. Prabhu ¹, K. N. Balasubramanya Murthy ¹, S. Natarajan ¹

Affiliations
1 PES University, 100 Feet Outer Ring Road, Banashankari 3rd Stage, Banashankari, Bangalore – 560085, IN

Abstract

This paper proposes ontology-based Tantra Framework that accommodates Societal Information in an orderly, compact and unified manner to achieve Good Governance. In this work, Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architecture is used as reference and it is extended to address information operating at societal scale. The complexity of social information gets accentuated due to myriad possibilities of relationships, say compared to information pertaining to an Enterprise. In light of that, two additional columns namely relationships and relators have been added to Zachman Framework in Tantra Framework. The existing six columns of Zachman Framework namely who, what, how, when, where and why are interpreted as People, Assets/Attributes, Process, Event, Location and Objectives respectively. In addition to the six interrogatives of Zachman Framework that are ontology based, the concept of relationships and relators has been derived from The Unified Foundational Ontology. Even though Zachman considered his framework as Ontology, some researchers regarded it as taxonomy. Tantra Framework has addressed that perceived gap by extending the Zachman Framework by adding two additional columns. Application ScenariosThe utility of Tantra Framework is analyzed by applying it to a set of Application Scenarios pertaining to People and Locations information, Revenue Capture, Social Benefit Coverage Analysis, Financial Inclusion and Metrics analysis. Tanta Framework interoperates with Balanced Score Card approach to set objectives, Theory of Change to lay out a process of change and Bartels’ theory of Market Separations to assess the access barriers within Society. This research study is focused on Indian context. Tantra Framework relies on eliciting the inherent order in social information to make it complete, correct and current. For example, in Chemistry, discovery of periodic table by Mendeleev led to a unifying scheme which not only captured the present but allowed for place-holders for future discoveries. A similar focus on eliciting inherent order in social information, can potentially reveal latent ‘facts’, ‘truths’ and ‘relationships.

Keywords

Financial Inclusion, Framework, Good Governance, Knowledge Management, Ontology, Theory of Separations

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Shreekanth M. Prabhu ¹, K. N. Balasubramanya Murthy ¹, Subramanyam Natarajan ¹

Affiliations
1 PES University, 100 Feet Outer Ring Road, Bangalore – 560085, IN

Abstract

The idea of Balanced Development is to ensure equitable distribution of necessities of life and creation of productive remunerative employment across society. Balanced development is a prerequisite for sustainable economic growth and shared prosperity. To facilitate this challenging task, we have proposed an Ontology-based Tantra Social Information Management Framework that can help set goals, design and evaluate interventions, define and monitor relevant metrics in an ongoing basis. Tantra Framework represents social information using ideas from Zachman Framework and concepts from Unified Foundational Ontology. Tantra Framework inter-operates with well-regarded models. Balanced Scorecard is used to define development objectives. Bartels’ Theory of Separations is used to identify barriers to access, consumption and profitable participation. Theory of Change process is used to arrive at right intervention. Distributed Ledgers are proposed to handle Change Management. A Social Information Management Process is proposed to keep the framework populated, complete and current. Tantra Framework can lead to broader Digital Governance Framework with strong cognizance of Social dimension. The paper explains how Tantra Framework can be used to realize Economic Development in Indian context.

Keywords

Balanced Development, Balanced Scorecard, Ontology, Theory of Change, Zachman Framework

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