PROCEEDINGS
Main	
  conference
                                                                                                              Introduction




 rd
3 	
  International	
  Conference	
  on	
  Biomedical	
  Ontology
The	
  International	
  Conference	
  on	
  Biomedical	
  Ontology	
  (ICBO)	
  was	
  organized	
  for	
  the	
  third	
  time	
  in	
  
2012.	
  It	
  was	
  initially	
  a	
  biannual	
  conference,	
  organized	
  in	
  Buffalo,	
  N Y,	
  and	
  it	
  has	
  since	
  evolved	
  into	
  an	
  
annual	
  conference,	
  of	
  which	
  the	
  3rd	
  edition	
  was	
  held	
  in	
  Graz,	
  Austria,	
  on	
  July	
  21-­‐25,	
  2012,	
  collocated	
  
with	
  the	
  7th	
  International	
  Conference	
  on	
  Formal	
  Ontology	
  in	
  Information	
  Systems	
  (FOIS).
The	
  conference	
  and	
  these	
  proceedings	
  clearly	
  illustrate	
  both	
  the	
  need	
  for	
  a	
  venue	
  to	
  address	
  issues	
  
pertaining	
  to	
  biomedical	
  ontology	
  (and	
  ontologies,	
  if	
  you	
  will),	
  and	
  the	
  progress	
  made	
  in	
  the	
  field.	
  
The	
  discipline	
  of	
  Ontology	
  has	
  become	
  relevant	
  in	
  practice	
  with	
  the	
  evolution	
  of	
  complex	
  
information	
  systems	
  which	
  rely	
  on	
  robust	
  and	
  coherent	
  representations.	
  The	
  use	
  of	
  biomedical	
  
ontologies	
  in	
  annotation	
  of	
  both	
  clinical	
  and	
  experimental	
  data	
  is	
  now	
  a	
  common	
  technique	
  in	
  
integrative	
  translational	
  research.	
  To	
  be	
  maximally	
  effective,	
  such	
  ontologies	
  must	
  work	
  well	
  
together.	
  As	
  they	
  become	
  more	
  widely	
  used,	
  coordination	
  problems	
  require	
  innovative	
  solutions.	
  
There	
  are	
  still	
  numerous	
  challenges	
  in	
  ontology	
  engineering,	
  ontology	
  theory,	
  and	
  ontology	
  
education.	
  
These	
  proceedings	
  provide	
  balance	
  between	
  biological	
  and	
  medical	
  ontology,	
  between	
  formal	
  rigor	
  
and	
  tooling	
  for	
  ontology	
  development	
  and	
  evaluation,	
  and	
  between	
  development	
  and	
  application	
  of	
  
ontologies.
These	
  proceedings	
  are	
  published	
  in	
  the	
  K R-­‐MED	
  series,	
  which	
  cover	
  conferences	
  dealing	
  with	
  
Formal	
  Biomedical	
  Knowledge	
  Representation.
We	
  are	
  confident	
  that	
  these	
  proceedings	
  will	
  contribute	
  to	
  spreading	
  the	
  ideas	
  shared	
  during	
  the	
  
conference.

Ronald	
  Cornet,	
  Academic	
  Medical	
  Center,	
  Amsterdam,	
  The	
  Netherlands
Robert	
  Stevens,	
  University	
  of	
  Manchester,	
  United	
  Kingdom
Chairs	
  of	
  the	
  I CBO	
  2012	
  Scientific	
  Program	
  Committee