M: Enable Reuse

Building the foundation for composable, scalable enterprise knowledge

Objective

Reuse Enablement is the discipline of designing, packaging, and governing every knowledge asset — use case, ontology, data product, or workflow — so that it can be safely reused across teams, domains, and generations of technology.

It is the foundation of the Enterprise Knowledge Graph (EKG): without reuse, there is no composability, no scalability, and no sustainable intelligence. The EKGF Method defines reuse not as a technical afterthought but as a core architectural principle — embedded in the way we plan, build, and run every enterprise capability.

Why It Matters

Enterprises waste enormous effort solving the same problems repeatedly — integrating the same data, remodelling the same business rules, recreating the same workflows.

Most of this duplication stems from one cause: knowledge is not shared as reusable components.

When knowledge lives in silos — spreadsheets, slide decks, bespoke systems — every project begins from zero. By contrast, a reuse-enabled organisation captures its work as semantically defined, governed components that can be discovered and recomposed anywhere across the enterprise.

The result:

• Drastically reduced duplication and cost
• Higher quality and consistency through shared models
• Faster delivery and innovation
• Stronger alignment across business and technology

Beyond Data: The Real Meaning of Reuse

Most "semantic technology" initiatives of the past two decades have been driven from the data perspective — led by integration specialists and ontology engineers. They delivered powerful data harmonisation but rarely transformed how the enterprise actually works.

That is where the Enterprise Knowledge Graph (EKG) and Use Case Tree (UCT) shift the paradigm. They treat reuse not as a data exercise, but as the foundation for application composition. In the EKGF Method, reuse is not limited to triples or ontologies — it extends to behaviour, expressed as Stories and Workflows.

Just as object-oriented programming in the 1980s combined data and methods into a reusable "object," the Use Case Tree (UCT) combines data, logic, and process into a reusable semantic package: a use case that contains its meaning (ontology), its data products, and its behaviour (stories, workflows, outcomes).

This is the crucial difference:

The EKGF Method paradigm shift

Instead of describing data that others must code against, the EKGF Method captures the behaviour itself — executable, governed, and reusable across domains — without necessarily writing code at all.

In this sense, a Use Case in the EKG is just as real and reusable as a software package in the JavaScript or Python ecosystems. Each can be discovered, installed, versioned, extended, and composed — but the EKG package operates at the semantic and business level, spanning data, logic, and meaning.

That's why reuse is not a side effect of the EKG. It's the reason the EKG exists.

From DIKW to EKGF: Making Knowledge Executable

The well-known DIKW Model (Data → Information → Knowledge → Wisdom) has guided information management for decades. But it assumes that Wisdom naturally follows from Knowledge — as if understanding automatically produces action. In practice, enterprises rarely reach that state because the bridge from knowing to doing is missing.

The EKGF Method extends this model by adding the operational dimension: knowledge becomes behaviour, behaviour becomes reusable, and reuse powers composability. This is the Path to Executable Knowledge — where understanding turns into governed, shareable, and actionable intelligence.

The diagram below visualises this shift — showing how the EKGF Method transforms the classic DIKW hierarchy into a living model of executable, reusable knowledge.

_{Traditional DIKW ends at understanding. The EKGF Method continues by modelling behaviour, packaging it as reusable use cases, and feeding it back into a composable enterprise — closing the loop between data, knowledge, and operational wisdom.}

The Role of the Use Case Tree (UCT)

In the EKGF Method, the Use Case Tree (UCT) is the mechanism that makes reuse practical and governed.

Each node in the UCT acts as a semantic package — a defined, versioned, and discoverable unit of business capability. Within a UCT package, teams can register:

• Ontologies and shapes defining meaning and validation
• Stories (tool functions or APIs) that implement reusable logic
• Data products describing and delivering reusable datasets
• Workflows and policies orchestrating repeatable patterns

Every successful technology ecosystem has a way to share reusable components — the JavaScript world has npm with over 3.5 million packages, the Python world has PyPI with over 600,000 packages, and so on — each enabling developers to build upon a vast ecosystem of reusable components. The Use Case Tree (UCT) plays the same role for the Enterprise Knowledge Graph (EKG): it is the semantic package manager that makes every business capability, dataset, and workflow discoverable, versioned, and ready for reuse across the organisation.

Reuse Enablement vs. Composable Business

Two sides of the same semantic coin

While Reuse Enablement and Composable Business share the same foundation, they operate at different levels of abstraction. The table below summarises their relationship within the EKGF Method.

Aspect	Composable Business	Reuse Enablement
Focus / Orientation	How business capabilities are composed, orchestrated, and evolved	How knowledge assets and components are packaged and shared
Primary Question	"How do we assemble business capabilities from reusable parts to adapt to change?"	"How do we design those reusable parts so they can be assembled safely and meaningfully?"
Scope	Business and operational level — orchestrating Use Cases, Personas, and Stories into composable outcomes.	Technical and semantic level — creating and governing reusable artifacts: ontologies, datasets, shapes, workflows, data products, and Stories.
Key Mechanism	Use Case Tree (UCT) as the orchestration layer: composing and aligning modular business capabilities.	Use Case Tree (UCT) as the packaging layer: publishing reusable components and metadata to the Enterprise Knowledge Graph (EKG) for discovery and re-use.
Relationship to the EKG	The EKG provides the shared semantics and service interfaces that make cross-use-case orchestration possible.	The EKG provides the shared identifiers, ontologies, and provenance that make reuse safe and traceable.
Value Proposition	Agility and adaptability: the ability to reconfigure the enterprise dynamically in response to change.	Efficiency and consistency: the ability to reduce duplication and accelerate delivery through reusable, versioned components.
Primary Users	Business and solution architects; transformation leads.	Data and knowledge engineers; ontology and platform teams.
Outcome	Composable business capabilities and adaptive workflows.	Reusable semantic components and data products.
Relationship to Each Other	Composable business depends on reuse. Without reusable components, there is nothing to compose.	Reuse finds purpose in composability. Without higher-level composition, reuse is just technical hygiene.

Two sides of the same semantic coin

Reuse Enablement creates the building blocks.

Composable Business assembles them into living systems.

Both rely on the Use Case Tree (UCT) as the semantic package manager of the Enterprise Knowledge Graph — governing how business, data, and technical artifacts are versioned, discoverable, and composable.

How to Enable Reuse in Practice

1. Model once, reuse everywhere: design ontologies, shapes, and stories as modular assets stored and versioned in the EKG.

2. Publish via the UCT: register components as packages with clear ownership, metadata, and dependency relationships.

3. Govern for trust: validate with SHACL, record provenance, enforce entitlements and lifecycle policies.

4. Discover and compose: make all reusable artifacts searchable and connectable across domains and teams.

5. Measure reuse: track adoption, version dependencies, and impact metrics to sustain continuous improvement.

Related Objectives

• Composable Business
• Manage Modularity
• Achieve Interoperability
• Capture Knowledge

Summary

Reuse Enablement is how the EKG turns knowledge into infrastructure. By packaging every use case, ontology, and data product as a governed, discoverable component within the Use Case Tree, the enterprise builds a foundation for scalable intelligence and composable business.

When reuse becomes second nature, innovation stops reinventing the wheel — and starts accelerating on shared semantic ground.

Author: Jacobus Geluk