# Ontology for Interop (w/ RFC, OFN -etc?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Development\ **Created:** [December 4, 2021, 12:26pm UTC](https://farmos.discourse.group/t/ontology-for-interop-w-rfc-ofn-etc/996 "2021-12-04T12:26:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![walt](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/farmos.discourse.group/walt/32/13_2.png) [@walt](https://farmos.discourse.group/u/walt)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 12:26pm UTC](https://farmos.discourse.group/t/ontology-for-interop-w-rfc-ofn-etc/996/1 "2021-12-04T12:26:34Z")
A rather open question i know, but as my farmOS instance has just been added to the farmOS aggregator for Real Food Campaign, which has its own ontology for data interop… AND i’ve just learned of the Open Food Network, which has its own particular ontology, what i’m thinking i might provide a good leg-up for the open & shared inventory system that our local farm-to-fork food coop is wanting to build, my question is: _Are these standards for naming of crops and farming methods and food transformation process and products compatible? Is there some canonical source i might look to for guidance in naming these things?_ I appreciate that farmOS is quite ontology-agnostic… But as i am in process of renaming crops right now, it would be good if these decisions could be informed of any relevant standards extant or at least emergent. ? ---
**Author:** ![mstenta](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/farmos.discourse.group/mstenta/32/4_2.png) [@mstenta](https://farmos.discourse.group/u/mstenta)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 12:27pm UTC](https://farmos.discourse.group/t/ontology-for-interop-w-rfc-ofn-etc/996/2 "2021-12-06T12:27:19Z")
This is the emergent standards discussion @walt - you’re in at the ground floor! 😉 There has been a lot of talk about integrating farmOS with other platforms like Open Food Network - but nothing has gotten off the ground yet (mostly lack of sponsorship/volunteers for the necessary legwork). Some relevant discussion in this topic: [eCommerce integration](https://farmos.discourse.group/t/ecommerce-integration/57) As for standard ontologies, this is what Our Sci and OpenTEAM have been putting a lot of thought and effort into. But it is still just the beginning. @sudokita at Purdue has been working on a “Plant Data Service” which aims to be a database of crops with API capabilities that farmOS and other services can leverage. So the long term goal, as I understand it, is for the SurveyStack ontologies to be merged with that eventually. But since existing standards are few and far between we have to start somewhere. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![walt](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/farmos.discourse.group/walt/32/13_2.png) [@walt](https://farmos.discourse.group/u/walt)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 6:47pm UTC](https://farmos.discourse.group/t/ontology-for-interop-w-rfc-ofn-etc/996/3 "2021-12-06T18:47:23Z")
> [@mstenta](#): > > @sudokita at Purdue has been working on a “Plant Data Service” which aims to be a database of crops with API capabilities that farmOS and other services can leverage. Is there a live instance of this service anywhere online? Found a reference [here](https://sage-pdb.herokuapp.com/) and [there](https://plantdataservice.app.cloud.gov/) to what purported to be working instances, or at least live prototypes, but they seem to be offline ATM, and [the Github repo](https://github.com/julietnpn/plantdataservice/) hasn’t seen any action since those issues posted by one @mstenta back in April 2019 😁 Ah, but what’s this: a [WP skeleton site](https://plantdataservice.org/) set up \<2 months ago, in its own proper domain; could this mean there’s some new development in the pipeline, i wonder? ---
**Author:** ![mstenta](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/farmos.discourse.group/mstenta/32/4_2.png) [@mstenta](https://farmos.discourse.group/u/mstenta)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 7:25pm UTC](https://farmos.discourse.group/t/ontology-for-interop-w-rfc-ofn-etc/996/4 "2021-12-06T19:25:35Z")
@walt My understanding is that it is still a work in progress. They recently worked on building out a database in AirTable, which I’m not sure is publicly available, but the next step is to package it into an API. I’m sure there will be announcements about it via OpenTEAM when it’s ready for public consumption. Those other links you found (good sleuthing!) were proof of concept / prototypes we hacked on at a GOAT Hackathon in Beltsville MD, but are no longer maintained.