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The ESCO ontology

Modified on: 2024-01-26
This version:
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model/2.0.0
Previous version:
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model/1.2
Revision:
2.0.0
Authors:
Johan De Smedt (TenForce)
Contributors:
Agis Papantoniou (NTT, Cognizone)
Bernard Vatan (Mondeca)
Karel Kremer (TenForce)
Laurent Bégin (Mondeca)
Martin Le Vrang (DG-EMPL, Approver)
Massimiliano Molinari (DG-EMPL, Reviewer)
Niels Vandekeybus (TenForce)
Pieter Fannes (Everis, Cognizone)
Publisher:
http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/corporate-body/COM
Imported Ontologies:
skos-thes
core
skos-xl
adms
Visualization:
Visualize with WebVowl
Cite as:
Johan De Smedt (TenForce). The ESCO ontology. Revision: 2.0.0. Retrieved from: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model/2.0.0
Incompatible with:
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model/1.0
Provenance of this page
Specification

Abstract

The ontology of the taxonomy "European Skills, Competences, qualifications and Occupations".

The ontology considers three ESCO pillars (or taxonomy) and 2 registers. The three pillars are:

For the construction and use of the ESCO pillars, the following modelling artefacts are used:

ESCO maintains two additional registers:

Table of contents

The ESCO ontology: Overview back to ToC

This ontology has the following classes and properties.

Classes

Object Properties

Data Properties

Annotation Properties

The ESCO ontology: Description back to ToC

The ontology of the taxonomy European Skills, Competences, qualifications and Occupations.

Cross-reference for The ESCO ontology classes, object properties and data properties back to ToC

This section provides details for each class and property defined by The ESCO ontology.

Classes

Association objectc back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#AssociationObject

The generic class of extended directed associative relationships from a resource to a semantic asset.

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has super-classes
is in domain of
association from op, association to op, target framework op
is in range of
has association op

Competence sub-typec back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#SkillCompetenceType

Sub-Typing of a Skill Concept:

  • Skill/Competence
  • Knowledge
Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has super-classes
concept
is in range of
skill type op

Concept scheme (ESCO pillar)c back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#ConceptScheme

The ESCO concept schemes (pillars)

The "current" ESCO scheme and historic versions of the ESCO scheme will be instances of this class. Typically, these support poly-hierarchy.

The ISCO representations that are the backbone of at least one ESCO version (v0) also will be represented by this concept scheme. Typically these do not have poly-hierarchy.

Provenance information that may be added:

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has super-classes
concept scheme
is in range of
defines structure for op

ESCO Structurec back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#Structure

A structure defines a tagging relationship between one or more conceptschemes and an ESCO pillar.

The structure identifies the predicate used for the relationship between an esco:MemberConcept and a skos:Concept that is part of the linked conceptscheme(s).

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model

Label rolec back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#LabelRole

Allows to capture one or more particular characteristics of a name.

Example usage: Gender related terms.

  • ESCO concepts may get a gender neutral term as preferred label. The gender specific terms are provided as alternate labels.
  • Relevant use cases:
    • concept look-up based on gender specific term
    • Job posting generation with gender neutral terms
    • CV generation with gender specific terms
Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has super-classes
concept
is in range of
has label role op

Member conceptc back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#MemberConcept

Concepts of this class are specifically used to be referenced in CV or job postings. Typically these concepts are at the more specialized levels of the hierarchy. Example: A particular occupation, not a group of occupations. These concepts in general have However, some Member concept may be specializations of other ones. In general these specializations will not comply to (1). General group membership within ESCO pillars is provided by esco:memberOfGroup.

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has super-classes
concept
has sub-classes
Occupation c, Skill c
is in domain of
has essential skill op, has optional skill op

node literalc back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#NodeLiteral

Free text metadata fields, such as the description, a historical or additional note of a qualification can contain a plain text or a XHTML fragment as literal value. By using a NodeLiteral both the datatype of the literal as the language can be specified.

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has super-classes
concept
is in domain of
Node Literal dp

Occupationc back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#Occupation

The class of ESCO Occupation concepts. An Occuaption is an ESCO pillar concept (see http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#MemberConcept).

Characteristics of an Occupation:

An occupation may be related to

Occupations having a legal or other regulations in a specific region

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has super-classes
Member concept c
is in domain of
regultated profession note
is disjoint with
Skill c

Skillc back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#Skill

The class of ESCO Skill concepts.

ESCO skills are sub-typed (e.g. to differentiate between knowledge and competence). This sub-typing is modelled using the concept class http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#SkillCompetenceType

Concept class for organization is http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#SkillReuseLevel ESCO skills with a different re-use applicability across sectors can be put in a hierarchical relation (skos:broader and skos:narrower) in acordance with the rules detailed by http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#SkillReuseLevel.

Characteristics

An ESCO Skill may be related to other ESCO concepts.

A skill may also be an informal recognition of a competence. The recognition typically is obtained by experience, practice or informal tests.

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has super-classes
Member concept c
is in domain of
is essential skill for op, is optional skill for op, skill reuseability level op, skill type op
is in range of
has essential skill op, has optional skill op
is disjoint with
Occupation c

Object Properties

association fromop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#isAssociationFor

The resource being described (the resource the association starts from e.g. a qualification). This property entails the inverse property http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#hasAssociation.

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model

has characteristics: functional

has domain
Association object c

association toop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#target

The associated resource. Refers to a node (e.g. a skos:Concept) in another established framework (e.g. a skill or occupation from the ESCO classification, a skill or occupation from the national classification system, the qualification level according the national qualification framework,…).

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model

has characteristics: functional

has domain
Association object c
has range
resource c

defines structure forop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#structureFor

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has super-properties
top object property
has range
Concept scheme (ESCO pillar) c

has associationop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#hasAssociation

The detailed (typed, annotated and documented) association (see http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#AssociationObject) from a resource (e.g. a qualification) to a node in an other established framework. The association identifies a related semantic asset from another established framework. The inverse relation of esco:isAssociationFor entails the property esco:hasAssociation.

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model

has characteristics: inverse functional

has range
Association object c

has code listop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#codeList

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has range
concept scheme

has coded propertyop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#codedProperty

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has range
property c

has essential skillop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#relatedEssentialSkill

The ESCO skill or competence that is essential for the subject occupation or skill.

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has super-properties
related
has domain
Member concept c
has range
Skill c
is inverse of
is essential skill for op

has label roleop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#hasLabelRole

A tagging concept providing the gender specific typing of an ESCO label. Each ESCO label can have

  • at most 1 label that is standard male and zero or more labels that are male
  • at most 1 label that is standard female and zero or more labels that are female
  • any label that is not male or female is considered neutral
  • a male respectively female preferred label is the standard male respectively standard female label
Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has super-properties
subject op
has domain
label
has range
Label role c

has NACE codeop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#hasNACECode

A tagging concept using the NACE codes to specify the industry sector of the tagged subject.

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has super-properties
subject op

has optional skillop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#relatedOptionalSkill

The ESCO skill or competence that is relevant (but optional) for the subject occuption.

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has super-properties
related
has domain
Member concept c
has range
Skill c
is inverse of
is optional skill for op

is essential skill forop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#isEssentialSkillFor

The inverse of esco:relatedEssentialSkill.

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has super-properties
related
has domain
Skill c
has range
Occupation c or Skill c
is inverse of
has essential skill op

is optional skill forop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#isOptionalSkillFor

The inverse of esco:relatedOptionalSkill.

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has super-properties
related
has domain
Skill c
has range
Occupation c or Skill c
is inverse of
has optional skill op

ISCED FoET Codeop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#hasISCED-FCode

A tagging concept identifying the ISCED 2013 FoET classification code (Field of Education Code). It is used to indicate the thematic area of a qualification.

Is defined by
http://data.europe.eu/esco/model
has super-properties
subject op
has range
concept

skill reuseability levelop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#skillReuseLevel

Reuseability level of a skill

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has super-properties
subject op
has domain
Skill c
has range
concept

skill typeop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#skillType

Type of competence (a tagging concept)

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has super-properties
subject op
has domain
Skill c
has range
Competence sub-type c

target frameworkop back to ToC or Object Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#targetFramework

The framework to which the resource being described is associated. It is the framework that describes the target resource (the associated resource) (e.g. ESCO classification system, national qualification framework system,..). It is recommended that the target framework is denoted by a known resource (e.g. a adms:Asset, a dcat:Dataset, a conceptscheme)

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model

has characteristics: functional

has domain
Association object c

Data Properties

languagedp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#language

QMS usage: The range must be a rdfs:Literal typed as xsd:language.

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has range
language

Node Literaldp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#nodeLiteral

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has domain
node literal c
has range
literal

Reference languagedp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#referenceLanguage

QMS usage: The ISO 639-1 code of the language (2-char language code) in which information about the qualification is provided. This language will be used as the default reference language for the qualification.

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has range
language

Annotation Properties

abstractap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC

IRI: http://purl.org/dc/terms/abstract

licenseap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC

IRI: http://purl.org/dc/terms/license

preferred namespace prefixap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC

IRI: http://purl.org/vocab/vann/preferredNamespacePrefix

preferred namespace uriap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC

IRI: http://purl.org/vocab/vann/preferredNamespaceUri

publisherap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC

IRI: http://purl.org/dc/terms/publisher

regultated profession noteap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC

IRI: http://data.europa.eu/esco/model#regulatedProfessionNote

The subject occupation is regulated according the description in the note. The note typically contains a hyperlink.

Is defined by
http://data.europa.eu/esco/model
has super-properties
note
has domain
Occupation c

statusap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC

IRI: http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/status

Legend back to ToC

c: Classes
op: Object Properties
dp: Data Properties

Acknowledgments back to ToC

The authors would like to thank Silvio Peroni for developing LODE, a Live OWL Documentation Environment, which is used for representing the Cross Referencing Section of this document and Daniel Garijo for developing Widoco, the program used to create the template used in this documentation.