Entityits

Entityits is a proposed framework for representing, identifying, and managing discrete entities across digital ecosystems. The term blends “entity” with indicators of its own provenance and treatment across systems, signaling an emphasis on interoperability, versioning, and governance of item-level data. In this conception, an entity is defined by a stable identifier, a set of descriptive attributes, and a network of relationships to other entities or records.

Design goals of entityits include stable global identifiers (preferably URI-based), extensible attribute schemas with multilingual labels, a pluggable relationship model, and comprehensive provenance through version histories and source metadata. The framework is intended to be compatible with, rather than replace, existing data-modeling standards, facilitating cross-system querying and linking.

Model and structure are centered on entities carrying an identifier, one or more types, human-readable labels, and a payload of attributes. Relationships are treated as first-class components to support rich graphs. Provenance is captured via versioning, source annotation, and audit trails, enabling traceability over time.

History and current status: Entityits has emerged in information-science discussions during the 2020s as a response to challenges in cross-source entity resolution and governance. It remains a topic of theoretical work and prototype demonstrations, not an official standard, with real-world deployments varying by domain.

Relation to standards: Entityits is designed to complement existing standards such as RDF, JSON-LD, and schema.org vocabularies. It focuses on interoperability layers and provenance schemas that can be layered atop current formats rather than replacing them.

See also: knowledge graph, entity linking, RDF, JSON-LD, data provenance.