Ontology Maintenance at Scale
O*NET maintains 923 data-level occupations, each rated on hundreds of descriptors across six domains. The system has been continuously updated since 1998, with major taxonomy revisions in 2000, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2019, and 2020.
The pattern that makes this sustainable: institutional commitment plus structured evolution.
The Department of Labor funds ongoing data collection. Questionnaires go to incumbent workers and occupational analysts. Results feed back into the database on a regular schedule.
When the underlying Standard Occupational Classification changes (as it did in 2010 and 2018), O*NET publishes transition reports explaining exactly what changed, why, and how old codes map to new ones. Crosswalks bridge versions.
Most knowledge management initiatives underestimate this maintenance requirement. They build elaborate taxonomies, populate them once, and watch them decay. O*NET demonstrates what sustained commitment looks like, and the investment required to make it work.