Information Modelling and Knowledge Bases has become an important technology contributor to academic and industry research in the 21st century. It addresses the complexities of modelling in digital transformation and digital innovation, reaching beyond the traditional borders of information systems and computer science academic research.

The amount and complexity of information itself, the number of abstraction levels of information, and the size of databases and knowledge bases are continuously growing. The diversity of data sources combines data from traditional legacy sources to stream-based unstructured data requiring backwards modelling. Conceptual modelling is one of the sub-areas of information modelling. The aim of this conference is to bring together experts from different areas of computer science and other disciplines who have a common interest in understanding and solving problems of information modelling and knowledge bases, as well as applying the results of research to practice. We also aim to recognize and study new areas on modelling and knowledge bases to which more attention should be paid. Therefore, philosophy and logic, cognitive science, knowledge management, linguistics, and management science as well as machine learning and AI are relevant areas, too.

The international conference on information modelling and knowledge bases originated from the co-operation between Japan and Finland in 1982 as the European-Japanese conference (EJC). Professor Ohsuga in Japan and Professors Hannu Kangassalo and Hannu Jaakkola from Finland (Nordic countries) then did the pioneering work for this long tradition of academic collaboration. Over the years, the conference has gradually expanded to include European and Asian countries, and gradually spread through networks of previous participants to other countries. In 2014, with this expanded geographical scope, the European-Japanese part in the title was replaced by International. The conference characteristics include opening with a keynote session followed by presentation sessions with enough time for discussions. The limited number of participants is typical for this conference.

The 31st International conference on Information Modelling and Knowledge Bases (EJC 2021) held in Hamburg, Germany constitutes a research forum for the exchange of scientific results and experiences and attracting academics and practitioners dealing with information and knowledge. The main topics of EJC 2021 cover a wide range of themes, extending knowledge discovery through Conceptual Modelling, Knowledge and Information Modelling and Discovery, Linguistic Modelling, Cross-Cultural Communication and Social Computing, Environmental Modelling and Engineering, and Multimedia Data Modelling and Systems. The conference has also been open to new topics related to its main themes. In this way, the content emphases of the conferences have been able to adapt to the changes taking place in the research field.

The conference was hosted by the Department Informatik of University of Applied Sciences Hamburg, Germany. Due to regulations caused by Corona virus, the conference was transformed into a virtual event this year, held on September 7–9, 2021. The conference had three categories of presentations: full papers, short papers and position papers. The contributions in this proceedings feature twenty-one reviewed, selected, and upgraded contributions that are the result of presentations, comments, and discussions during the conference. We thank all colleagues for their support in making this conference a success, the program committee, organization committee, and the program coordination team in particular, especially Professor Naofumi Yoshida, who maintained the paper submission and reviewing systems and compiled the files for this book.

Editors

Marina Tropmann-Frick

Hannu Jaakkola

Bernhard Thalheim

Yasushi Kiyoki

Naofumi Yoshida