BFO 2020 does not support functions, dispositions, and roles of generically dependent continuants (like software or datasets). In this paper, we argue that this is a severe limitation, which prevents, for example, the adequate representation of the functions of computer models or the various roles of datasets during the execution of these models. We discuss the aspects of BFO 2020 that prevent the representation of realizable entities of generically dependent continuants. Two approaches to address the issue are presented: (a) the use of defined classes and (b) a proposal of changes that allow BFO to support functions, dispositions, and roles of generically dependent continuants. The latter also addresses limitations of BFO 2020 concerning the roles and dispositions of immaterial entities, particularly boundaries and sites.

In our daily lives, as in science and in all other domains, we encounter huge numbers of dispositions (tendencies, potentials, powers) which are realized in processes such as sneezing, sweating, shedding dandruff, and on and on. Among this plethora of what we can think of as mere dispositions is a subset of dispositions in whose realizations we have an interest a car responding well when driven on ice, a rabbits lungs responding well when it is chased by a wolf, and so on. We call the latter capabilities and we attempt to provide a robust ontological account of what capabilities are that is of sufficient generality to serve a variety of purposes, for example by providing a useful extension to ontology-based research in areas where capabilities data are currently being collected in siloed fashion.

The Common Core Ontologies (CCO) are designed as a mid-level ontology suite that extends the Basic Formal Ontology. CCO has since been increasingly adopted by a broad group of users and applications and is proposed as the first standard mid-level ontology. Despite these successes, documentation of the contents and design patterns of the CCO has been comparatively minimal. This paper is a step toward providing enhanced documentation for the mid-level ontology suite through a discussion of the contents of the eleven ontologies that collectively comprise the Common Core Ontology suite.