Re: [ontolog-forum] Current Semantic Web Layer Cake

[Frank Guerino <Frank.Guerino@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Danny,

Some comments, below...


On 8/5/07 4:22 AM, "Danny Ayers" <danny.ayers@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> 
> We have something approaching standardisation on protocol (HTTP) 

HTTP is by no means the type of protocol that will allow "systems" to communicate and interact with each other in such a way that will get them to where they need to be for the vision of Semantic Web.  HTTP is a lower order protocol for simple put/get data to/from a system.

> and document representation (HTML). There are still a large variety of
> data representations, but many are becoming available as XML syntax.

Again, this is also true with HTML, which is rudimentary, at best.  For systems to interact, there will have to be highly defined dictionaries, grammars, languages, context analyzers, protocols of interaction, and so much more.  Think of how the brain works and how it breaks down information and also how it uses it to categorize, store, structure, correlate, index, find, recall, aggregate, transform, format, render, etc. everything it works with.  And, this does not even get into the more complex aspects of how it takes all of this and correlates it to motor skills, senses, communication with other entities, etc.

> The step to using a common baseline data model such as RDF may seem
> improbable, but I personally believe that the gains it offers are
> becoming visible enough to encourage widespread adoption.
> 
> I think an important point to bear in mind is that there_will_be_a_future!
> There is everything to suggest that the future Web will involve more
> connectivity between services and increased access to data that is
> currently hidden in silos. There will be a "Web 3.0", how much energy
> has to be spent getting there is another matter...
> 
> The advantage of using RDF and associated techniques over arbitrary
> data representations is that when a new service or repository is added
> it's automatically part of the whole, without having to connecting to
> a matrix of X^2 different representations.
> 
> This doesn't mean every data/document producer has to publish RDF
> directly, or that when they do it has to be hard work. Tools for
> semi-automatically mapping from RDBMSs are available, and the GRDDL
> technique [1] allows existing XML material to be viewed as RDF without
> *any* additional work from individual publishers, just a one-off tweak
> to the namespace document.

Danny, I get you're point.  However, take a look at what RDF is really all about... It's about "Relationships".  Most systems in the world don't know how to capture, define, standardize, categorize, store, communicate, etc. relationships.  The world is still struggling with the simplest of issues, which is dealing with flat content.  In order for RDF to really work, not only do systems have to speak the same data dictionary language for flat content, they also now need to understand how create, manage, and communicate "relationships".  And, anyone that has really tried to use RDF knows that it has many issues that act as barriers for real use.  If you want to use it in a successful manner, you really can only use “pieces” of it that are modified for real world use.  We do much of this in our own system, Danny.  Trust me when I tell you that putting RDF to real use is “not” an easy concept and a company like our own is an exception, not the rule.  Most enterprises in the world could care less about achieving such a level of interaction because they're still trying to solve business problems the traditional way.  And, guess what... When it's about making money, the traditional way is more than good enough and probably will be for a very long time, making it highly improbable that enterprises will switch to higher order standards.

Anyhow, I hope this helps.

My Best,

Frank

Frank Guerino, CEO 
TraverseIT
908-294-5191 Cell
http://www.TraverseIT.com




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