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Re: [ontology-summit] [Making the Case] Elevator Pitch

To: ontology-summit@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
From: Ron Wheeler <rwheeler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2011 19:14:28 -0500
Message-id: <4D45FEE4.3010607@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
On 29/01/2011 8:01 PM, Tim Wilson wrote:
> Ron,
>
> While I understand what you are saying it still sounds rather defeatist
> to me.
I don't understand this comment.
>   What do you see as the magic core that will enable these diverse
> ontologies (or something else, perhaps) to understand each other?
>
I see each ontology having a set of metadata that identifies itself as 
clearly as a Java library identifies itself. GAV in Maven terms.
It will then be possible to at least know what one is dealing with and 
to create a description of the set of ontologies that can be processed 
by computers    (01)

Ron
> Tim Wilson
> System Engineer
> University of Rochester
> Rochester, NY
>
> On 1/29/2011 1:37 PM, Ron Wheeler wrote:
>> On 29/01/2011 12:39 PM, John F. Sowa wrote:
>>> On 1/29/2011 12:03 PM, Pavithra wrote:
>>>> "With Ontology say the same thing, mean the same thing, process the same
>>>> thing, everywhere"
>>>>
>>>> "Ontology enables semantic interoperability by presenting information
>>>> consistently across organizations and domains and machines"
>>> Both of those statements require a huge amount of qualification.
>>> As stated, they are false.
>> +1
>>> For many purposes, a highly underspecified definition is essential
>>> for interoperability.  Names, addresses, and telephone numbers,
>>> for example, do not require a detailed specification of the
>>> nature of human beings, geography, or communication systems.
>>>
>>> Different applications may require radically different amounts
>>> of detail and formats for totally different purposes.
>>>
>>> For example, consider medical records, educational records,
>>> employment records, financial records, purchasing records,
>>> and Facebook sites for the same person.  You definitely do
>>> *not* want the same kind of information specified in the
>>> same way in all of them.
>>>
>> You are also never going to get agreement between all of the software
>> vendors and industry standards groups about what describes a person.
>>
>> Too much of the discussion here seems to presume that we are going back
>> to the 1950s and 1960s were companies each built their own business
>> systems from scratch.
>> In the modern world, companies assemble a custom information structure
>> using software packages that come from several vendors.
>> If - BIG "if" -  the world adopts ontology as the basis for future
>> generations of systems, then companies are going to have deal with many
>> ontologies that have some level of compatibility and some adapters that
>> allow concepts and information to flow from one to the other.
>> SAP will have a description of a person that is different from ORACLE's
>> HR view of the person which will be different from the payroll service's
>> view of the person or the LMS's view of the person or the insurance
>> company providing medical insurance or the government regulator that
>> monitors workplace safety and so on.
>>
>> However, these will all have to cooperate and provide adapters or
>> interfaces that allow the company's IT organization to make the whole
>> thing work.
>> Developers will need tools to "configure" ontologies to reflect the
>> company's view of the universe and to verify that these changes do not
>> affect interoperability.
>>
>> Is there a discussion about the metadata required to support the
>> management of such a lattice of ontologies?
>> This would seem to be a key thing to understand before trying to build a
>> useful repository and set of tools to use it.
>>
>> Ron
>>
>>> John
>>>
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>>    (02)


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