ontology-summit
[Top] [All Lists]

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

To: "ian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <ian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Ontology Summit 2011 discussion <ontology-summit@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
From: "MacPherson, Deborah" <dmacpherson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2011 16:07:05 -0500
Message-id: <43F2A07F08761449ABD2C0664C74D9FC17456B9685@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Yes - The real world is complex and changing, you need a solution that can cope 
with that complexity and adapt with the changes. That's what ontology does for 
you
    (01)



DEBORAH MACPHERSON, CSI CCS, AIA
Specifications and Research
    (02)

Cannon Design
1100 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 2900
Arlington, Virginia 22209
    (03)

Direct Line 703 907 2353
4 Digit Dial 6353
    (04)

dmacpherson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
cannondesign.com
    (05)

 Please consider the environment before printing this email.
    (06)


-----Original Message-----
From: ontology-summit-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
[mailto:ontology-summit-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Ian Bailey
Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2011 4:02 PM
To: 'Ontology Summit 2011 discussion'
Subject: Re: [ontology-summit] [Making the Case] Elevator Pitch
    (07)

Hi All,
    (08)

How honest does this pitch have to be ?  Is it a salesman's pitch ? Can we 
assume the boss has ever seen an ontology ?  If he/she *has* ever seen one, 
then words such as "smaller" and "more manageable" aren't going to wash. Is Cyc 
small and manageable ?  Sumo's pretty big too, and it's only supposed to be an 
upper ontology. I haven't seen many small ontologies - at least not ones that 
claimed to be any use. I think the "manageable" bit is going to be hard to 
defend as well.
    (09)

I think it's a good pitch, but it's a whopper of a lie. No harm in that - 
history tells us that those are the sales pitches that have worked in IT for 
every new technology - "Use SOA, it'll get rid of your stovepipes", "Go 
open-source, you don't need to buy any software !", "Go cloud computing, you 
don't need to buy any software or hardware", "Artificial intelligence, 
er...no...no...give me a minute...er...", etc.
    (010)

Isn't it more honest to say "The real world is complex and changing, you need a 
solution that can cope with that complexity and adapt with the changes. That's 
what ontology does for you". That way we're making no pretence that it's simple 
or small, 'cos it isn't. And what's more, any solution that is simple or small 
isn't going to solve any big problems in information management, IMHO.
    (011)

Ian
    (012)




-----Original Message-----
From: ontology-summit-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
[mailto:ontology-summit-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of MacPherson, 
Deborah
Sent: 02 February 2011 20:22
To: Ontology Summit 2011 discussion
Subject: Re: [ontology-summit] [Making the Case] Elevator Pitch
    (013)

OK - so scratch that. 
    (014)

"Ontology: Making Complexity Smaller and More Manageable"
    (015)

With acknowledgement that really difficult problems are in reasoning and 
language understanding and in some domains dealing with images and geometry 
also
    (016)


DEBORAH MACPHERSON, CSI CCS, AIA
Specifications and Research
    (017)

Cannon Design
1100 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 2900
Arlington, Virginia 22209
    (018)

Direct Line 703 907 2353
4 Digit Dial 6353
    (019)

dmacpherson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
cannondesign.com
    (020)

ü Please consider the environment before printing this email.
    (021)


-----Original Message-----
From: ontology-summit-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
[mailto:ontology-summit-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of John F. Sowa
Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2011 2:03 PM
To: ontology-summit@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ontology-summit] [Making the Case] Elevator Pitch
    (022)

On 2/2/2011 1:55 PM, MacPherson, Deborah wrote:
> Change:

> The number of laws and legal concepts is relatively small and discrete.

> The complexity comes from the world.

>

> To - something like:

> Even if the number of concepts and rules in an ontology is relatively 

> small and discrete, The purpose of ontological engineering is to manage 
>complexity that comes from the world.
    (023)

That's not what I meant.
    (024)

I wasn't claiming that a small ontology can manage a huge complexity.
    (025)

I was just saying that we don't yet have methods that are capable of managing 
that huge complexity, and that an ontology, by itself, won't help very much.
    (026)

The really difficult problems are in reasoning and language understanding.  An 
ontology can probably help, but we need to go far beyond the currently 
available tools.
    (027)

John
    (028)

_________________________________________________________________
Msg Archives: http://ontolog.cim3.net/forum/ontology-summit/   
Subscribe/Config: http://ontolog.cim3.net/mailman/listinfo/ontology-summit/
Unsubscribe: mailto:ontology-summit-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Community Files: http://ontolog.cim3.net/file/work/OntologySummit2011/
Community Wiki: http://ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?OntologySummit2011
Community Portal: http://ontolog.cim3.net/wiki/ 
    (029)

_________________________________________________________________
Msg Archives: http://ontolog.cim3.net/forum/ontology-summit/   
Subscribe/Config: http://ontolog.cim3.net/mailman/listinfo/ontology-summit/
Unsubscribe: mailto:ontology-summit-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Community Files: http://ontolog.cim3.net/file/work/OntologySummit2011/
Community Wiki: http://ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?OntologySummit2011
Community Portal: http://ontolog.cim3.net/wiki/ 
    (030)


_________________________________________________________________
Msg Archives: http://ontolog.cim3.net/forum/ontology-summit/   
Subscribe/Config: http://ontolog.cim3.net/mailman/listinfo/ontology-summit/
Unsubscribe: mailto:ontology-summit-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Community Files: http://ontolog.cim3.net/file/work/OntologySummit2011/
Community Wiki: http://ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?OntologySummit2011
Community Portal: http://ontolog.cim3.net/wiki/ 
    (031)

_________________________________________________________________
Msg Archives: http://ontolog.cim3.net/forum/ontology-summit/   
Subscribe/Config: http://ontolog.cim3.net/mailman/listinfo/ontology-summit/  
Unsubscribe: mailto:ontology-summit-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Community Files: http://ontolog.cim3.net/file/work/OntologySummit2011/
Community Wiki: http://ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?OntologySummit2011  
Community Portal: http://ontolog.cim3.net/wiki/     (032)
<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>