One of the challenges in writing the 2011 communique is knowing how/where to draw the line in a useful way. It is important to distinguish the difference between rdf and linked data on the one hand vs. ontologies on the other. It is also important to highlight the close links they have and the synergy. The most gain will often be from using rdf backed by ontologies as schema.
In the little-bit-broader "semantic technology" field that focuses on representation and inference (i.e. including rdf but excluiding say machine learning and much NLP) the main benefit is flexibility - so that is an important point not to miss. I'll try to add something about this in the communique.
Given the prominence that has been given to linked data / RDF in
recent times, I think this is a very important distinction to be
made. With governments embracing "semantics" in the form of linked
data, there is definitely the risk of being set up for a fall if
this isn't managed well.
The flip side of this, is that a lot of LD resources do make
references to ontologies, but only to the same small number, with
terms for people, publications and other basic stuff. There is a
case to be made that if there was a broader set of widely recognized
standard ontologies, they might make reference to these. So there is
a case to be made for ontologies with an audience of the LD
community, and to governments who are embracing this kind of
"semantics".
Mike
On 16/04/2011 01:14, Amanda Vizedom wrote:
I think it does need to be clear, as much as is
feasible. One recurring problem, at least 'round these parts,
involves some decision makers being sold on the benefits of
semantic technologies without such clarity, and then (a) thinking
that they can implement a minimally semantic solution and expect
the capabilities of a much richer approach, whether due to their
own confusion or some shifty salesmanship, and (b) being angry,
disappointed, and skeptical of all semantic technology when the
magic doesn't happen.
Ideally, we'd do well to tie clusters of benefits to points,
or regions, in the space of the Ontology Usage Framework (OUF?).
Not only would such specificity better reflect reality and
avoids the problem above, but also it could be helpful to those
earnestly trying to figure out what approach they need once they
are mostly sold on some kind of semantics. Practically, of
course, the granularity of such clustering and association is
variable. But relating the use cases to the OUF is one way to
make a step in that direction.
Open Linked Data as distinct from data that is based on an
ontology is something we might want to consider as part of
next year's Summit, though I'm not sure what theme would
be needed to make these distinctions.
WRT this year's Summit, I wonder if it needs to be clear
when making the case for ontology to distinguish ontology
from various semantic web technologies.
Cheers,
Rex
On 4/15/11 2:18 PM, MacPherson, Deborah wrote:
I talked with Bart
van Leeuwen on Skype yesterday to learn more
about what they are working on since there are
overlaps with Open Floor Plan Display /
Exchange and current needs for the National
Building Information Modeling Standard.
He is using RDF for
Open World Assumption reasons - and loves RDF
because it serves his communication needs. For
example they needed to respond to a car stuck
on top of a building, and other situations
that don't make any sense in the human world
and would be passed over or rejected by
machines as "not valid". Linked Open Data is
also very useful to their efforts.
It still is a
valuable Case Study and it will be interesting
to see the full presentation but Michael
Uschold's comment may be correct that they are
semantic technologies rather than ontologies
per se.
Clearing up this
distinction would be worthy to capture in the
Communique
FYI.
As usual, it is not clear which of these uses
ontologies, as opposed to rdf and other semantic
technologies. For example, . I believe that the
firefighting one does not use ontologies.
Michael
----------
Forwarded message ----------
From: Tony Shaw | SemTech Conference
<events@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, Apr 14, 2011 at 2:50 PM
Subject: Get Real-World Semantic Technology
Case Studies in San Francisco this June
To: uschold@xxxxxxxxx
SemTech features
leaders in semantic
technology offering
real-world examples and
tactical take-aways. Our
experts go beyond the
technical talks to
deliver business
case studies that
highlight real-world
semantic technology
applications.
For the full program, visit
the site.
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The Next
Generation Consumer
Business Semantically
Enabled for Real-Time
Intelligence
Optimizing customer
oriented businesses
requires real time
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Fighting Fires
Using Semantic Web
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Hear how the Fire
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Amsterdam-Amstelland is
innovating the way it
deals with information
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Bart van Leeuwen,
Brandweer
Amsterdam-Amstelland and
Adrian Gschwend, netlabs.org will share how
the Fire Department uses
a navigation assistant
which uses Semantic Web
Technologies/Open Data
and is based on some of
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Linked Open
Data for Food and
Agriculture Country
Profiles
The Linked Open Data
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organizations like the
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Organization of the
United Nations (FAO) to
dramatically extend and
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selecting and
integrating resources
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Practical
Business Uses of RDFa:
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Best Buy's Jay Myers,
Lead Web Development
Engineer, will delve
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applications of RDFa not
only for search engine
optimization, but also
as a data source for web
applications, to
replace/augment
traditional data APIs
(XML/JSON) with
"Human-Readable" APIs
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