Re: [uos-convene] UOS Agenda and Logistical Details

[Doug Lenat <doug@xxxxxxx>]

I concur with Bill's position and Adam's earlier statement.    I was surprised
to see the vendor parade on the Wed. agenda, but since I hadn't helped in an
integral way with this meeting, all along, I didn't feel I should speak up.

Regarding Adan's statement, Peter, when you said you didn't understand
why the 3 of us UO-builders might want/need to talk "to each other", it
seemed to me that you might be missing Adam's point (well, if it's the same

point I would have made): it isn't that the 3 of us need to talk with
each other, nor with the public or the media, so much as with the rest
of you, this group.  I.e., we've got decades of actual experiences doing this
that we can share with you.  Many of you (academics and vendors alike)
are new to this field, and we can tell you some of the lessons we learned
the hard way, what surprised us (e.g., which "details" end up being critical
and which "crucial issues" end up not being critical after all), what these
existing ontologies ARE (as resources for the community) in at least
more than several seconds' detail, etc.

Is that what you were getting at, Adam?

--Doug

John F. Sowa wrote:

I support Bill Andersen's position.

John Sowa
_______________________________________________

An open letter to the UOS organizers and all key participants.  Please read the whole thing.

    .bill

On Mar 9, 2006, at 19:24 , Adam Pease wrote:

> Peter,
>   That's good to hear.  My suggestion, with all respect to Mills, would be to have Doug, Nicola and myself each present our views for 1/2 hour each from 9am to 10:30am.  That's still quite limited, but might give the group at least some of the groundwork needed to make progress on an upper ontology summit.

Let me amplify Adam's comments:

For this proceeding to be taken seriously, there needs to be a clear focus, clear goals, and ample time given to discuss some very difficult topics.  All three are lacking from the proposed agenda.  I completely agree with Adam on his earlier points about lack of proper focus.  Now, let me move on to another topic.  Upon reading Adam's post I decided to look at the agenda myself:


http://ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?UpperOntologySummit/UosApplicationDialogMeeting_2006_03_15

I discovered that Wednesday morning's agenda is a platform for commercial vendors of "ontology" tools to talk about and demonstrate their products and/or positions.  This is a completely inappropriate activity to be mixed in with a scientific discussion of upper ontology and an attempt at reconciliation of UOs as engineering efforts.  I had absolutely no idea such an activity was planned.  Had I known I would have protested.  Who is the audience for this?  Why where these particular parties selected?  Who selected them?  Is the press invited?  What statements have been prepared to give to the press regarding these commercial interests?

We all deserve answers to these questions.

I have given freely of my valuable time to help shape the wording and agenda for the summit.  I work very hard to keep my life as an academic researcher in this area separate from my interest in my company.   Now I find out that my efforts and name and reputation and even that of my company are being used in part to foster the commercial interests of those in competition with us?  This is an absolutely unheard of outrage!!!!!

I can't speak for Adam or for Doug Lenat, but If you're going to have demos, then why not include demos of Ontology Works IODE, Cyc, and Sigma – the most mature products in existence that have REAL upper ontologies in them.  Either open it up to anyone with an actual ULO-based product, or kill the commercial content altogether.  I suggest killing the commercial content so we can stick to the science and engineering.  So...

Can any of you explain any of this???

If not, then I will formally (and *very* publicly) withdraw my personal support and that of my company for the UOS effort.  Moreover, I will in the strongest possible terms urge my commercial, academic, and government colleagues to do the same.

    .bill

Bill Andersen (andersen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
Chief Scientist
Ontology Works, Inc. (www.ontologyworks.com)
3600 O'Donnell Street, Suite 600
Baltimore, MD 21224
Office: 410-675-1201
Cell: 443-858-6444


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