A new article by Jesse Weaver corrects two misconceptions about the semantic web. The first is that the semantic web strives to create “one ontology to rule them all.” The article states, “To my knowledge, nobody has ever claimed that there should be ‘one ontology to rule them all.’ Instead, what is regularly promoted is ontology reuse and/or integration. For example, the FOAF ontology is widely used in the semantic web to describe persons; why create your own ontology when you can reuse a well-established one? Integration of ontologies allows for conciliation of perspectives, causing data that use these ontologies to become meaningfully related. Admittedly, there are some rather large, comprehensive ontologies out there, and there are some very popular and pervasive ones, too. However, there is no standard or recommendation that requires publishers of RDF data to comply with any particular ontology. You could even ignore the RDF vocabulary if you so please (yes, even rdf:type).” Read more

Announcing Semantic Tech & Business Conference - San Francisco 2012

Semantic Tech & Business Conference is returning to San Francisco in June! Join us from June 3-7 for complete coverage of Big Data, Linked Data, Extreme Information Management, and Semantic Web. From breakthrough approaches to solving business problems to the big data implications of fast–evolving technologies, SemTechBiz provides you with an unparalleled interactive experience and delivers tangible business value. We're offering a special early rate when you register by February 17. Sign up now!

The US Department of Defense has funded a project called the Empirical Studies of Conflict (ESOC) that will “make real data on conflicts and insurgencies available for academic study by scholars from the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) at Stanford University as well as from Princeton. According to a Fast Company article by Neal Ungerleider, by making this level of conflict data available the Department of Defense can essentially ‘crowdsource’ research and analysis. Furthermore, the study may one day make vetted data from the project available to the public, opening up even larger opportunities.” Read more

If you missed the excellent live webcast introduction to SKOS by Bob DuCharme (of TopQuadrant and the recently released Learning SPARQL), the recorded webcast is now available.

You will probably find this webcast useful if: Read more

Learn the conceptual framework and principles required to apply
semantic technologies to various domains

Semsphere is offering a three-module, distance-learning course called, “Intro to Semantic Technologies, Linked Data, and Ontologies,” and SemanticWeb.com is pleased to announce that our readers get a 10% discount on course fees.  The course will take place over four weeks and is designed for researchers, evangelists, and hobbyists who want to use semantic technologies.

It features live, weekly webcasts, guided tutorials, course materials, interaction with the instructor, and access to recorded instructional sessions. The modules cover three core topics: semantic technologies, linked data, and ontologies.

WHEN: 4 weeks (October 17 - November 7)
WHERE: Online
LEVEL: Introductory
WHO: Researchers, evangelists, and hobbyists who want to use semantic technologies
PRICE: $1,278
(SemanticWeb readers receive a 10% discount off the regular price of $1,420.)

SYLLABUS

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Joel Amoussou addressed the question recently of why ontologies are needed in health care applications. Amoussou writes, “at the practical level, ontologies can help us verify the soundness of statements in messages based on our conceptualization of the world. Information models in healthcare often take the form of an XML schema, a Schematron schema, or a relational database schema. One distinguishing characteristic of ontologies is that they are based on an Open World Assumption (OWA) which is based on the AAA slogan or Anyone can say Anything about Any topic. Statements that are not included in an ontology are considered unknown as opposed to false.” Read more

In a new article Mike Bergman explains how at his company, “with growing customer usage of large ontologies and the development of our own structOntology editing and managing framework, we have begun to butt up against the limitations of large-scale graph and network analysis. With this post, we announce our new favorite tool for semantic Web network and graph analysis — Gephi — and explain its use and showcase a current example.” Read more

TEKsystems is looking for a Semantic Web Technologist in Arlington, VA. According to the post, “The Semantic Web Technologist will perform complex analysis and provide advanced technical direction and delivery in the design, incorporation, and implementation of Enterprise Ontologies and Semantics in the architectures of all Integrated Management Information Environment (IMIE) product offerings and solutions at the domain, enterprise, and federal levels in support of Department of Defense (DoD) initiatives. Under the direction of the Program Lead, the Semantic Web Technologist will specifically work as a member of the IMIE team to drive conformance to and help expand the Ontologies and Semantics incorporated in the DoD Business Enterprise Architecture (BEA).” Read more

Maryland-based semantic technology company Revelytix will be presenting a number of their most promising products at the Semantic Technology Conference in a few weeks. One of their sessions will focus on Interactive Visualization Tools for Ontologies: “They say ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ and it is Revelytix’s belief that the lack of meaningful visual representations of ontologies makes the whole idea of using them harder for the masses to adopt. In our efforts to create a robust interactive ontology visualization tool we have met many challenges… We will demonstrate our current visualization tool and how we have dealt with these issues.” Read more

Semantic technology firm HIGHFLEET recently announced “the release of the latest version of its eXtensible Knowledge Server (XKS) ontology-based deductive database.” CEO Mike Davis stated, “HIGHFLEET has the only mature, scalable first order logic-based deductive database that continues to find increasing use in ‘clean sheet’ installations and as an embedded capability in other firms’ products and solutions. The 1980’s database technology in use today and its expensive stack of applications struggle to make sense of data and do nothing to solve the ‘drowning in data’ problems faced by Government agencies and Commercial firms.” Read more

A recent article discusses the lessons that can be learned from Watson, IBM’s champion computer: “Big Blue has set its sights on many commercial applications for the technology in healthcare, financial services and customer service operations.  But the question remains, is it practical? Does Watson embody an approach that enterprises can exploit, or learn from?  How readily can a “Watson” be applied to the knowledge and content access problems of the typical enterprise?” Read more