The Semantic Web
A web of
knowledge and
services
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
1
The Semantic Web
What is the Semantic Web?
Why is it important?
Who benefits?
How do we get there?
Whatever else needs to be explained ...
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
2
The Semantic Web - what it is ...
... but what is the (current) WEB?
Some say it’s like a vast library ...
... but is it ??
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
3
The Semantic Web - what it is ...
... or is not the (current) WEB ...
... more like a heap
of books and
magazines?
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
4
The Semantic Web - what it is ...
Subject headings,
controlled vocabularies
Services
Books,
periodicals, ...
Acquisition
Catalogues
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
5
The Semantic Web - what it is ...
Meaningful
structure
Services
Resource
space
Acquisition
Resource
description
Analysis
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
6
The Semantic Web - what it is ...
Meaningful
structure
Services
(ontologies,
metadata
schemas)
Semantic
WEB
Resource
description
Acquisition
(metadata)
Analysis
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
7
The Semantic Web - what it is ...
In short:
The Semantic Web is about creating order out of chaos.
Current WEB
SEMANTIC WEB
URL, HTML, CSS, ...,
(some XML), ... Java,
Javascript, ...
URI, XML(S), RDF(S),
DAML+OIL, ... software
agents
content display (based
on presentational
markup), limited search
facilities (retrieval),
'stand-alone' services
content processing (based on
semantic markup), advanced
search facilities (query),
linked services, ..., ???, ...
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
8
The Semantic Web
What is the Semantic Web?
Why is it important?
Who benefits?
How do we get there?
Whatever else needs to be explained ...
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
9
The Semantic Web - why it is important
continuing growth of web and web content: an evolving
“knowledge space” (fusion of Web and “Knowledge Grid”);
wireless (‘m-content’ revenues forecast to increase tenfold over
the next five years) (and) broadband (physical) access modes
ubiquity (‘Things That Communicate’ will be everywhere);
growing B2C and B2B demands e.g. on trust - incl.
content trading;
demand for ease of access to content/knowledge; etc.;
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
10
The Semantic Web - why it is important
Content and service semantics
is the prerequisite for
tomorrows all-encompassing
network,
the EVERNET:
Always On - Always Available
(ACM September 2001)
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
11
The Semantic Web
What is the Semantic Web?
Why is it important?
Who benefits?
How do we get there?
Whatever else needs to be explained ...
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
12
The Semantic Web - whom it is for
... ...
the scientist
the business executive
the media producer
the physician
the product engineer
the teacher and the student
John and Mary Smith and their kids, Ann
and Bill,
... ...
NEEDED: (even more) compelling scenarios
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
13
The Semantic Web - whom it is for
Opportunities for business
with
&
applications
the
Semantic Web
tools
for
NSF-EU Atlanta
&
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
14
The Semantic Web - whom it is for
(some)
applications
B2C & A2C
B2B
Ex-/In-tranet
profiling,
personalisation,
context-aware
services,
etc.
electronic
markets of
goods and
digital content,
semantic
portals,
etc.
corporate
knowledge
management
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
15
NSF-EU Atlanta
The Semantic Web - whom it is for
(some)
tools
to get the knowledge on the Web
ontology learning, incidental knowledge
capture, analysing multimedia objects, ...
to make the services work
service components, co-operating agents, ...
to allow meaningful interaction with content
and services
interface agents, query vs. retrieval, ...
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
16
The Semantic Web
What is the Semantic Web?
Why is it important?
Who benefits?
How do we get there?
Whatever else needs to be explained ...
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
17
The Semantic Web - how we get there
... through RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, STANDARDS ...
and ...
a lot of self-organisation at the grass-root level
and ...
a good deal of commercial interest
But:
problem
&
... reluctance to add “semantic value” to content & services if
no tools are available to make good use of it ....
... reluctance to develop tools if there is little content to
demonstrate added “semantic value”...
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
18
The Semantic Web - how we get there
Therefore:
public funding is needed
to plant the seeds ...
... to develop the tools for
creating semantically enriched content
operating on semantically enriched content
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
19
The Semantic Web - how we get there
Therefore:
public funding is needed to plant the seeds!
This happens at various levels:
local
(universities, research centres/institutes)
national
(research programmes, e.g. AKT in the UK,
DAML in the US)
European
(IST programme, in particular action line
“Semantic Web Technologies”)
AND
there is also considerable commercial
interest: e.g. W3C Semantic Web Activity
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
20
The Semantic Web - how we get there
“Thematic Network” ONTOWEB http://www.ontoweb.org/
... a strategic action to increase the momentum of
Semantic Web R&D in Europe ...
... and to support international co-operation
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
21
The Semantic Web - how we get there
The structure of the IST action line “Semantic Web Technologies”:
creating a usable
formal framework
fleshing out the
formal skeletons
(XML, RDF(S), SMIL, MPEGx, CC/PP, …,
DAML+OIL, etc.)
(knowledge discovery, ontology learning,
multimedia content analysis, content-based
indexing, etc.)
acting in a
semantically rich
environment
(resource discovery, transactions, intelligent
filtering and profiling, collaborative filtering,
knowledge sharing, etc.)
making it understandable
to people
NSF-EU Atlanta
(information visualisation, visual
metaphors, etc.)
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
22
The Semantic Web - how we get there
(Some) Results of IST Call 7, published 7 July 2001, Deadline: 17 October 2001
Some 60 proposals submitted...
15 selected for funding (~ 25 M€)
Some projects started or are about to start:
ESPERONTO SERVICES - Application Service Provision of
Semantic Annotation, Aggregation, Indexing and Routing of
Textual, Multimedia, and Multilingual Web Content
SPIRIT - Spatially-Aware Information Retrieval on the Internet
SWAP - Semantic Web and Peer to Peer
SWAD-EUROPE - W3C Semantic Web Advanced Development
for Europe
MONET - Mathematics On The Net
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
23
The Semantic Web - how we get there
In the meantime ... Call 8 ...
“pioneering Knowledge Technology research” and
“Knowledge Grid”
Result: 9 proposals accepted for “negotiation” (e.g. ...)
... considered building a “bridge” towards “Knowledge
Technologies” R&D in the IST (“Information Society
Technologies”) part of the forthcoming 6th Framework
Programme of the European Commission.
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
24
The Semantic Web - how we get there
EU level support of Semantic Web related activities will continue ...
Under the heading “Knowledge Technologies”:
etc. ...
Presenting research (and no-research) challenges
galore, e.g.:
etc. ...
SCALABILITY
SUSTAINABILITY
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
25
The Semantic Web
What is the Semantic Web?
Why is it important?
Who benefits?
How do we get there?
Whatever else needs to be explained
...
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
26
The Semantic Web - what else...
Challenges and opportunities ...
... but what about risks, pitfalls and
downsides ???
Example: if ontologies represent knowledge and
knowledge is power, then where are the “checks and balances”?
Public funding ...
... but does “big industry” (the usual
suspects) really care ???
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
27
… and beyond ?
NSF-EU Atlanta
Hans-Georg.Stork@cec.eu.int
28