eXtreme Semantics eXtreme Semantics Realize the Potential Today Realize the Potential Today

Dave Hollander

CTO, Contivo

www.contivo.com

Standards– Co-Founder of XML – Co-Chair W3C XML Schema

Working Group– Co-Author W3C Recommendation

Namespaces in XML– Co-Chair W3C Web Services

Architecture Working Group

Books– Co-Author XML Applications– Contributor/Technical Editor

Semantics in Business SystemsModeling Business

Objects with XML SchemaJava Web Services

ArchitectureArchitecture with XML

http://www.mhxml.com

eXtreme SemanticseXtreme Semantics

Semantics = Data + Behavior

Behavior

Data

Semantics in Business Systems: The Savvy Manager’s Guide Dave McComb; Morgan Kauffman; September 2003ISBN: 1-55860-917-2

Practical: When a friend says cool...don’t put on a coat

System: Purchase order triggers processes to manufacture, package, ship and bill

eXtreme SEMANTICS: Pragmatic Application of Semantics

System

Semantic AttributesSemantic Attributes

Referents – person or thing to which the data refers– “the person with SSN 123-45-6789”

Veracity – how closely the data agrees with its referent– “the check is in the mail”

Precision – resolution of the data in the system – “date package arrived at sorting station”

Semantically Adaptive – system processing automatically adapts to semantic descriptions

Semantic Awareness – systems with high degree of sensitivity to semantics

Flexibility – a measure of the resource cost to change a behavior

Efficiency – a measure of the resources consumed to complete a behavior

Quality

Economics

Strategies for Semantic HarmonyStrategies for Semantic Harmony

– Point-to-point does not scale– Inflexible

– Metadata driven– Fixed precision

– Ontology driven – Semantic adaptive

Semantic Integration: Practical Magic that bridges the gap between the today’s computing systems and the future of semantic interoperability

Semantic Integration: Practical Magic that bridges the gap between the today’s computing systems and the future of semantic interoperability

Hard-coded Agreements

Schematic Agreements

Semantic Interoperability

Why Semantic IntegrationWhy Semantic Integration

The integration challenge

95%

5%

Gartner Group

Application Integration

“Semantics”

Messaging andTransport

Only 5% of the interface is a function of the middleware choice. The remaining 95% is a function of application semantics.”

Semantics limit traditional integration – • Limited scope, adoption, functionality, high risk• Transport focused, project-oriented, slow, costly

Semantics limit traditional integration – • Limited scope, adoption, functionality, high risk• Transport focused, project-oriented, slow, costly

Preserve investments– Packaged applications

~ $3 Trillion“Silos of

competence”

– Integration$300 Billion annually“Spanning silos”

OTD, C2C, 360°,M&A, Regulation

Integration FocusIntegration Focus

Semantic descriptions for each component– Rich, complex, semantic, system descriptions

System 2System 1

Simple Integration

Stimulus orEvent

Result

Idealized Order-To-Delivery

Integration only needs a small sub-set• Loose coupling allows us to focus only

on the semantics of the exchanged messages

Semantic IntegrationSemantic Integration

When scaled to production size systems the cost impact of integration focus is significant.

1st Tier 2nd Tier nth Tiers

Complex Integration

ComparisonComparison

Semantic Web - Ontology Requirements – Compatible with existing Web standards (XML, RDF)– Captures common KR idioms– Formally specified and of “adequate expressive power”– Can provide reasoning support

Semantic Integration Requirements– Compatible with existing systems and interfaces– Capture relationships between data in messages– Detailed mappings with ability to describe all

relationships– Semantics accelerate mapping

Description Logics Description Logics

DL is a field of research that has studied the logics that form the formal foundation of OWL– Formally specified and of “adequate expressive

power”

Logic captured must represent actual business logic

• Simple to understand (like the original web)

• Easy enough for large scale projects

Trends We See at CustomersTrends We See at Customers

Commoditization of Middleware

Moving to Messaging Standards: XML, Java, XSLT, web services Architecture: SOA, legacy encapsulation

Commoditization of Middleware

Moving to Messaging Standards: XML, Java, XSLT, web services Architecture: SOA, legacy encapsulation

Metadata Technologies– Repositories

InterfacesVocabulary

– ModelingXML, OO, UMLCode Generation Layered Architecture

Metadata Technologies– Repositories

InterfacesVocabulary

– ModelingXML, OO, UMLCode Generation Layered Architecture

Semantics– Vocabularies

Canonicals and COMs

– Standards Internal and Industry

– OrganizationalCenters of ExcellenceIntegration

Competency Centers

Semantics– Vocabularies

Canonicals and COMs

– Standards Internal and Industry

– OrganizationalCenters of ExcellenceIntegration

Competency Centers

Looking ForwardLooking Forward

Understanding: Carbon vs. Silicone– How to teach silicone about widely varying, nuanced

contextLegal, business process, social, temporal, change, precision, social, politics, etc

– Understanding uses reference objectsRosetta-stone, boundary objects, glossing, UDEF

– Standards only reduce semantic chaosInterface technologies are key

Semantic Integration – Economics:

•Leverages existing system investments•Leverages existing project efforts and skills•Delivers value in current projects

– Reduces semantic chaos in preparation for semantic interoperability