The Web Developer and the Semantic Web:

Semantic Web Developer? Jonathan HendlerFebruary 25, 2008

At the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) , Galway, Ireland.

image: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/CostaMinimalSurface.html

Semantic Web: Where's the URI? Why is the Semantic Web Not Important? Why is the Semantic Web Important? Conclusion My Projects Questions References

image: http://www.nature.com/jid/journal/v123/n4/suppinfo/5602511s1.html

Semantic Web: Where's the URI?

When grantless people ask about or define the semantic web, there's been a long standing problem of pointing to single handle, a manageable definition.

image: http://www.crystal.chem.uu.nl/group-gros/

Semantic Web: Where's the URI?

A new kind of database... A triple store?Data feeds and meta data I can mash up?Ontological models of a system?The largest shared graph of all data structures?A trust and identity infrastructure?A set of XML based data interchange standards managed by the W3C?

Semantic Web: Where's the URI?

The latest manifestation of description logic capable knowledge base?XML +DAML+OIL + RDF + RDFS + OWL + RSS + OPML for multi agent systems?A best practice?An idea?“it has no boundary and [should] not intersect itself”? (see title image)

Semantic Web: Where's the URI?

If you can't explain, you might either appear to be, or be, foolish.

Why the Semantic Web Is Not Important

Please don't throw things at projector screen It's too much work. It isn't ready. I already have a database – and it has SQL I already have a webpage. There are better ways to data mine It will never work donuts – they are sweeter

Why the Semantic Web Is Important

Ignore the last slide It is something new, when taken as a whole opportunity for standardization of information interdisciplinary approaches to problem solving prevention and cures for diseases world peace ...

(What regular human beings should know)

Who will be right?

The reasons the Semantic Web is not important really just comes down to conventional thinking

The reasons it is important is going to be however the Semantic Web is used.

Conclusion: What SemWeb Can Learn from OldWeb

Since the Semantic Web will only exists outside convention, get non techies to build stuff with it.

The Semantic Web inherently requires grass-roots style buy-in.

The Semantic Web is a human problem now, not a technical one.

Collaborate on smaller projects that can gain momentum and fill a user space.

Build first, get user adoption, conform to all standards later.

My Projects

Equiforum Semantic Search NewsCup

Questions

Links and References My Drupal projec started while with CivicActions - http://semanticsearch.org

Conflict resolution NGO - http://equiforum.org

System on Knowledge Base Wiki - http://systemone.at

Freebase - http://freebase.com

NewsCup company site : http://newscup-inc.com

Twine - http://twine.com

The Drupal 6 RDF initiative http://groups.drupal.org/node/9010