The Road to the Semantic Web. Written by Alex Iskold and edited by Richard MacManus. John Markoff's recent article in NY Times has generated an interesting discussion about Web 3.0 being the long-promised Semantic Web. For instance, a short post on Fred Wilson's blog had a lot of lengthy comments attempting to define Web 1.0, Web 2.0 and Web 3.0. Some people think that the Semantic Web is about AI, some claim that it is more about semantics, while others say that it is about data annotation. All agree however, that we will all be wonderfully more productive and simply happier when it arrives. What is the Semantic Web? The Wikipedia defines the Semantic Web as a project that intends to create a universal medium for information exchange by putting documents with computer-processable meaning (semantics) on the World Wide Web. In order for computers to be able to solve problems like this one, the information on the web needs to be annotated with descriptions and relationships.
Microformats Semantic Web is Personalized Web. Semantic Web: Difficulties with the Classic Approach. Summary: The original vision of the semantic web as a layer on top of the current web, annotated in a way that computers can "understand," is certainly grandiose and intriguing. Yet, for the past decade it has been a kind of academic exercise rather than a practical technology. This article explores why; and what we can do about it. Update: Part 2 is available now Top-Down: A New Approach to the Semantic Web The semantic web is a vision pioneered by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, in which information is expressed in a language understood by computers. The purpose of the semantic web is to enable computers to "understand" semantics the way humans do. For example, in a New York Times article, written earlier this year, John Markoff discussed a scenario where you would be able to ask a computer to find you a low budget vacation, keeping in mind that you have a 3 year old child.
But while the vision of a semantic web is powerful, it has been a over a decade in making. Classic Semantic Web Review 1. Top-Down: A New Approach to the Semantic Web. Earlier this week we wrote about the classic approach to the semantic web and the difficulties with that approach. While the original vision of the layer on top of the current web, which annotates information in a way that is "understandable" by computers, is compelling; there are technical, scientific and business issues that have been difficult to address. One of the technical difficulties that we outlined was the bottom-up nature of the classic semantic web approach. Specifically, each web site needs to annotate information in RDF, OWL, etc. in order for computers to be able to "understand" it. As things stand today, there is little reason for web site owners to do that. But there are alternative approaches. In this post, we will look at the solution that we call the top-down approach to the semantic web, because instead of requiring developers to change or augment the web, this approach leverages and builds on top of current web as-is.
Why Do We Need The Semantic Web? Conclusion. The Web of Data: Creating Machine-Accessible Information. In the coming years, we will see a revolution in the ability of machines to access, process, and apply information. This revolution will emerge from three distinct areas of activity connected to the Semantic Web: the Web of Data, the Web of Services, and the Web of Identity providers. These webs aim to make semantic knowledge of data accessible, semantic services available and connectable, and semantic knowledge of individuals processable, respectively. In this post, we will look at the first of these Webs (of Data) and see how making information accessible to machines will transform how we find information.
The amount of information and services available is growing exponentially. Every day, it is getting harder to find the information we are actually looking for. Still, we have to learn how to tell machines what we want. Because it can't. It is critical that machines gain a new level of understanding. The Web of Data The idea of the Web of Data originated with the Semantic Web. Linked Data is Blooming: Why You Should Care. Last week we discussed how the current era of the Web is evolving. One of the concepts we noted was Linked Data, an idea whose time has come in 2009. Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the Web, gave a must-view talk at the TED Conference earlier this year, evangelizing Linked Data. He said that Linked Data was a sea change akin to the invention of the WWW itself. We've gone from a Web of documents, via the WWW, to a Web of data.
Berners-Lee is now on a crusade for everyone from government departments, to individuals, to open up their data and put it on the Web - so that others can link to it and use it. Linked Data: An Idea Whose Time Has Come Linked Data is an official W3C project. Tim Berners-Lee described Linked Data as a grassroots movement in his TED presentation. Linked Data in a Nutshell In a W3C memo that Berners-Lee published in July 2007, he described four principles of Linked Data. Use URIs to identify things that you expose to the Web as resources. 10 Semantic Apps to Watch. One of the highlights of October's Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco was the emergence of 'Semantic Apps' as a force.
Note that we're not necessarily talking about the Semantic Web, which is the Tim Berners-Lee W3C led initiative that touts technologies like RDF, OWL and other standards for metadata. Semantic Apps may use those technologies, but not necessarily. This was a point made by the founder of one of the Semantic Apps listed below, Danny Hillis of Freebase (who is as much a tech legend as Berners-Lee). The purpose of this post is to highlight 10 Semantic Apps.
We're not touting this as a 'Top 10', because there is no way to rank these apps at this point - many are still non-public apps, e.g. in private beta. It reflects the nascent status of this sector, even though people like Hillis and Spivack have been working on their apps for years now. What is a Semantic App? Firstly let's define "Semantic App". Freebase Powerset Twine AdaptiveBlue Hakia Hakia has two main technologies: Talis TripIt. Interview With Tim Berners-Lee, Part 1: Linked Data. During my recent trip to Boston, I had the opportunity to visit MIT. At the end of a long day of meetings with various MIT tech masterminds, I made my way to the funny shaped building (see photo right-below) where the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and its director Tim Berners-Lee work. Berners-Lee is of course the man who invented the World Wide Web 20 years ago. This was my first meeting with the Web's creator, whose work and philosophy was a direct inspiration for me when I launched ReadWriteWeb back in 2003.1 After shaking hands, I told Tim Berners-Lee that this blog's name was in part inspired by the first browser, which he developed, called "WorldWideWeb".
Note: the interview will be published in two parts, with Part 1 today on the topic of Linked Data. UPDATE: Part 2 of this interview is now available. How Linked Data Relates to The Semantic Web RWW: Earlier this year you gave an inspiring talk at TED about Linked Data. How Linked Data Has Evolved via Grassroots Footnotes: 1. 2. 3. Interview With Tim Berners-Lee, Part 2: Search Engines, User Int.
In part 2 of my one-on-one interview with Tim Berners-Lee, we explore a variety of topics relating to Linked Data and the Semantic Web. If you missed it, in Part 1 of the interview we covered the emergence of Linked Data and how it is being used now even by governments. In Part 2 we discuss: how previously reticent search engines like Google and Yahoo have begun to participate in the Semantic Web in 2009, user interfaces for browsing and using data, what Tim Berners-Lee thinks of new computational engine Wolfram Alpha, how e-commerce vendors are moving into the Linked Data world, and finally how the Internet of Things intersects with the Semantic Web.
Semantic Web and Search Engines Like Google, Yahoo RWW: You've been talking about the Semantic Web for many years now. Generally the view is that Semantic Web is great in theory, but we're still not seeing a large number of commercial web apps that use RDF (we've seen a number of scientific or academic ones). E-Commerce and Linked Data. Interview With Tim Berners-Lee, Part 2: Search Engines, User Int. In part 2 of my one-on-one interview with Tim Berners-Lee, we explore a variety of topics relating to Linked Data and the Semantic Web. If you missed it, in Part 1 of the interview we covered the emergence of Linked Data and how it is being used now even by governments. In Part 2 we discuss: how previously reticent search engines like Google and Yahoo have begun to participate in the Semantic Web in 2009, user interfaces for browsing and using data, what Tim Berners-Lee thinks of new computational engine Wolfram Alpha, how e-commerce vendors are moving into the Linked Data world, and finally how the Internet of Things intersects with the Semantic Web.
Semantic Web and Search Engines Like Google, Yahoo RWW: You've been talking about the Semantic Web for many years now. TBL: Not really, but the takeup by the search engines is interesting. "The search engines have not been keen on the Semantic Web [...] their business is making order out of chaos, and they're actually happy with the chaos. " Interview With Tim Berners-Lee, Part 2: Search Engines, User Int. In part 2 of my one-on-one interview with Tim Berners-Lee, we explore a variety of topics relating to Linked Data and the Semantic Web. If you missed it, in Part 1 of the interview we covered the emergence of Linked Data and how it is being used now even by governments. In Part 2 we discuss: how previously reticent search engines like Google and Yahoo have begun to participate in the Semantic Web in 2009, user interfaces for browsing and using data, what Tim Berners-Lee thinks of new computational engine Wolfram Alpha, how e-commerce vendors are moving into the Linked Data world, and finally how the Internet of Things intersects with the Semantic Web.
Semantic Web and Search Engines Like Google, Yahoo RWW: You've been talking about the Semantic Web for many years now. Generally the view is that Semantic Web is great in theory, but we're still not seeing a large number of commercial web apps that use RDF (we've seen a number of scientific or academic ones). E-Commerce and Linked Data.