Cover page images (keys)

The Semantic Web: Building a Web of Data

Eric Miller
W3C Semantic Web Activity Lead

BIO-IT World
Boston, MA April 04, 2006

Slides are available at http://www.w3.org/2006/Talks/0404-bioit-em/

W3C

International consortium directed by Tim Berners-Lee
Mission: "Lead the Web to its full potential"
Hosts: MIT, ERCIM, Keio University
Defines Web standards: HTML, XML, Web Services, Semantic Web, Mobile Web, WAI, I18N, etc.
W3C track record: building infrastructure to address technical and social needs of the Web

Semantic Web

A Web of Data
Freeing the data from the application that created it
Enabling Recombinant Data - data integration and reuse across application, organizational, community boundaries

A Problem

Where to stay?

Hotel location information on web
Meeting location information on desktop

Useful data on the Web

stanford web page of hotels

Representation problem

stanford web page of hotels scraped to RDF

Common representation - RDF

stanford web page viewed as RDF

A benifit of common representation

stanford web page viewed as RDF

Useful Data on My Web

Another representation problem

30 sec, ical -> RDF conversion later...

A benifit of common represtation

my calendar on the map

Power of Recombinant data

my calendar and hotels

How does it work?

Apply power of URIs to concepts of relational data
- Think <http://foo.org/pallet#red> not "red" (or "rouge")
- Think <http://foo.org/bio#Gene> not "gene"
- Think <http://genome.ucsc.edu/id/69320686> isa <http://foo.org/bio#Gene>
- Think <http://www.expasy.org/id/Q9NR73> isa <http://bar.org/vocab#Protein>
- Think <http://genome.ucsc.edu/id/69320686> <http://pharma.org/#expresses> <http://www.expasy.org/id/Q9NR73>
- Think <http://pharma.org/internalid/123df456> sameAs <http://genome.ucsc.edu/id/69320686>
Model real things, not documents or database tables

Leveraging 'Reuseful' Data

semweb connected

Wrapping, Enhancing the Existing Web
Exposing data hiding in documents, servers and databases
Machine Processible data on the Web
Web Evolution not Revolution

Common semantics - e.g. space and time

And ...

taking advantage of increasibly available commerical and open source tools
in this particular case, Simile's Piggy-bank, Solvent and icaltordf.py

Semantic Web Technologies

Semantic Web foundation specifications RDF, RDF Schema and OWL are W3C Recommendations as of Feb 2004 (press release and testimonials)
Standardization work is underway in
- Query - "Join the Web"
- Best Practices
- Rules
Community work is underway in Semantic Web Health Care and Life Sciences
Goal of moving from a Web of Document to a Web of Data

Semantic Web Standards

Focus is on Web Evolution
Web Evolution causing a quiet data revolution

Common Themes

No "one schema" that can be used for describing everything
No "right way" for describing / organizing anything
Interest -> Desire -> Need for Recombinant Data
Importance of "Partial Understanding"
Things change, plan up front for it
Recognized need to free data from the application that created it
The value in "as needed" data integration
Big wins come from many little ones
The power of links - network effect
Open-world, open solutions are cost effective

More Information

Slides are available at http://www.w3.org/2006/Talks/0327-aaai-em/
W3C - http://www.w3.org/
Semantic Web Home Page - http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/
Me - Eric Miller, em@w3.org