2. Outline
§ Nature of the World
§ Knowledge Representation, Not Transactions
§ The New Open World Paradigm
§ Integrating All Forms of Information
§ Connections Create Graphs
§ Network Analysis is the New Algebra
§ Information and Interaction is Distributed
§ The Web is the Perfect Medium
§ Leveraging – Not Replacing – Existing IT Assets
§ Democratizing the Knowledge Function
§ Seven Pillars of the Semantic Enterprise
§ Summary of Semantic Technology Benefits
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3. Some Caveats
Semantic technologies are NOT:
Cloud computing
Big data
Necessarily open data
“One ring to rule them all”
A replacement for current IT systems
These ideas are mostly orthogonal to semantics
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4. Nature of the World
Messy
Complicated
Interconnected
Changing
Interdependent
Uncertain
Diverse
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5. Nature of Knowledge
Knowledge is never complete
Knowledge is found in structured, semi-structured
and unstructured forms
Knowledge can be found anywhere
Knowledge structure evolves with the incorporation of
more information
Knowledge is contextual
Knowledge should be coherent
Knowledge is about its users defining its structure
and use
Knowledge ≡ Nature of the World
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6. Knowledge Representation, Not Transactions
KR functions:
Search
Business intelligence
Competitive intelligence
Planning
Data federation
Data warehousing
Knowledge management
Enterprise information integration
Master data management
Traditional IT has been transaction-oriented
e.g., “Seats on a plane”
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7. Current Approaches Have Failed
Relational databases:
Structured data only
Inflexible, fragile
Constant re-architecture
Business intelligence:
Slow, inflexible
Structured data only
IT-constrained, not user-driven
Extract, Transfer, Load (ETL):
Structured data only
Inflexible, fragile
High $$$, incomplete, not adaptable
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8. A 30-yr Quest to Integrate Content
Content and data federation has been insolvable for
30 years since IT systems first adopted:
Structured + semi-structured + unstructured content
Data “silos” and unconnected systems
Incompatible protocols and hardware
85% of content not in databases
Semantic heterogeneities
No universal data model
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9. The New Open World Paradigm
Opposite logic of closed-world transactions
The open world assumption (OWA) means:
Lack of a given assertion does not imply whether it is true or
false: it simply is not known
A lack of knowledge does not imply falsity
Everything is permitted until it is prohibited
Schema can be incremental without re-architecting prior
schema (“extensible”)
Information at various levels of incompleteness can be
combined
The right logic for KR problems
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10. Integrating All Forms of Information
Uses a “canonical” data model (RDF)
RDF is a universal solvent for all information:
Unstructured data – text, images
Semi-structured data – markup, metadata
Structured data – databases, tables
“Soft” (social, opinion) + “hard” (facts) information
RDF can represent simple assertions (“Jane runs fast”)
to complex vocabularies and languages
Generic tools can be driven by the RDF data model
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12. Connections Create Graphs
Things and concepts create nodes
Relationships between things create connections
(“edges”)
Adding things leads to more connections
More connections leads to more structure
Coherent structure leads to more knowledge and
understanding
The natural structure of
knowledge domains is a
graph
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14. Benefits of Graphs (ontologies)
Coherent navigation
Flexible entry points
Inferencing
Reasoning
Connections to related information
Ability to represent any form of information
Concept matching integrate external content
A framework for disambiguation
A common vocabulary to drive content “tagging”
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15. Network Analysis is the New Algebra
Network analysis provides new tools for gauging:
Influence
Relatedness
Proximity
Centrality
Inference
Shortest paths
Diffusion
Graphs can represent any structure
Many structures can only be represented by graphs
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16. Information and Interaction is Distributed
Knowledge is everywhere
People and stakeholders are everywhere
External information needs to be integrated with
internal information
A uniform access protocol/framework is desirable to:
Preserve existing information assets
Reflect the diversity of data formats
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17. The Web is the Perfect Medium
All information may be accessed via the Web
All information may be given Web identifiers (URIs)
All Web tools are available for use and integration
All Web information may be integrated
Web-oriented architectures (WOA) have proven:
Scalability
Robustness
Substitutability
Most Web technologies are open source
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19. Leveraging – Not Replacing – Existing IT Assets
Existing IT assets represent:
Massive sunk costs
Legacy knowledge and expertise
Stakeholder consensus
Yet, still stovepiped
Semantic technologies are an interoperability layer
over existing IT assets
Preserve prior investments while enabling
interoperability
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20. Democratizing the Knowledge Function
Move from bespoke software to knowledge graphs
Knowledge graphs can be constructed and modified
by:
Subject matter experts
Employees
Partners
Stakeholders
General public
Graph-driven applications can be made generic by
function, visualization
Graph-driven applications democratize KR
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22. Summary of Semantic Technology Benefits
Can deploy incrementally
lower risks
lower costs
Excellent integration approach
No need to re-do schema because of changed
circumstances
Leverages existing information assets
Well-suited for knowledge applications
Can accommodate multiple viewpoints, stakeholders
Leadership visibility to the Forum
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