Semantic Web Technology - Case Study Example

Semantic web technology is an emerging technology which has yet to unfold its full potential. It is being used by businesses and is expectedto help in every field such as education, insurance, counter-terrorism, social networking and business. Efforts have been made to research on the subject of this emerging technology through different trade journals, internet and other sources. The research suggests that it is an extension of the current web2.0 technology and is expected to augment human efforts in analyzing the data that is already available on the World Wide Web. The content delivery would be enhanced which would make the experience of using the data richer and easier. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Semantic Technology 1 3. Business Applications 2 4. Social implications 5 5. Semantic – just a fancy word 5 6. Conclusion 6 References 7 Appendices 9 Introduction Technological developments are taking place regularly and the latest emerging technological development is the W3C Semantic Web initiative, which is the joint effort of the scientific (MIT, Stanford) and business institutions (HP, IBM) (Tolksdorf, Bizer, Eckstein & Heese, 2003). Even though a nascent vision of the Semantic Web was unveiled in 2002, it is yet to be fully operational (Feigenbaum, Herman, Hongsermeier, Neumann & Stephens, 2007). The Semantic Web is the enhancement of the World Wide Web but with far greater utility. This technology is of particular interest because it enables better utilization of the voluminous data available on the internet. It has made an impact on the society and businesses even though many of its applications are still in the beta stage. Information on this technology and its application has been collected through academic journals and magazines apart from the World Wide Web. This paper will explain what the technology is and then highlight the stage at which the technology is at this juncture. It would then explain its application in different business areas and the impact it has made on society. Semantic Technology Semantics is the study of meaning and contemporary semantic technology uses domain knowledge to make software more intelligent, adaptive and efficient (Holcomb, 2009). It helps to understand the intended meanings in unstructured data. Tim Berners-Lee, the brain behind this technology, contends that a set of young technologies would make this vision come true. These include a common language for representing data that could be understood by all kinds of software agents, ontologies to translate information into common terms and rules that allow software agents to reason about the information (Feigenbaum, Herman, Hongsermeier, Neumann & Stephens, 2007). The Semantic Web will be able to assimilate unstructured data and create an environment where software agents can carry out sophisticated tasks for the users (Berners-Lee, Hendler & Lassila, 2001). The WWW Consortium has already released the semantic web languages and technologies and large companies are already exploiting them. In simple language, the Semantic Web is the communication between and among machines in a more intelligent way than today by adding a semantic layer to the existing web (Miller, 2008). Information about people, events, locations, times can be connected together to get a web of interrelated data and interoperable applications. It creates a web of meaning instead of simply creating a web of hyperlinks. While human beings understand and see or even read the information on the websites, the machine does not understand anything except that it is an HTML identifying the hyperlink. With a semantic link, this link would have intelligence and the system would understand it. With just a click the underlying computer system could process it and send more meaningful information to the next system. The semantic web hence connects knowledge while the social web connects people. The evolution of internet by 2020 and how the semantic web is expected to connect knowledge is shown in Appendix A. Business Applications Metatomix uses semantic technology to deal with specific real-world business problems. They enable enterprise users to cross data silos and pull information together in intelligent ways (Miller, 2008). It allows the user to discover things about the information that they would not know in the normal course. Using different databases they are able to build a criminal profile about a person that would normally take 20 different log-ons. Appendix B demonstrates how data is processed and reason is applied to collect meaningful information. In the field of marketing, Semanticator LLC is trying to imitate the live sales experience to deliver content based on individual needs (Miller, 2008). They recognize the content of an internet visitor and they respond in a relevant manner. Instead of face-to-face human interaction, when a person opens the web browser some information is revealed to others even though privacy and anonymity can be maintained. There is no intrusion on another’s personal space but even this information enables the marketer to respond relevantly to the visitor’s needs. The characteristics of the visitor are captured and the right content is delivered based on the clues it collects from querying the browser. How Semanticator LLC collects information and delivers relevant data is show in Appendix C. British Telecom is using this technology to help its vendors to develop new products together while Boeing is trying to use it for the design of its new airplanes (Feigenbaum, Herman, Hongsermeier, Neumann & Stephens, 2007). The U.K.s national mapping agency, Ordnance Survey is using Semantic Web to generate more accurately and inexpensively geographic maps. Insurers too realize that they have been able to accumulate vast amount of data but it remains inaccessible and of virtually no use in organizing their operations more efficiently (Hotcomb, 2009). However, employing the Semantic Technology would subject them to pressure for immediately and quantifiable impacts. This technology would allow the insurers to create a virtual data warehouse where all data are maintained in quick time frame and at minimal cost. It would help to detect fraudulent insurance claims especially when claims are made at two or more insurance companies (Paurobally, Tamma, Wooldridge, 2005). Such claims go undetected because the insurance companies do not share information. Appendix D demonstrates how fraudulent claims can be detected. This will help to create a stronger and more robust insurance market place. In the field of advertising, semantic technology is enabling publishers to decrease the amount of ad inventory. In fact it appears that this technology is the new wave for the publishing industry (Solomon, 2009). Highly targeted ads yield best results for online advertisers. If the ads can be placed efficiently it would mean additional online ad revenue for the publishers. Semantic blogs and semantic wikis have become popular too. The semantic structures enable richer, new subscription, discovery, and navigation behaviors (Lu & Yeh, 2008). Wikis are already popular as people can enter texts and other data such as files and then connect them through hyperlinks. The drawback is seen when structured data is not available eve though there are tones of useful content. Semantic technology has given rise to semantic wikis as they connect social and artificial intelligence (Schaffert, Bry, Baumeister, & Kiesel, 2008). Semantic technology is expected to improve performance and products in systems. Commercial enterprise to government to educational institutions and academicians are all getting excited about the evolution of this technology (Baumann, 2009). People from the library science and even computer science are all awaiting the total unfolding of the applications and the information retrieval that would make things easier for them. Social implications Friend of a Friend (FOAF) is a social networking site that has a semantic web vocabulary for describing peoples names, ages, locations, jobs and relationships to one another and finding common interests (Feigenbaum, Herman, Hongsermeier, Neumann & Stephens, 2007). All information can be seamlessly connected which is not possible in MySpace or FaceBook. Googlemaps and YouTube are popular sites using this technology (Baumann, 2009). However the biggest advantage to the casual surfer would be that it would make surfing less complex. The search and compilation functions that users are doing now will be done automatically. Semantic web supports e-learning potential because a wealth of content can be delivered to their desktop without identifying or requesting for it (Daly, 2009). There is no tutor role and it allows the learner to interact directly online with the digital resource. Semantic web is expected to contribute towards counter-terrorism as it offers a way to share information that could have gone unnoticed (Golbeck, Mannes & Hendler 2005). Since information can be decoded the terrorist plans can be apprehended thereby enhancing the efforts of analysts. It cannot replace human intuition but it can augment it. A semantic web portal that can assist analysts is depicted in Appendix E. Semantic – just a fancy word Some feel that semantic is just a fancy word for bringing data together in a quick and easy way (Baumann, 2009). Miller cites of people who feel that it would be difficult for people to accept this technology because the nomenclature itself is complex. The term ontology discourages people from even making an attempt to understand the technology. This is perhaps the reason that this technology has not yet become popular and the companies selling semantic technology are taking very cautious steps and are trying to convince people through results instead of technology. The VP of Trovix – an employment search vendor is skeptical and contends that metatags have not worked earlier and there is no reason why it should work now. People will soon start tagging documents and creating meta layer manually. Conclusion Many companies have been employing the W3C technology and reaping benefits but it is not yet very popular and not many applications have been discovered. For machines to actually communicate intelligently requires more efforts to reach to the masses. It is expected to change the way people live, interact, and conduct business. It will make surfing easier and more use of the data available. It is already shown its impact in every field but the full potential is yet to be unveiled. It is also expected to assist in apprehending terrorist activities and avoid duplicate insurance claims. While all seems interesting and easier for the users, it is not known to what extend it would encroach on privacy. References Baumann, M.. (2009, May). Web 3.0: The Next Step for the Internet. Information Today, 26(5), 1,46. Retrieved July 17, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1730564921). Berners-Lee, T., Hendler, J., & Lassila, O. (2001). The Semantic Web. Retrieved online 17 July 2009, from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-semantic-web Daly, C. (2009). The Semantic Web and E-learning. Retrieved online 17 July 2009, from http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=articles&article=77-1 Feigenbaum, L., Herman, I., Hongsermeier, E., Neumann, T., & Stephens, S. (2007). The Semantic Web in Action. Retrieved online 17 July 2009, from http://thefigtrees.net/lee/sw/sciam/semantic-web-in-action#page1 Golbeck, J., Mannes, A., & Hendler, J. (2005). Semantic Web Technologies for Terrorist Network Analysis. Retrieved online 17 July 2009, from http://www.mindswap.org/papers/TerrorismChapter.pdf Hotcomb, S. (2009). Unleash the Power. Bests Review, 110 (20), 78 Lu, L., & Yeh, C.. (2008). Collaborative E-Learning Using Semantic Course Blog. International Journal of Distance Education Technologies, 6(3), 85-95. Retrieved July 17, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1527150031) Miller, R. (2008, October). CONTENT DELIVERY Rides the Semantic Wave. EContent, 31(8), 26-30. Retrieved July 17, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1574950551). Paurobally, S., Tamma, V., Wooldridge, M. (2005). Cooperation and Agreement between SemanticWeb Services. Retrieved online 17 July 2009, from http://www.w3.org/2005/04/FSWS/Submissions/54/Paurobally-sws2005.pdf Schaffert, S., Bry, F., Baumeister, J., & Kiesel, M.. (2008). Semantic Wikis. IEEE Software, 25(4), 8-11. Retrieved July 17, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1501872461). Solomon, A.. (2009, June). Parsing Static With Semantics. Mediaweek, 19(23), AM17. Retrieved July 17, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1768444751). Tolksdorf, R., Bizer, C., Eckstein, R., & Heese, R. (2003). Business to Consumer Markets on the Semantic Web. Retrieved online 17 July 2009, from http://www4.wiwiss.fu-berlin.de/bizer/pub/otm2003_Semmarkets.pdf Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C Appendix D Appendix E ppendix E Read More