Re: Differing definitions

On 12/10/10 10:13 AM, Adrian Walker wrote:
> Hi David --
>
> You wrote...
>
> /My question for this list is whether there are any model projects 
> which are effectively using semantic technologies not just to make 
> data open, but also to make the related definitional data more visible 
> and easier to understand or compare across data sources. /
>
> There's technology out there on the web that can help.
>
> The basic idea is to write, say, different definitions of 
> "unemployment", in executable English.
>
> Then when a study is done by executing the English, the results can be 
> explained in English, showing how the definitions were used to 
> transform data.
>
> Here's an example:
>
> www.reengineeringllc.com/EnergyIndependence1.pdf 
> <http://www.reengineeringllc.com/EnergyIndependence1.pdf>   (slides)
>
> www.reengineeringllc.com/EnergyIndependence1Video.htm 
> <http://www.reengineeringllc.com/EnergyIndependence1Video.htm>  (Flash 
> video with audio)
>
> The underlying system is live online at the same site.  Shared use is 
> free.
>
> Apologies if you have seen this before, and thanks for comments.
>
>                                                     -- Adrian

Adrian,

Do you have a service the emits machine readable structured data? 
Naturally, any of the many RDF formats would do etc..

Kingsley
>
> Internet Business Logic
> A Wiki and SOA Endpoint for Executable Open Vocabulary English Q/A 
> over SQL and RDF
> Online at www.reengineeringllc.com <http://www.reengineeringllc.com>
> Shared use is free, and there are no advertisements
>
> Adrian Walker
> Reengineering
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 9:31 AM, David Barber <dmbarber@gmail.com 
> <mailto:dmbarber@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     I've had a varied but extensive history of dealing with government
>     data in electronic form.  This started as a government documents
>     librarian helping people find government data in electronic form,
>     continued with sharing it on the early Internet, and most recently
>     managing government data as a government employee.  Throughout
>     this experience one of the major concerns associated with
>     expanding electronic access to government data from multiple
>     sources has been getting people to recognize and take into account
>     the differences in the definitions associated with data elements.
>      This is particularly important for historical analysis or
>     comparison of multiple governmental units.  For example, two
>     governments will define unemployment differently and the same
>     government will change its definition over time.  Unfortunately,
>     it has been my experience that when people want to do such
>     longitudinal or multi-government analyses they were often not
>     motivated to pay attention to these differences.
>
>     My question for this list is whether there are any model projects
>     which are effectively using semantic technologies not just to make
>     data open, but also to make the related definitional data more
>     visible and easier to understand or compare across data sources.
>      It is my hope that the technologies associated with linked open
>     data can make this type of information more useful than when it
>     was buried in the back of government documents.
>
>     Thanks in advance for any pointers to such efforts.
>
>     David Barber
>
>


-- 

Regards,

Kingsley Idehen	
President&  CEO
OpenLink Software
Web: http://www.openlinksw.com
Weblog: http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen
Twitter/Identi.ca: kidehen