Re: Fw: New Research Alert: The Fate of the Semantic Web

+1 Rachel and Adam.

I'd like to see this group provide alternatives in addition to the 
semantic-web ones we are pursuing. Remember, some agencies can barely get 
PDFs uploaded to a website. Adding to Rachel's practicality note, our 
solutions should cover a range of technical abilities and management 
buy-in levels. Look forward to a discussion on a future call.


Anne L. Washington
http://home.gwu.edu/~annew/

On Thu, 6 May 2010, rachel.flagg@gsa.gov wrote:

> eGov group members,
> I just read this new report from Pew (link below), and all the comments
> from survey respondents, and it got me thinking about our eGov group.
> Lately the email conversations and conference calls within our group have
> been dominated with talk of linked data and the semantic web....and I
> think we are moving away from our core mission.
>
> I am wondering how the semantic web can, in a PRACTICAL way, really help
> us improve electronic government in the next few months of our Charter...
> especially given that the semantic web still seems to be, to a great
> extent, theoretical.  I am a big fan of practicality - and since our
> Charter has a time limit - if we are going to develop some serious,
> practical standards to help governments around the world improve their
> online service delivery... is the semantic web really the best way to get
> there?
>
> I welcome your thoughts on how we can get our group back on track, working
> toward our THREE areas of focus:
>
> - Usage of Web Standards (Government Websites and use of best practices
> and standards)
> - Transparency and Participation (Enabling discovery, communications, and
> interaction)
> - Seamless Integration of Data (Use of data standards, Semantic Web, XML)
>
> Read the report: "The Fate of the Semantic Web"
> http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Semantic-Web/Overview.aspx?r=1
>
> Thanks!
> -Rachel
> -------------------------------
> Rachel Flagg
> Forum Community Manager
>  & Co-Chair, Federal Web Managers Council
> Government Web Best Practices Team
> Office of Citizen Services
> U.S. General Services Administration
> rachel.flagg@gsa.gov
> www.webcontent.gov - Better websites. Better government.
>
> ----- Forwarded by Rachel L. Flagg/XCC/CO/GSA/GOV on 05/06/2010 07:38 AM
> Pew Internet & American Life Project <info@pewinternet.org>
> New Research Alert: The Fate of the Semantic Web
> By Janna Anderson, Lee Rainie
>
> [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103361950871&s=4634&e=001fwsSaGi8rI1W_X0fg6gEJzS4l7bg5ReW6gzAi4dV1Pe1Vy7lZMislUBeF4T3Blm3RhEVjkMkjsWybFKCHVBc7UtQl7QcNFLxehYRpCmc_uWEir9GrAC4TUvCcib1GX7nBFib4xI23nDChap61FI5bA==]
>
> May 4, 2010
> Technology experts and stakeholders who participated in a recent survey
> believe
> online information will continue to be organized and made accessible in
> smarter
> and more useful ways in coming years, but there is stark dispute about
> whether the
> improvements will match the visionary ideals of those who are working to
> build the
> semantic web
> [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103361950871&s=4634&e=001fwsSaGi8rI3IMB91g_98ODxZNcOCVM_4GG0TEW-SG41U7bqM1T7xFYYt8JUSH_Uoy4bd3508wXDq9D_mM0GTOew7x_ADCqVUz_MwSUXzh7jB_-TQpa3IzDmczmJ-7HIvYST2jacZaDaIhIXnGDIBYBqaW6R31kwj_zDYpGnnbLgttIOAd4vIiO9JqqxLRVo1LJimaGt0OVoNNgK1kniVGw==].
>
> Some 895 experts responded to the invitation of the Pew Research Center's
> Internet
> & American Life Project and Elon University's Imagining the Internet
> Center to predict
> the likely progress toward achieving the goals of the semantic web by the
> year 2020.
>
> Asked to think about the likelihood that Berners-Lee and his allies will
> realize
> their vision, often called Web 3.0
> [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103361950871&s=4634&e=001fwsSaGi8rI35NY1_2-OqjWKENbU801OJ6j2rRgy-8cw7Y8Zu6xk-P5Axd1n23lR8lb_SjRKsldmlFTv0Ev9NOu42vh1aRZvMKvBftXpuvpd-HD6Dk8rmPxJkoVFSOEb7igoDcNykUeNulkjayvAolBIxUKlaILHH],
> these technology experts and stakeholders were divided and often
> contentious.
> Some 47% agreed with the statement:
>
> "By 2020, the semantic web envisioned by Tim Berners-Lee will not be as
> fully effective
> as its creators hoped and average users will not have noticed much of a
> difference."
> Some 41% agreed with the opposite statement, which posited:
>
> "By 2020, the semantic web envisioned by Tim Berners-Lee and his allies
> will have
> been achieved to a significant degree and have clearly made a difference
> to average
> internet users."
>
> The web-based survey gathered opinions from prominent scientists, business
> leaders,
> consultants, writers and technology developers. It is the fourth in a
> series of
> Internet expert studies
> [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103361950871&s=4634&e=001fwsSaGi8rI351yrh91tYPRKXTWIJ2XWKZkOwP0puGgJTp-vcHhqCFXzdetSXN9eiwKz1G7JwnSl3RFlwUgbbZWcnoEG-fz1r7TZQCTIp7-XMTNdlpZUrzNkUHpR0G-cstrM8EY9CGx8isZkdDy2Re9UlKP_IwEWN]
> conducted by the Imagining the Internet Center at Elon University and the
> Pew Research
> Center's Internet & American Life Project.
>
> Read more:
> http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Impact-of-the-Internet-on-Institutions-in-the-Future.aspx
>
> [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103361950871&s=4634&e=001fwsSaGi8rI35NY1_2-OqjWKENbU801OJ6j2rRgy-8cw7Y8Zu6xk-P5Axd1n23lR8lb_SjRKsldmlFTv0Ev9NOu42vh1aRZvMKvBftXpuvpd-HD6Dk8rmPxJkoVFSOEb7igoDcNykUeNulkjayvAolBIxUKlaILHH]
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Pew Internet & American Life Project | 1615 L Street, NW, Suite 700 |
> Washington | DC | 20036
>

Received on Friday, 7 May 2010 21:06:40 UTC