Re: Differing definitions

Adrian:

Thanks.  Very interesting and relevant work.

David Barber

On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 10:13 AM, Adrian Walker <adriandwalker@gmail.com>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   (slides)
>
> 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
>
> Internet Business Logic
> A Wiki and SOA Endpoint for Executable Open Vocabulary English Q/A over SQL
> and RDF
> Online at 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> 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
>>
>
>