CFP: Semantic Web Challenge - 10th International Semantic Web Conference (ISWC 2011)

Call for Participation - Semantic Web Challenge

ISWC 2011 - 10th International Semantic Web Conference
October 23-27, 2011
Bonn Germany

http://iswc2011.semanticweb.org/calls/semantic-web-challenge/
Deadline: September 30

Submissions are now invited for the 9th annual Semantic Web Challenge, the
premier event for demonstrating practical progress towards achieving the
vision of the Semantic Web. The central idea of the Semantic Web is to
extend the current human-readable Web by encoding some of the semantics of
resources in a machine-processable form. Moving beyond syntax opens the door
to more advanced applications and functionality on the Web. Computers will
be better able to search, process, integrate and present the content of
these resources in a meaningful, intelligent manner.

As the core technological building blocks are now in place, the next
challenge is to demonstrate the benefits of semantic technologies by
developing integrated, easy to use applications that can provide new levels
of Web functionality for end users on the Web or within enterprise settings.
Applications submitted should give evidence of clear practical value that
goes above and beyond what is possible with conventional web technologies
alone.

As in previous years, the Semantic Web Challenge 2011 will consist of two
tracks: the Open Track and the Billion Triples Track. The key difference
between the two tracks is that the Billion Triples Track requires the
participants to make use of the data set that has been crawled from the Web
and is provided by the organizers. The Open Track has no such restrictions.
As before, the Challenge is open to everyone from industry and academia. The
authors of the best applications will be awarded prizes and featured
prominently at special sessions during the conference.

The overall goal of this event is to advance our understanding of how
Semantic Web technologies can be exploited to produce useful applications
for the Web. Semantic Web applications should integrate, combine, and deduce
information from various sources to assist users in performing specific
tasks.

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Important Dates
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Submission deadline: September 30, 2011

SWC takes place at ISWC: October 23-27, 2011

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Challenge Criteria
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Open Track
Minimal requirements
The application has to be an end-user application, i.e. an application that
provides a practical value to general Web users or, if this is not the case,
at least to domain experts.
The information sources used
 > should be under diverse ownership or control
 > should be heterogeneous (syntactically, structurally, and semantically),
and
 > should contain substantial quantities of real world data (i.e. not toy
examples).
The meaning of data has to play a central role.
 > Meaning must be represented using Semantic Web technologies.
 > Data must be manipulated/processed in interesting ways to derive useful
information and
 > this semantic information processing has to play a central role in
achieving things that alternative technologies cannot do as well, or at all;

Billion Triples Track
The specific goal of the Billion Triples Track is to demonstrate the
scalability of applications as well as the capability to deal with the
specifics of data that has been crawled from the public Web. We stress that
the goal of this is not to be a benchmarking effort between triple stores,
but rather to demonstrate applications that can work on Web scale using
realistic Web-quality data.

Minimal requirements
The primary goal of the Billion Triple track is to demonstrate applications
that can work on Web scale using realistic Web-quality data.
 > The applications must make use of the Billion Triple Challenge 2011
dataset provided by the organisers, which has been crawled from the Web. The
functionality of the applications is left open: for example it could involve
helping people figure out what is in the dataset via browsing,
visualization, profiling, etc., or inferencing that adds information not
directly queryable in the original dataset.
 > The tool or application has to make use of at least the first billion
triples from the data provided by the organizers. It is desired that the
tool or application uses the complete dataset.
 > The tool or application is allowed to use other data that can be linked
to the Billion Triple Challenge 2011 dataset, but there is still an
expectation that the primary focus will be on the data provided.
 > The tool or application does not have to be specifically an end-user
application, as defined for the Open Track Challenge, but usability is a
concern. The key goal is to demonstrate an interaction with the large
data-set driven by a user or an application.

Additional desirable features can be found:
http://iswc2011.semanticweb.org/calls/semantic-web-challenge/

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How to Participate
==================

Visit http://challenge.semanticweb.org in order to participate and register
for the Semantic Web Challenge by submitting the required information as
well as a link to the application on the online registration form. The form
will open in August 2011 and will be open until Firday 30 September, 2011.

The following information must be provided:
Abstract: no more than 200 words.
Description: The description should show details of the system, including
why the system is innovative, which features or functions the system
provides, what design choices were made and what lessons were learned. The
description must include an appendix of 1-2 pages summarising explicitly how
participants have addressed the evaluation requirements (including mandatory
and any relevant desirable criteria). Papers should not exceed eight pages
and must be formatted according to the same guidelines as the papers in the
Research Track (see http://iswc2011.semanticweb.org/).
Web access: The application should be accessible via the web. If the
application is not publicly accessible, passwords should be provided. A
(short) set of instructions on how to start and use the application should
also be provided on the web page.

Descriptions (including the appendix) will be published in the form of
online proceedings on the Semantic Web Challenge website.

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Prizes
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All participants are required to present their systems at a specific poster
session at the ISWC 2011 conference. A jury consisting of experts from
industry and academia will judge the systems at the conference. A monetary
prize will be provided to the winners of each track, along with publicity
for their work. The best applications will also have a chance to appear as
full articles in the Journal of Web Semantics.

In the event that one of the tracks receive less than a minimal number of
submissions, the organizers reserve the right to merge the two tracks of the
competition.

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Chairs
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Christian Bizer, Freie Universität Berlin
Diana Maynard, University of Sheffield