Semantic Bridge Project / Best Practice Recipes for Publishing RDF Vocabularies

We are very interested in the publication, Best Practice Recipes for 
Publishing RDF Vocabularies.
http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-swbp-vocab-pub-20060314/

This publication is still listed as a "working draft" and was last 
updated on 14 March 2006.

We would like to help expand this document into a specification for an 
ontology management framework.

Here is some background information on our project:

Semantic Bridge Technologies (located in Austin, TX) is creating a tool 
set and the supporting infrastructure for the implementation of the 
Semantic Web. We are taking a very pragmatic approach. Our target 
audience is comprised of web designers and software engineers who build 
Internet applications not theorists who study semantic structures. We 
are building a bridge, not an ivory tower.

One of the key aspects of the Semantic Bridge Project is the creation of 
the “Semantic Knowledge Repository”. This repository will be the nexus 
for managing ontologies (including microformats). It will be the 
official “hall of records” for the collaborative efforts made by virtual 
ontology groups. In essence, this repository will be the source for the 
organization and structure of knowledge, goods and services. The 
“Semantic Knowledge Repository” will be established as a vendor neutral 
non-profit corporation.

In its simplest implementation, a web author or web designer will be 
able to use tools to Interact with the "Semantic Knowledge Repository" 
and bring semantic structure to the information he or she is creating. 
In its eventual application, the “Semantic Knowledge Repository” will 
transform enterprise management systems.

We will develop standards for the fair and objective management of the 
repository and dynamic interactions with the repository. We intend to 
create a management system that will enable the organic development of 
ontologies. This is an incredibly grandiose vision - nothing less than 
managing the organization, structure and growth of all knowledge. This 
will most likely be the greatest collaborative endeavor in human history.

While existing lists of ontologies may seem overwhelming, the basic 
ontologies for e-commerce applications and most Internet sites will be 
quite manageable. It will be interesting to see how the statistics 
evolve, but our initial guess is that less than five per cent of the 
ontologies will be applied to more than ninety-five percent of semantic 
classifications on the Internet.

We recognize that, "..central control is stifling, and increasing the 
size and scope of such a system rapidly becomes unmanageable." We 
believe a non-bureaucratic approach that pushes control down to the 
level of the virtual ontology groups will result in an organic 
self-regulating system.

We also recognize that some organizations may wish to manage their own 
ontologies. For example, the ontology for molecular bio-chemistry might 
be maintained by a leading research university; specific ontologies for 
Business Process Management Systems (BPM) might be maintained by the 
system provider; organizations may wish to maintain their own private 
internal ontologies; etc. One of the most significant aspects of the 
Semantic Bridge Project will be the creation of an open-source ontology 
management framework that can be utilized by any organization. Where 
applicable, there will be a mapping of independently created ontologies 
to the Semantic Knowledge Repository.

We are very aware that a collaborative approach and the implementation 
of fair practices are essential to the realization of this vision. We 
wish to avoid the possibility of fragmentation (e.g., "The Google 
Semantic Repository", "The Microsoft Semantic Repository", etc.) as is 
seen with several competing Linux distributions. Our goal is to create a 
consortium where all members participate equitably.

We think we have patent rights that will enable us to enforce some 
degree of discipline amongst the major players.

The creation of a dynamic and interactive, “Semantic Knowledge 
Repository”, along with the tools that will allow web designers and 
software engineers to easily interact with this repository will have a 
profound impact on the rapid deployment of the Semantic Web.

The technologies of the Semantic Bridge Project could truly transform 
the world.

For complete details regarding The Semantic Bridge Project, please visit 
our website: http://www.semanticbridgetechnologies.com

Please share your thoughts.

We hope you will consider participating in this endeavor. It is going to 
be an incredible intellectual adventure.

Sincerely,

Mike Duffy
CEO / CTO
Semantic Bridge Technologies
mduffy@austin.rr.com

Received on Monday, 11 June 2007 07:57:35 UTC