Missing Link: Re. What is the SIOC-o-sphere?

Kingsley Idehen wrote:
>
> Ivan Herman wrote:
>> Wing C Yung wrote:
>>  
>>> I think that it's great that we have some SIOC producers; it's 
>>> definitely
>>> the first step towards *enabling* a potential "killer app" for the 
>>> Semantic
>>> Web. Having the data as RDF is necessary but not sufficient to convince
>>> people of the benefits. The "killer app" is going to be a consumer 
>>> of data
>>> (like a SW-enabled feed aggregator/reader that does something 
>>> compelling
>>> with the data), not the data itself. Right now, are there other 
>>> consumers
>>> besides the one [1] listed on the SIOC page?
>>>
>>> [1]
>>> http://sparql.captsolo.net/browser/browser.py?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.johnbreslin.com%2Fblog%2Findex.php%3Fsioc_type%3Dpost%26sioc_id%3D462 
>>>
>>>
>>> Wing
>>>
>>>     
>>
>> It depends on the community, of course, but generally I concur.
>>
>> Let me tell you about ne specific experience I had (Karen was there,
>> too, she probably remembers). We, ie, some team people from W3C, had a
>> meeting with a whole group of *technical* people (not manager types)
>> from Merck. It was a very long meeting; it included a presentation on
>> Piggy Bank, some discussion with Tim, and a very long
>> presentation/discussion led by me. Actually, it was quite successful;
>> Merck joined W3C and are now active participants of the HCLS IG.
>>
>> As part of the presentation I also used the tabulator to show the power
>> of merging/integrating data. Without entering into details, it used all
>> kinds of data spread around on W3C site and elswhere on various
>> technical documents, their translations, the persons involved and their
>> data, etc. Sure, the tabulator does not have the smoothest interface,
>> but the point could get across.
>>
>> After the presentation, the leader of the Merck delegation (a very
>> friendly chap whom I knew because he had been at my tutorial in
>> Edinburgh earlier that year) came to me and said privately: that type of
>> demonstration does not work for them. It is way too geeky, it is way too
>> much the 'same story' that they hear, but it does not really show what
>> this technology can do for *them*. What made them move is the
>> realization of using their data in their databases, integrate those,
>> combined with their own real problems that they encounter.
>>
>> To avoid misunderstandings: SIOC is a great stuff (I have the radar
>> running on my Firefox:-). That is not the point. The point is that for
>> *corporate developers* we need specific use cases in their own
>> environments and settings, using *their* language. If we have a real
>> example (should be more!) on how data integration solves a specific
>> development problem within an entreprise (even if this is not their
>> specific area of business) *then* they will listen. Something that I
>> have been telling for some time: we desperately need *those* use cases.
>> With all my due respect (I mean it!) for the blogosphere, the Web2.0
>> buzz, etc, I am not sure *that* will be the decisive factor to look at
>> the Semantic Web for the Boeings, Mercks, DaimlerBenz-s, Shells, etc, of
>> this World...
>>
>> Just my to pence. Well: the reason why I think it is imperative for the
>> SWEO group to collect those use cases. In my view, we desperately need
>> those industrial use cases (personally, I believe, more than anything
>> else!) to help the Semantic Web moving forward.
>>
>> Apologies for the long mail...
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Ivan
>>
>> P.S. The HCLS IG will produce some documents soon on how these
>> technologies can be used in their settings, by the way. And a bigger
>> demo should be around by May. Is the correct, Susie?
>>
>>
>>
>>   
> Ivan,
>
> As you may recall, I have tried to have us develop our messaging from 
> a base such that we split the usage scenarios, FAQ, and other 
> collateral along the following lines:
>
> 1. Web Community
> 2. Enterprise Community
> 3. DBMS Technology vendors
>
> The SIOC demos and commentary are about the Web (in particular the 
> Blogosphere).  But it can be used for Enterprise customers if put in 
> their context using appropriate parlance. The problem I see re. 
> contributions to this discourse via SWEO is: how many members of SWEO 
> currently fit the Enterprise Developer/Architect/Manager profile? I 
> ask this question because if the readership of SWEO itself isn't 
> conversant in "Enterprise Technology lingo" even the most basic 
> contributions to such discourse will attract one of the following 
> comments;
>
> 1. This is too technical (where this sometimes implies: I don't 
> understand the lingo or I just don't like it, it's buzzword heavy etc.)
> 2. No! Product Promo etc..
>
> The remainder of this mail is for SWEO readership in general (as 
> opposed to Ivan specifically):
>
> SIOC in the Enterprise is quite simple (IMHO), ditto the Semantic Web 
> vision.
>
> What does SIOC do for the Enterprise? It provides infrastructure for 
> coherent implementation and usage of standards compliant Distributed 
> Collaborative Applications (DCA) [1]. Every enterprise on this planet 
> is struggling with the construction of cohesive and coherent 
> infrastructure for collaboration. Just as the Web is making the world 
> smaller, the behemoth enterprise of this planet are desperately trying 
> to get smaller. Blogs, Wikis, Shared Bookmarks, Discussion Forums, 
> Mailing Lists, IRC channels are all pieces of the solution puzzle that 
> they are stifled in the enterprise for the following reasons:
>
> 1. Disparate Databases driving the platforms
> 2. Legacy platform lock-in problems at the DBMS, Operating Systems, 
> and Development Environment levels
>
> SIOC as an Ontology provides the glue for unshackling the Data in the 
> aforementioned DCAs. Through SIOC they are able to map existing Data 
> Sources to SIOC (and other Ontologies for that matter) using an array 
> of emerging middleware solutions [2]. Of course, they don't have to 
> use these middleware options, but this is where the basic cost-benefit 
> analysis of the "build vs buy" comes in for the decision makers. Thus, 
> when looking at the issue of collaboration, it is very clear to me 
> what Semantic Web technologies offer to the Enterprises that are 
> inherently heterogeneous at the DBMS, Operating System, and 
> Development Environments levels. Even more so for someone who has 
> worked on these Enterprise Integration problems since the late 80's 
> (on both sides of the fence; I worked as an accountant for many years 
> before crossing over to the vendor side of the fence).
>
> Andersen Consulting have a nice presentation about enterprise DCA 
> challenges titled: Visualizing Organizational Changes [3]. Although 
> this particular case study deals with social networking (Graph Model 
> etc..) and its impact on post merger relationships etc. You can also 
> apply the same observations to the recent spate of A-List Bloggers 
> that have departed their organizations to set up shop on their own. 
> The point here is that organizations live and die by there ability to 
> exploit Information.
> Another point, Lotus Notes is an example of first generation DCA 
> technology.
>
> SIOC is to the Semantic Web what RSS 2.0 was to the bootstrapping of 
> the Blogosphere whch ultimately gave rise to the Web 2.0 movement. If 
> you can juxtapose a SIOC button alongside every RSS 2.0 button in the 
> Blogosphere and then query across the resulting data sources via 
> SPARQL, you have the foundation for lots of practical Semantic Web 
> demonstrations for Enterprise, Web, and DBMS communities. SIOC is 
> flexible enough to pull along FOAF, SKOS, RSS 1.0, Annotea, AtomOWL 
> and others endeavors in the RDF Instance Data for  Outreach and 
> Education efforts. If these Ontologies weren't mutually inclusive what 
> on earth are we doing? Or seeking to achieve? SIOC demos aren't aren't 
> about SIOC vs FOAF vs Annotea vs anything else. They are simply about 
> the quest for use cases that resonate with the target audience of 
> SWEO: Decision Makers.
>
> BTW - I am passionate about SIOC for the same reasons I am passionate 
> about ODBC [4], neither is a creation of mine, I simply understand 
> their intrinsic value and find myself lucky enough to be able to 
> assemble the required resources to assist in exposing and sharing the 
> value of said technologies with the broader community.
> Links:
> 1. http://www.cs.duke.edu/ari/cisi/relay/doc/paper.ps
> 2. http://esw.w3.org/topic/RdfAndSql
> 3. http://www.accenture.com/xdoc/en/AccentureSNA.swf (note this takes 
> a while to load)
>
4. http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Ken_North/Odbcfact.HTM (some 
background on ODBC; point being, one can genuinely innovate for a 
greater good  in appreciation of standards or de facto standards which 
has always been my modus operandi).

-- 


Regards,

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

Received on Friday, 22 December 2006 14:50:14 UTC