Re: semantic technologies training/request

On Sunday, December 28, 2008 12:55, Paola wrote:
"PMI am starting to be introduced to great sw tools being released by the various EU funded projects, for which lots and lots
of public money is been used such as http://ontoware.org/ as well as lots of others"

Paola,
Thanks for an intersting link.

I was intrigued to see what is presented as "ontoware", finding the following  project as most engaging, http://www.neon-project.org/web-content/.  Being surprised with overwhelming ontological activities, one is attracted to browse the project boasting that:      
"NeOn is a 14.7 million Euros project involving 14 European partners and co-funded by the European Commission’s Sixth Framework Programme under grant number IST-2005-027595. NeOn started in March 2006 and has a duration of 4 years. Our aim is to advance the state of the art in using ontologies for large-scale semantic applications in the distributed organizations. Particularly, we aim at improving the capability to handle multiple networked ontologies that exist in a particular context, are created collaboratively, and might be highly dynamic and constantly evolving." 

Here is the NeOn basic defintion: "A Network of Ontologies is a collection of ontologies related together via a variety of different relationships such as mapping, modularization, version and  dependency relationships". Indeed, all fundamental troubles are in assumptions and presumptions. 

Glancing at the content, one might start questioning the promised tools and applications for justified reasons. First, instead of a variety of diverse, modular, individual ontologies, the Semantic Web implies an integrated collection of domain ontologies ( knowledge bases) supported by a common global schema as a "standard ontology for machines and people". Second, the "network ontology model" hardly can be modelled as a mere extension of the set theory, where sets just replaced by ontologies, operations on sets by operations on ontologies; relations involved in set theory, by the "ontology mapping metamodel" (see the NeOn Deliverables, project reports, http://www.neon-project.org/web-content/index.php?option=com_weblinks&view=categories&Itemid=73). Again, the OWL logical language can not properly define the network ontology model real semantics, serve as a global scheme for individual ontologies, function as the infrastructure for the large-scale semantic applications, etc.
I compliment E. Motta and Co on their organizational ability to get funds for such kind of material, but on the minus side, it sets a benchmark of quality for the SW ontology applications for the current FP7 programs, not mentioning the necessity to meet the public expectations. It seems a suspicion about "the distributed knowledge, the wisdom of the crowd" has a good reason.   
Allow me to advise to the NeOn group to try and focus on a more friutful assumption: "A Network of Ontologies is a collection of ontologies related together via a single global ontology", constituting the general framework classification for domain knowledge in various spheres of science, technology, commerce and industry. 

Wishing to All a Prosperous New Year, 

Azamat Abdoullaev
http://www.eis.com.cy
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: paola.dimaio@gmail.com 
  To: Semantic Web ; Marco Ronchetti 
  Sent: Sunday, December 28, 2008 12:55 PM
  Subject: semantic technologies training/request


  Greetings

  I am starting to be introduced to great sw tools being released by the various EU funded projects, for which lots and lots
  of public money is been used

  such as 

  http://ontoware.org/
  as well as lots of others

  Although all of these materials have some tutorials and documentation, the need for
  face to face training is mounting, and likely to increase

   I have not yet found during any of my trips distributed, connected,  open training centers
  possibly c/o universities, whre people could drop in and get some guidance on how to get their hands dirty
   and have the chance to spend some contact hours with students and tutors who may want to share their expertise
  and help newcomers to become experts


  If this is at all possible, dear Santa, it's on my wishlist, and in my prayers for 2009




  -- 
  Paola Di Maio 
  *************************************************