VoCamp: Informal "Hackfests" for Vocabulary/Ontology Creation and Publishing

[summary: availability of vocabularies for describing data is a serious
SW bottleneck - why not host a "VoCamp" and help grow the ecosystem of
ontologies/vocabularies on the Web?]

Hi all,

It would appear that a significant bottleneck in realising the Semantic
Web/Web of Data is now less in obtaining or publishing interesting data,
but in the availability of vocabularies/ontologies to describe that
data. This is a view echoed in a number of conversations I've had with
people in the field, and by major data consumers such as Yahoo! [1].

To help address this, Richard Cyganiak and I (with input from a number
of others) have initiated a series (we hope) of informal "hackfest"
events that can bring together interested and motivated parties for a
couple of days to spend some dedicated time creating vocabs/ontologies
in areas that interest them, and publishing these on the Web. We've
called these event(s) "VoCamps", and set up a wiki at [2] with some more
background at [3].

The first VoCamp, co-organised with David Shotton and Jun Zhao, will
take place in Oxford in late September [4] and we'll use this event to
test the format and refine it accordingly. We're already at capacity for
this event unfortunately, but please do add your name to the standby
list if you're interested.

After Oxford we hope that members of the Semantic Web community will
host their own events wherever they see fit, helping ensure a Web rich
with high-quality vocabularies. Tentative plans are already on the
drawing board for another event before Christmas in a different
location, and we hope that will be just the start.

If you are interested in hosting a VoCamp, have a look at [5] and give
me and Richard a shout so we can pass on the lessons we learn in Oxford.

Cheers,

Tom.


[1] http://www.devx.com/semantic/Article/38595/0/page/1
[2] http://vocamp.org/wiki/Main_Page
[3] http://vocamp.org/wiki/WhatIsVoCamp
[4] http://vocamp.org/wiki/VoCampOxford2008
[5]
http://vocamp.org/wiki/WhatIsVoCamp#What_is_needed_to_run_a_VoCamp.3F

--
Tom Heath
Researcher
Platform Team
Talis Information Ltd
T: 0870 400 5000
W: http://www.talis.com/platform

Received on Tuesday, 29 July 2008 11:12:05 UTC