XML.com 'Semantic Web: A Primer' article (the SW and you ;-)

An interesting piece from Edd Dumbill appeared on XML.com yesterday:


  http://www.xml.com/pub/2000/11/01/semanticweb/index.html  [[
  The Semantic Web: A Primer 
  by Edd Dumbill
  The question "What is the Semantic Web?" is being asked with increasing 
  frequency. While mainstream media is content with a high level view, XML
  developers want to know more, and discover the substance behind the
  vision.
  ]]

 
This strikes me as a useful article, both in terms of providing a
discussion strawman on what 'Semantic Web' might mean in practical terms,
as well as for surveying some key technologies, making the point that
XHTML, XSLT and mainstream XML apps will be criticial tools for the SW.

Rather than gabble on about what I think Semantic Web might mean 
I'm pretty curious to hear what folk on this list understand by the
phrase. As Edd points out, we could do with some more accessible materials
in this area. Some for example associate it with the
logic/inference/AI/KR end of things (ie. the www-rdf-logic theme) others
take a broader perspective, with the logic machinery being one set of
tools that we need to bring to bear. While we shouldn't get too hung up on
a slogan, I think it is important to have some discussion here on
'Semantic Web' since for many of us there is a larger goal, towards which
RDF as-we-now-know-it is just a means to an end. If we're going to get to
the Semantic Web (for some interpretation of that phrase), I know a lot
of the work of getting there will be done participants (and lurkers) on
this mailing list. I'm particularly keen to see 'SW' fleshed out in terms
of real, buildable apps (http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/ has some nice
examples) - ideally, the discussion that Edd's article initiates will help
us characterise buildable SW projects. In our first year, much of the
discussion here has focussed on RDF in itself, rather than on what we all
hope to build on top of it. It's about time we balanced that with a little
discussion of what we all want out of this SW business. My own
(eg. [1]) answer is pretty simple: I want RDF because it seems a good way
of getting the Web that was originally proposed. Wondering how the rest
of you see it,

Dan



[1] http://www.w3.org/1999/11/11-WWWProposal/thenandnow

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Received on Friday, 3 November 2000 12:16:10 UTC