State of the Art and Opportunities

Vagan Terziyan
Compiled, partly based on various online tutorials
and presentations, with respect to their authors
Industrial Ontologies Group

http://www.cs.jyu.fi/ai/OntoGroup/index.html
University of Jyvskyl
Industrial Ontologies Group
7
Before Semantic Web
Web content
Users Creators
WWW
and
Beyond
8
Semantic Web Structure
Semantic
Annotations
Ontologies Logical Support
Languages Tools
Applications /
Services
Web content
Users Creators
WWW
and
Beyond
Semantic
Web
Motivation for Semantic Web
Limitations of the Web today
Machine-to-human, not machine-to-
machine
Summarizing the Problem:
Computers dont understand Meaning
My mouse is broken. I need a
new one
Use of ontology
My mouse is broken
vs. My mouse is dead
Approach: Semantic Web
The Semantic Web is a vision: the idea of having data on the
Web defined and linked in a way that it can be used by
machines not just for display purposes,
but for automation, integration and reuse
of data across various applications
http://www.w3.org/sw/


The Semantic Web is an initiative with the goal of extending the
current Web and facilitating Web automation, universally accessible
web resources, and the 'Web of Trust', providing a universally
accessible platform that allows data to be shared and processed by
automated tools as well as by people.
Tim Berners-Lee's Vision of
Semantic Web (IJCAI-01)
Semantic Web Stack
(updated, W3C, 2006)
Semantic Web: New Users
Semantic
Annotations
Ontologies Logical Support
Languages Tools
Applications /
Services
Web content
Users Creators
WWW
and
Beyond
Semantic
Web
Semantic Web
content
Users
Semantic
Web and
Beyond
Creators
applications
agents
Semantic Web: Annotations
Semantic
Annotations
Ontologies Logical Support
Languages Tools
Applications /
Services
Web content
Users
Creators
WWW
and
Beyond
Semantic
Web
Semantic Web
content
Users
Semantic
Web and
Beyond
Creators
applications
agents
Semantic annotations are
specific sort of metadata,
which provides information
about particular domain
objects, values of their
properties and relationships, in
a machine-processable, formal
and standardized way.
Semantic Web: Ontologies
Semantic
Annotations
Ontologies Logical Support
Languages Tools
Applications /
Services
Web content
Users
Creators
WWW
and
Beyond
Semantic
Web
Semantic Web
content
Users
Semantic
Web and
Beyond
Creators
applications
agents
Ontologies make metadata
interoperable and ready for
efficient sharing and reuse. It
provides shared and common
understanding of a domain, that
can be used both by people and
machines. Ontologies are used as
a form of agreement-based
knowledge representation about
the world or some part of it and
generally describe: domain
individuals, classes, attributes,
relations and events.
Semantic Web: Rules
Semantic
Annotations
Ontologies Logical Support
Languages Tools
Applications /
Services
Web content
Users
Creators
WWW
and
Beyond
Semantic
Web
Semantic Web
content
Users
Semantic
Web and
Beyond
Creators
applications
agents
Logical support in form of rules is needed to infer
implicit content, metadata and ontologies from
the explicit ones. Rules are considered to be a
major issue in the further development of the
semantic web. On one hand, they can be used in
ontology languages, in conjunction with or as an
alternative to description logics. And on the other
hand, they will act as a means to draw
inferences, to configure systems, to express
constraints, to specify policies, to react to
events/changes, to transform data, to specify
behavior of agents, etc.
Semantic Web: Languages
Semantic
Annotations
Ontologies Logical Support
Languages Tools
Applications /
Services
Web content
Users
Creators
WWW
and
Beyond
Semantic
Web
Semantic Web
content
Users
Semantic
Web and
Beyond
Creators
applications
agents
Languages are needed for machine-processable
formal descriptions of: metadata (annotations) like e.g.
RDF; ontologies like e.g. OWL.; rules like e.g.
RuleML. The challenge is to provide a framework for
specifying the syntax (e.g. XML) and semantics of all
of these languages in a uniform and coherent way.
The strategy is to translate the various languages into
a common 'base' language (e.g. CL or Lbase)
providing them with a single coherent model theory.
Semantic Web: Tools
Semantic
Annotations
Ontologies Logical Support
Languages Tools
Applications /
Services
Web content
Users
Creators
WWW
and
Beyond
Semantic
Web
Semantic Web
content
Users
Semantic
Web and
Beyond
Creators
applications
agents
User-friendly tools are needed for
metadata manual creation (annotating
content) or automated generation, for
ontology engineering and validation, for
knowledge acquisition (rules), for
languages parsing and processing, etc.
Semantic Web: Applications and Services
Semantic
Annotations
Ontologies Logical Support
Languages Tools
Applications /
Services
Web content
Users
Creators
WWW
and
Beyond
Semantic
Web
Semantic Web
content
Users
Semantic
Web and
Beyond
Creators
applications
agents
Utilization of Semantic Web
metadata, ontologies, rules,
languages and tools enables to
provide scalable Web applications
and Web services for consumers and
enterprises" making the web 'smarter'
for people and machines.

The Semantic Web
The Ontology Articulation Toolkit
helps agents to understand
unknown ontologies
Semantic Web basics
RDF:
is a W3C standard, which provides tool to describe Web
resources
provides interoperability between applications that
exchange machine-understandable information

RDF Schema:
is a W3C standard which defines vocabulary for RDF
organizes this vocabulary in a typed hierarchy
capable to explicitly declare semantic relations between
vocabulary terms
Where we are Today:
the Syntactic Web
[Hendler & Miller 02]
Most of the Current Web (dumb links)
Semantic Web
(data connected by relationships)
Mary
Director
Secretary
to_be_in_
love_with
has_job
has_job
John
has_homepage
has_homepage
Ontology
RDF Semantic Web over Web Resources
Resources
All things being described by RDF
expressions are called resources:
entire Web page;
a specific XML element;
whole collection of pages;
an object that is not directly accessible via the
Web.
Semantic Predicate

otherwise 0,
; A object with L named relation
by connected is A object if 1,
= ) A , L , P(A
j k
i
j k i
A
i

A
j

L
k

A
i

L
k

Relation (i = j)
Property (i = j)
46
Semantic Function
) A , (A L
j i k
A
i

A
j

L
k

A
i

L
k

Relation
Property
C) , (A L
i k
Name of Function
Variables
Value of property
47
Different Ways to Represent
properties

RED
Tomato
has_color
Tomato
has_red_color
Tomato
instance_of

Red Thing
C
in RDF
in RDFS
in semantic network
48
RDF Statement
Resource_i Value_n
Property_k
Resource_i
Property_r
Resource_ j
OR
49
Semantic Relation as RDF statement
(so called object property)
A
i
A
j

L
k

Relation (i = j)
http://www.cs.jyu.fi/ai/vagan/index.html http://www.jyu.fi/agora-center/indexEng.html
Personal web page of Terziyan V. Web page of Agora Center
refers_to
Resource
Relation
Resource
Subject object Predicate
http://www.cs.jyu.fi/ai/vagan/#vagan
URI of Terziyan V.
employed_by
Dereferenceable URI (Hash vs. Slash)
URI of Agora Center
http://www.jyu.fi/agora-center/#AC
Dereferenceable URI (Hash vs. Slash)
50
Semantic Property as RDF statement
(so called datatype property)
http://www.cs.jyu.fi/ai/vagan/index.html
Personal web page of Terziyan V.
Literal
has_birthday
Resource
Property
Subject object Predicate
Literal
A
i

L
k

Property (i = j)
15.02.2000
http://www.cs.jyu.fi/ai/vagan/#vagan
URI of Terziyan V.
has_birthday
27.12.1958
Dereferenceable URI (Hash vs. Slash)
Birthday of the web-page
Birthday of Terziyan V.
51
Semantic Network of Web Resources
http://www.cs.jyu.fi/ai/vagan/index.html http://www.jyu.fi/agora-center/indexEng.html
Personal web page of Terziyan V. Web page of Agora Center
refers_to
http://www.cs.jyu.fi/ai/vagan/#vagan
URI of Terziyan V.
employed_by
URI of Agora Center
http://www.jyu.fi/agora-center/#AC
hasWebPage
isWebPageOf
hasWebPage
isWebPageOf
27.12.1958
has_birthday
52
From Hyperlinks to Semantic Web
http://www.cs.jyu.fi/ai/
university
http://www.kture.kharkov.ua/
international
_contacts
http://www.cs.jyu.fi/ai/contacts.html
Resources and URIs
A resource can be anything that has identity
Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI)* provide
a simple and extensible means for identifying
a resource
Not all resources are network "retrievable";
e.g., human beings, corporations, and books
in a library can also be considered resources
* The term "Uniform Resource Locator" (URL) refers to the subset of URI that identify resources
via a representation of their primary access mechanism (e.g., their network "location"), rather than
identifying the resource by name or by some other attribute(s) of that resource.
URI

Venn diagram of Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) scheme categories.
Schemes in the URL (locator) and URN (name) categories both
function as resource IDs, so URL and URN are subsets of URI. They
are also, generally, disjoint sets. However, many schemes can't be
categorized as strictly one or the other, because all URIs can be
treated as names, and some schemes embody aspects of both
categories or neither.
http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_berners_lee_on_the_next_web
.html
Dereferenceable URI
The term Linked Data is used to describe a method of exposing, sharing, and
connecting data via dereferenceable* URIs on the Web.
Linked Data is about using the Web to connect related data that wasnt
previously linked, or using the Web to lower the barriers to linking data currently
linked using other methods. More specifically, Wikipedia defines Linked Data as
a term used to describe a recommended best practice for exposing, sharing,
and connecting pieces of data, information, and knowledge on the Semantic
Web using URIs and RDF. Linked Data aims to extend the Web with a data
commons by publishing various open datasets as RDF on the Web and by
setting RDF links between data items from different data sources.
*A dereferenceable Uniform Resource Identifier or dereferenceable URI is
a resource retrieval mechanism that uses any of the internet protocols (e.g.
HTTP) to obtain a copy or representation of the resource it identifies. In the
context of traditional HTML web pages, this is the normal and obvious way of
working: A URI refers to the page, and when requested the web server returns
a copy of it. In other non-dereferenceable contexts, such as XML Schema, the
namespace identifier is still a URI, but this is simply an identifier (i.e. a
namespace name). There is no intention that this can or should be
dereferenced. There is even a separate attribute, schemaLocation, which may
contain a dereferenceable URI that does point to a copy of the schema
document. In the case of Linked Data, the representation takes the form of a
document (typically HTML or XML) that describes the resource that the URI
identifies. In either case, the mechanism makes it possible for a user (or
software agent) to "follow your nose" to find out more information related to
the identified resource.
Subject of an RDF statement is a
resource
Predicate of an RDF statement is a
property of a resource
Object of an RDF statement is the value
of a property of a resource
RDF Statement
Example of RDF Statement
Subject (resource) http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila
Predicate (property) Creator
Object (literal) Ora Lassila
Ora Lassila is the creator of the resource
http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila.
RDF Example (subject of
statement)
Ora Lassila is the creator of the resource
http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila.
<rdf:RDF>
<rdf:Description about=
"http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila">
<s:Creator>Ora Lassila</s:Creator>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>
Subject
RDF Example (predicate of
statement)
Ora Lassila is the creator of the resource
http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila.
<rdf:RDF>
<rdf:Description about=
"http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila">
<s:Creator>Ora Lassila</s:Creator>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>
Predicate
RDF Example (object of
statement)
Ora Lassila is the creator of the resource
http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila.
<rdf:RDF>
<rdf:Description about=
"http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila">
<s:Creator>Ora Lassila</s:Creator>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>
Object
RDF Example (reference to
ontology)
Ora Lassila is the creator of the resource
http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila.
<rdf:RDF>
<rdf:Description about=
"http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila">
<s:Creator>Ora Lassila</s:Creator>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>
a specific namespace prefix as reference to
ontology where predicates are defined, e.g. xmlns:
s="http://description.org/schema/"
Full XML Document for the Example
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF

xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-
rdf-syntax-ns#

xmlns:s="http://description.org/schema/">
<rdf:Description about=
"http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila">
<s:Creator>Ora Lassila</s:Creator>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>
Namespaces as attributes of
RDF element in XML
RDF Abbreviated Syntax
While the serialisation syntax shows the
structure of an RDF model most clearly,
often it is desirable to use a more compact
XML form.
The RDF abbreviated syntax accomplishes
this.
Abbreviated Syntax Example (1)
<rdf:RDF>
<rdf:Description about="http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila"
s:Creator="Ora Lassila" />
</rdf:RDF>
Ora Lassila is the creator of the resource
http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila.
Abbreviated Syntax Example (2)
<rdf:Description about="http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila"
s:Creator="Ora Lassila" />
Ora Lassila is the creator of the resource
http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila.
Subject
Abbreviated Syntax Example (3)
<rdf:Description about="http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila"
s:Creator ="Ora Lassila" />
Ora Lassila is the creator of the resource
http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila.
Predicate
Abbreviated Syntax Example (4)
<rdf:Description about="http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila"
s:Creator="Ora Lassila" />
Ora Lassila is the creator of the resource
http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila.
Object
RDF N3 syntax
Notation3, or N3 as it is more commonly known, is a
shorthand non-XML serialization of RDF models,
designed with human-readability in mind: N3 is much
more compact and readable than XML RDF notation.
The format is being developed by Tim Berners-Lee
and others from the Semantic Web community.
RDF sample in
XML notation
RDF sample
in N3 notation
RDF N3 examples
Simple statement
:John :Loves :Mary

Reified statement
{:John :Loves :Mary} :accordingTo :Bill

Goal statement:
gb:I gb:want {:John :Loves :Mary}


The prefix gb: is used here to denote the ontology of S-APL.
Some N3 syntax specifics
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#>
:Professor a rdfs:Class
<http://www.cs.jyu.fi/ai/vagan> a :Professor
Ontological statements in N3
Statements about Statements (1)
An unnamed node is the source of
all five arcs. The first arc is labelled
rdf:type and points to the node
identified as rdf:Statement. The
second arc is labelled rdf:predicate
and points to the node identified as
s:Creator. The third arc is labelled
rdf:subject and points to a node
labelled
http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila.
The fourth arc is labelled rdf:object
and points to a node containing the
string value "Ora Lassila". The fifth
and final arc is labelled
a:attributedTo and points to a node
containing the string value "Ralph
Swick".
Ralph Swick says that Ora Lassila is the creator of the
resource http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila
Statements about Statements (2)
Ralph Swick says that Ora Lassila is the creator of the
resource http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://w3.org/TR/1999/PR-rdf-syntax-19990105#"
xmlns:a="http://description.org/schema/">
<rdf:Description>
<rdf:subject resource="http://www.w3.org/Home/Lassila" />
<rdf:predicate resource="http://description.org/schema#Creator" />
<rdf:object>Ora Lassila</rdf:object>
<rdf:type resource="http://w3.org/TR/1999/PR-rdf-syntax-
19990105#Statement" />
<a:attributedTo>Ralph Swick</a:attributedTo>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>
What is RDFS ?
RDF Schema
Defines vocabulary for RDF
Organizes this vocabulary in a typed hierarchy
(Class, subClassOf, type, Property, subPropertyOf)
Rich, web-based publication format for declaring
semantics (XML for exchange)
Capability to explicitly declare semantic relations
between vocabulary terms
RDF Schema
Semantic network on the Web
Nodes are identified by URIs
rdfs:Class
rdfs:Property
rdfs:subClassOf
Traditional RDF Statement
Resource_i Literal
Property_k
Resource_i
Property_r
Resource_ j
OR
Subject of an RDF statement is a resource
Predicate of an RDF statement is a property of a
resource
Object of an RDF statement is the value of a property
of a resource (either literal or resource)



HUMAN
#Vagan
Vagan Terziyan 27/12/58 #JyU
#John
#Aino

C
Properties (predicate)
R
e
s
o
u
r
c
e
s

(
s
u
b
j
e
c
t
)

h
a
s
B
i
r
t
h
d
a
y

i
s
E
m
p
l
o
y
e
d
B
y

h
a
s
N
a
m
e

h
a
s
S
u
r
n
a
m
e

:#JyU :hasTitle University of Jyvaskyla
:#JyU :hasLocation Finland
:#JyU :hasWorldRank 204
:#JyU :hasRector :#Aino
:#JyU a UNIVERSITY




UNIVERSITY
#MIT
#JyU
University
of
Jyvaskyla
Finland 204 #Aino
#KNURE

C
h
a
s
W
o
r
l
d
R
a
n
k

h
a
s
R
e
c
t
o
r

h
a
s
T
i
t
l
e

h
a
s
L
o
c
a
t
i
o
n

:#Vagan :hasName Vagan
:#Vagan :hasSurname Terziyan
:#Vagan :hasBirthday 27/12/58
:#Vagan :isEmployedBy :#JyU
:#Vagan a HUMAN
:#Aino a HUMAN
Each cell is an
RDF triple
Each cell is an
RDF triple
RDF triples
RDF triples (continue)

!
RDF Illustrated
New semantics of RDF Statement in
S-APL (object - executable resource)
Resource_i
Property_m
exe: Resource_ j
executable property
Semantics of such statement means
that the value of the Property_m of
the Resource_i can be obtained as
a result of execution of the
procedure (query, service, function,
etc.) represented as Resource_ j
S-APL
Semantic Agent Programming Language
(Designed by Industrial Ontologies Group)
What is RDFa ?
RDFa (or Resource Description Framework in attributes) is a W3C
Recommendation that adds a set of attribute-level extensions to XHTML for
embedding rich metadata within Web documents. RDFa provides a set of XHTML
attributes to augment visual data with machine-readable hints and turns the existing
human-visible text and links into machine-readable data without repeating content.
The great thing about RDFa is the ability to weave meaning and rich data directly
into a web page without having any impact on the front-end user experience.
Example of HTML
Example of HTML marked up with RDFa
Why RDFa ?
Combining human- and machine-readable information
within the same (XHTML or HTML5) document !
Today's web is built predominantly for human readers. Even as machine-readable data begins to permeate
the web, it is typically distributed in a separate file, with a separate format, and very limited correspondence
between the human and machine versions. As a result, web browsers can provide only minimal assistance
to humans in parsing and processing web pages: browsers only see presentation information. RDFa is
intended to solve the problem of marking up machine-readable data in HTML documents. RDFa provides a
set of HTML attributes to augment visual data with machine-readable hints. Using RDFa, authors may turn
their existing human-visible text and links into machine-readable data without repeating content.
111
Where to look next
RDF:
http://www.w3.org/RDF/
RDF Schema:
http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-schema/
RDFa :
http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml-rdfa-primer/
112
Dublin Core
A set of fifteen basic properties for
describing generalised Web resources
ISO Standard 15836-2003 (February
2003):
http://www.niso.org/international/SC4/n515.pdf
http://dublincore.org/
The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative is an open forum engaged in the development of interoperable
online metadata standards that support a broad range of purposes and business models.
113
Dublin Core (15 basic properties):
Title
Creator
Subject
Description
Publisher
Contributor
Date
Type
Format
Identifier
Source
Language
Relation
Coverage
Rights
<?xml version="1.0"?>

<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf=http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.0/">

<rdf:Description rdf:about="http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/resources/dc/datamodel/WD-dc-rdf/">
<dc:title> Guidance on expressing the Dublin Core within the RDF </dc:title>
<dc:creator> Eric Miller </dc:creator>
<dc:creator> Paul Miller </dc:creator>
<dc:creator> Dan Brickley </dc:creator>
<dc:subject> Dublin Core; RDF; XML </dc:subject>
<dc:publisher> Dublin Core Metadata Initiative </dc:publisher>
<dc:contributor> Dublin Core Data Model Working Group </dc:contributor>
<dc:date> 1999-07-01 </dc:date>
<dc:format> text/html </dc:format>
<dc:language> en </dc:language>
</rdf:Description>

</rdf:RDF>
Dublin Core Example
Ontological Vision of Semantic Web
Semantic Web needs ontologies

An ontology is
document or file that formally and in a
standardized way defines the hierarchy of
classes within the domain, semantic
relations among terms and inference rules
Use of ontologies:
Sharing semantics of your data across
distributed applications
Communication between people
Studer(98): Formal, explicit specification of a shared conceptualization
Machine
readable
Concepts, properties,
functions, axioms
are explicitly defined
Consensual
knowledge
Abstract model of
some phenomena
in the world
What is an ontology?
124
What is an Ontology?






From: Ian Horrocks OWL 2:
The Next Generation
125
What is an Ontology?
A model of (some aspect of) the world






From: Ian Horrocks OWL 2:
The Next Generation
126
What is an Ontology?
A model of (some aspect of) the world
Introduces vocabulary
relevant to domain, e.g.:
Anatomy




From: Ian Horrocks OWL 2:
The Next Generation
127
What is an Ontology?
A model of (some aspect of) the world
Introduces vocabulary
relevant to domain, e.g.:
Anatomy
Cellular biology



From: Ian Horrocks OWL 2:
The Next Generation
128
What is an Ontology?
A model of (some aspect of) the world
Introduces vocabulary
relevant to domain, e.g.:
Anatomy
Cellular biology
Aerospace


From: Ian Horrocks OWL 2:
The Next Generation
129
What is an Ontology?
A model of (some aspect of) the world
Introduces vocabulary
relevant to domain, e.g.:
Anatomy
Cellular biology
Aerospace
Dogs

From: Ian Horrocks OWL 2:
The Next Generation
130
What is an Ontology?
A model of (some aspect of) the world
Introduces vocabulary
relevant to domain, e.g.:
Anatomy
Cellular biology
Aerospace
Dogs
Hotdogs

From: Ian Horrocks OWL 2:
The Next Generation
131
What is an Ontology?
A model of (some aspect of) the world
Introduces vocabulary
relevant to domain
Specifies meaning of terms
Heart is a muscular organ that
is part of the circulatory system

From: Ian Horrocks OWL 2:
The Next Generation
132
What is an Ontology?
A model of (some aspect of) the world
Introduces vocabulary
relevant to domain
Specifies meaning of terms
Heart is a muscular organ that
is part of the circulatory system
Formalised using suitable logic
From: Ian Horrocks OWL 2:
The Next Generation
133
DL Semantics
Semantics given by standard FO model theory:

John
Mary

Lawyer
Doctor
Vehicle

hasChild
owns
(Lawyer and Doctor)

From: Ian Horrocks OWL: A
Description Logic Based
Ontology Language
Ontology Elements
Concepts(classes) + their hierarchy
Concept properties (slots/attributes)
Property restrictions (type, cardinality, domain)
Relations between concepts (disjoint, equality)
Instances
How to build an ontology?
Steps:
determine domain and scope
enumerate important terms
define classes and class hierarchies
define slots
define slot restrictions (cardinality, value-type)

Step 1: Determine Domain and Scope
Domain: geography
Application: route planning agent
Possible questions:
Distance between two cities?
What sort of connections exist between two cities?
In which country is a city?
How many borders are crossed?

Step 2: Enumerate Important Terms
country
city
capital
border
connection
Connection_on_land
Connection_in_air
Connection_on_water
road
railway
currency
Step 3: Define Classes and Class Hierarchy
Step 4: Define Slots of Classes
Step 5: Define slot constraints
Slot-cardinality
Ex: Borders_with multiple, Start_point single
Slot-value type
Ex: Borders_with- Country
Geographic_entity
Country City
Has_capital
Capital_of Borders_with
Connection
Start_point
End_point
Capital_city
OWL became standard
10 February 2004 the World Wide Web
Consortium announced final approval of two
key Semantic Web technologies, the revised
Resource Description Framework (RDF) and
the Web Ontology Language (OWL).
Read more in:
http://www.w3.org/2004/01/sws-pressrelease.html.en
What is OWL?
OWL is a language for defining Web
Ontologies and their associated Knowledge
Bases
The OWL language is a revision of the
DAML+OIL web ontology language
incorporating learning from the design and
application use of DAML+OIL.

OWL Introduction
Example
There are two types of animals, Male and Female.

<rdfs:Class rdf:ID="Male">
<rdfs:subClassOf rdf:resource="#Animal"/>
</rdfs:Class>

The subClassOf element asserts that its subject - Male - is a
subclass of its object -- the resource identified by #Animal.

<rdfs:Class rdf:ID="Female">
<rdfs:subClassOf rdf:resource="#Animal"/>
<owl:disjointWith rdf:resource="#Male"/>
</rdfs:Class>

Some animals are Female, too, but nothing can be both
Male and Female (in this ontology) because these two
classes are disjoint (using the disjointWith tag).
OWL Example in Protg (1)
Class
Person superclass
Man, Woman subclasses
Properties
isWifeOf, isHusbandOf
Property characteristics, restrictions
inverseOf
domain
range
Cardinality
Class expressions
disjointWith
OWL Example in Protg (2)
OWL Example in Protg (3)
Symmetric: if P(x, y) then P(y, x)
Transitive: if P(x,y) and P(y,z) then P(x, z)
Functional: if P(x,y) and P(x,z) then y=z
InverseOf: if P1(x,y) then P2(y,x)
InverseFunctional: if P(y,x) and P(z,x) then y=z
allValuesFrom: P(x,y) and y=allValuesFrom(C)
someValuesFrom: P(x,y) and y=someValuesFrom(C)
hasValue: P(x,y) and y=hasValue(v)
cardinality: cardinality(P) = N
minCardinality: minCardinality(P) = N
maxCardinality: maxCardinality(P) = N
equivalentProperty: P1 = P2
intersectionOf: C = intersectionOf(C1, C2, )
unionOf: C = unionOf(C1, C2, )
complementOf: C = complementOf(C1)
oneOf: C = one of(v1, v2, )
equivalentClass: C1 = C2
disjointWith: C1 != C2
sameIndividualAs: I1 = I2
differentFrom: I1 != I2
AllDifferent: I1 != I2, I1 != I3, I2 != I3,
Thing: I1, I2,
OWL on one Slide
Legend:
Properties are indicated by: P, P1, P2, etc
Specific classes are indicated by: x, y, z
Generic classes are indicated by: C, C1, C2
Values are indicated by: v, v1, v2
Instance documents are indicated by: I1, I2, I3, etc.
A number is indicated by: N
P(x,y) is read as: property P relates x to y
An Example
Woman Person Female
Man Person Woman
Mother Woman -hasChild.Person
Father Man -hasChild.Person
Parent Father Mother
Grandmother Mother -hasChild.Parent

We can further infer (though not explicitly stated):
Grandmother Person
Grandmother Man Woman
etc.
OWL-2 adds new functionality with respect to OWL.:

keys;
disjoint union of classes
property chains;
richer datatypes, data ranges;
qualified cardinality restrictions;
asymmetric, reflexive, and disjoint properties;
enhanced annotation capabilities .

OWL-2 vs. OWL
W3C Documents
Guide: http://www.w3.org/TR/owl-guide/
Reference: http://www.w3.org/TR/owl-ref/
Semantics and Abstract Syntax:
http://www.w3.org/TR/owl-semantics/
OWL Tutorials
Ian Horrocks, Sean Bechhofer:
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~horrocks/Slides/Innsbruck-
tutorial/
Roger L. Costello, David B. Jacobs:
http://www.xfront.com/owl/
Example Ontologies, e.g. here:
http://www.daml.org/ontologies/

Resources
Tutorial: Designing Ontologies with
Protg
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~horrocks/Teaching/cs646/
http://www.co-ode.org/resources/tutorials/ProtegeOWLTutorial.pdf
Protg is an ontology editor and a
knowledge-base editor (download
from:
http://protege.stanford.edu ).
Protg is also an open-source,
Java tool that provides an
extensible architecture for the
creation of customized knowledge-
based applications.
Protg's OWL Plug-in now
provides support for editing
Semantic Web ontologies.
PLEASE !!!
Download
version:
Protg 3.4.8.
http://www.cs.jyu.fi/ai/vagan/Ontologies.ppt
7
8
8
Jan 12, 2012
Web of Trust
Claims can be verified if there is supporting evidence
from another (trusted) source
We only believe that someone is a professor at a
university if the university also claims that person
is a professor, and the university is on a list I trust.
believe(c1) :- claims(x, c1) ^ predicate(c1, professorAt) ^
arg1(c1, x) ^ arg2(c1, y) ^ claims(c2, y) ^
predicate(c2, professorAt) ^ arg1(c2, x) ^
arg2(c2, y) ^ AccreditedUniversity(y)
AcknowledgedUniversity(u) :- link-from(http://www.cs.umd.edu/university-list,u)
Notice this one
Rules on top of Semantic Web
(Metasemantics)

1
2
3
5
4
10
11 8
9
6
7
R T
S
P
M
Production
Rules
Temporal
Rules
Semantic
Rules
Semantic
Web
Metasemantics
State of a Semantic Net
) A , L , (A P ) A , L , (A P = S(t)
q n m t
0 = )
q
A ,
n
L ,
m
(A
t
P
q n, m,
j k i t
1 = )
j
A ,
k
L ,
i
(A
t
P
k j, i,
. .

.
. . ) A , L , P(A ) A , L , P(A = S(t)
2 2 1 2 1 1
) A , L , P(A ) A , L , P(A
3 4 2 2 3 2
.
A
1
A
A
2
3
L
1
L
L
L
2
3
4
P= P(A ,L ,A )
1 1 1 2
P = P(A ,L ,A )
2 1 2 2
P = P(A ,L ,A )
3 2 3 2
P = P(A ,L ,A )
4 2 4 3
4 3 2 1
P P P P = S(t) . . .
Production Rules
k i i
P THEN ) IF(S : R
k j j
P THEN ) IF(S : R
i k i
S P = S .
j k j
S P = S .
. P THEN )) P P (P P ( IF : R
2 4 3 1 2 1
. v .
A
1
A
A
2
3
L
1
L
L
3
4
A
1
A
A
2
3
L
1
L
L
L
2
3
4
,*)
i i
L P(*, = P
Production-Based Reasoning
Initial state
State after n
transformations
Set of Production
Rules
S(t
0
)
S(t
0
+n)
Example (not formalised rules)
1. Mary will love John if he loves her and if he is not abusing Pete.
2. Pete will consider Mary as his friend if she is not in love with John.
3. Pete will not consider Mary as his friend if she is in love with John who is
abusing him.
4. John will stop loving Mary if she does not love him or she is a friend of Pete.
5. Mary will stop loving John if he is abusing Pete.
6. John being in bad mood will abuse Pete.
7. John gets rid of bad mood if Mary loves him or if she is not a friend of Pete.
8. John will fall in a bad mood if he loves Mary and she does not love him or vice
versa.
9. John will stop abusing Pete if he (John) does not love Mary any more or if she
is not a friend of Pete.
Example (formalised rules)
R : IF (P P P ) THEN P
1 1 4 2 2
. . ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
2 2 3 3
. ;
R : IF (P P P ) THEN P
3 2 4 3 3
. . ;
R : IF ((P P ) P) THEN P
4 3 2 1 1
v .
;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
5 2 4 2
.
;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
6 5 4 4
.
;
R : IF ((P P ) P ) THEN P
7 2 3 5 5
v .
;
R : IF ((P P P P ) P ) THEN P
8 1 2 1 2 5 5
. v . .
;
R : IF ((P P ) P ) THEN P
9 1 3 4 4
v .
.
1. Mary will love John if he loves her and if he
is not abusing Pete.
2. Pete will consider Mary as his friend if she is
not in love with John.
3. Pete will not consider Mary as his friend if
she is in love with John who is abusing him.
4. John will stop loving Mary if she does not
love him or she is a friend of Pete.
5. Mary will stop loving John if he is abusing
Pete.
6. John being in bad mood will abuse Pete.
7. John gets rid of bad mood if Mary loves
him or if she is not a friend of Pete.
8. John will fall in a bad mood if he loves Mary
and she does not love him or vice versa.
9. John will stop abusing Pete if he (John) does
not love Mary any more or if she is not a friend
of Pete.
P
1
= P(A
1
, L
1
, A
2
) - John loves Mary;
P
2
= P(A
2
, L
1
, A
1
) - Mary loves John;
P
3
= P(A
3
, L
2
, A
2
) - Pete has a friend Mary;
P
4
= P(A
1
, L
3
, A
3
) - John is abusing Pete;
P
5
= P(A
1
, L
4
, A
1
) - John has a bad mood.
Example (reasoning, 1-st step)
John Mary
Pete
to love
to have a friend
5 4 3 2 1 0
P P P P P = ) S(t . . . .
R : IF (P P P ) THEN P
1 1 4 2 2
. . ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
2 2 3 3
. ;
R : IF (P P P ) THEN P
3 2 4 3 3
. . ;
R : IF ((P P ) P) THEN P
4 3 2 1 1
v . ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
5 2 4 2
. ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
6 5 4 4
.
;
R : IF ((P P ) P ) THEN P
7 2 3 5 5
v .
;
R : IF ((P P P P ) P ) THEN P
8 1 2 1 2 5 5
. v . .
;
R : IF ((P P ) P ) THEN P
9 1 3 4 4
v .
.
5 4 3 2 1 0
P P P P P = ) S(t . . . . +t
Example (reasoning, 2-nd step)
John Mary
Pete
to love
to have a friend
R : IF (P P P ) THEN P
1 1 4 2 2
. . ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
2 2 3 3
. ;
R : IF (P P P ) THEN P
3 2 4 3 3
. . ;
R : IF ((P P ) P) THEN P
4 3 2 1 1
v . ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
5 2 4 2
. ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
6 5 4 4
.
;
R : IF ((P P ) P ) THEN P
7 2 3 5 5
v .
;
R : IF ((P P P P ) P ) THEN P
8 1 2 1 2 5 5
. v . .
;
R : IF ((P P ) P ) THEN P
9 1 3 4 4
v .
.
5 4 3 2 1 0
P P P P P = ) S(t . . . . +t
5 4 3 2 1 0
P P P P P = ) S(t . . . . + t 2
to have a bad mood
Example (reasoning, 3-rd step)
John Mary
Pete
to love
to have a friend
R : IF (P P P ) THEN P
1 1 4 2 2
. . ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
2 2 3 3
. ;
R : IF (P P P ) THEN P
3 2 4 3 3
. . ;
R : IF ((P P ) P) THEN P
4 3 2 1 1
v . ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
5 2 4 2
. ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
6 5 4 4
.
;
R : IF ((P P ) P ) THEN P
7 2 3 5 5
v .
;
R : IF ((P P P P ) P ) THEN P
8 1 2 1 2 5 5
. v . .
;
R : IF ((P P ) P ) THEN P
9 1 3 4 4
v .
.
5 4 3 2 1 0
P P P P P = ) S(t . . . . + t 2
to abuse
5 4 3 2 1 0
P P P P P = ) S(t . . . . + t 3
Example (reasoning, 4-th step)
John Mary
Pete
R : IF (P P P ) THEN P
1 1 4 2 2
. . ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
2 2 3 3
. ;
R : IF (P P P ) THEN P
3 2 4 3 3
. . ;
R : IF ((P P ) P) THEN P
4 3 2 1 1
v . ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
5 2 4 2
. ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
6 5 4 4
.
;
R : IF ((P P ) P ) THEN P
7 2 3 5 5
v .
;
R : IF ((P P P P ) P ) THEN P
8 1 2 1 2 5 5
. v . .
;
R : IF ((P P ) P ) THEN P
9 1 3 4 4
v .
.
5 4 3 2 1 0
P P P P P = ) S(t . . . . + t 3
to have a bad mood
5 4 3 2 1 0
P P P P P = ) S(t . . . . + t 4
Example (reasoning, 5-th step)
John Mary
Pete
R : IF (P P P ) THEN P
1 1 4 2 2
. . ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
2 2 3 3
. ;
R : IF (P P P ) THEN P
3 2 4 3 3
. . ;
R : IF ((P P ) P) THEN P
4 3 2 1 1
v . ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
5 2 4 2
. ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
6 5 4 4
.
;
R : IF ((P P ) P ) THEN P
7 2 3 5 5
v .
;
R : IF ((P P P P ) P ) THEN P
8 1 2 1 2 5 5
. v . .
;
R : IF ((P P ) P ) THEN P
9 1 3 4 4
v .
.
5 4 3 2 1 0
P P P P P = ) S(t . . . . + t 4
5 4 3 2 1 0
P P P P P = ) S(t . . . . + t 5
to abuse
to have a friend
Example (reasoning, reaching terminal
state)
John Mary
Pete
R : IF (P P P ) THEN P
1 1 4 2 2
. . ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
2 2 3 3
. ;
R : IF (P P P ) THEN P
3 2 4 3 3
. . ;
R : IF ((P P ) P) THEN P
4 3 2 1 1
v . ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
5 2 4 2
. ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
6 5 4 4
.
;
R : IF ((P P ) P ) THEN P
7 2 3 5 5
v .
;
R : IF ((P P P P ) P ) THEN P
8 1 2 1 2 5 5
. v . .
;
R : IF ((P P ) P ) THEN P
9 1 3 4 4
v .
.
5 4 3 2 1 0
P P P P P = ) S(t . . . . + t 5
to have a friend
terminal state
Example (final terminal state)
1. John does not love Mary.
2. Mary does not love John.
3. Mary is a friend of Pete.
4. John is not abusing Pete.
5. John is not in a bad mood.
5 4 3 2 1 0
P P P P P = ) 5 S(t . . . . + t
Example (another initial and in the
same time terminal state)
1. John loves Mary.
2. Mary loves John.
3. Mary is not a friend of Pete.
4. John is not abusing Pete.
5. John is not in a bad mood.
5 4 3 2 1 0
P P P P P = ) S(t . . . .
John Mary
Pete
to love
to love
R : IF (P P P ) THEN P
1 1 4 2 2
. . ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
2 2 3 3
. ;
R : IF (P P P ) THEN P
3 2 4 3 3
. . ;
R : IF ((P P ) P) THEN P
4 3 2 1 1
v . ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
5 2 4 2
. ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
6 5 4 4
.
;
R : IF ((P P ) P ) THEN P
7 2 3 5 5
v .
;
R : IF ((P P P P ) P ) THEN P
8 1 2 1 2 5 5
. v . .
;
R : IF ((P P ) P ) THEN P
9 1 3 4 4
v .
.
terminal state
Example (two possible terminal
states of the love triangle)
John Mary
Pete
to love
to love
John
Mary
Pete
to have a friend
Example (asynchronous reasoning tree)
5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
R : IF (P P P ) THEN P
1 1 4 2 2
. . ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
2 2 3 3
. ;
R : IF (P P P ) THEN P
3 2 4 3 3
. . ;
R : IF ((P P ) P) THEN P
4 3 2 1 1
v . ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
5 2 4 2
. ;
R : IF (P P ) THEN P
6 5 4 4
. ;
R : IF ((P P ) P ) THEN P
7 2 3 5 5
v .
;
R : IF ((P P P P ) P ) THEN P
8 1 2 1 2 5 5
. v . .
;
R : IF ((P P ) P ) THEN P
9 1 3 4 4
v .
.
5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . . 5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
R
1

R
4

R
8

5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
R
4

R
1

5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
R
6

5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
R
4

5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
R
8

R
4

R
6

5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
R
4

5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
R
6

5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
R
9

5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
R
5

R
3

R
7

5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
R
5

R
9

R
7

R
3

5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
R
5

R
8

R
9

R
2

5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
R
7

5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
R
9

5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
R
6

R
7
R
5

R
8

R
9

R
9

5 4 3 2 1
P P P P P . . . .
R
9
R
2

R
2

R
6

R
7

R
9

R
2

R
8

Temporal Rules
Lifetime of a relation
Restoration time of a relation
Lifetime of a Relation
T
A
A
i j
L
k
Lifetime of relation L
k
, which means
that since appearance in the network
this relation is valid T units of time
Example (Initial state of the network)
1
4
2
4
3
A
2
L
2
L
3
L
4
L
5
L
1
L
6
A
1
A
3
t = t0
Example (Network evolution)
A
1
A
1
A
2
A
2
A
3
A
3
L
2
L
2
L
3
L
4
L
4
L
5
L
5
L
6
L
6
A
1
A
1
A
2
A
2
A
3
L
2
L
L
4
L
4
L
5
6

A
3
t = t0 + t = t0 + 2
t = t0 + 3
t = t0 + 4
Restoration Time of a Relation
A
i
A
j
L
k
T
~
Restoration (relaxation) time of
relation L
k
, which means that since
removal from the network this relation
will be restored and become valid again
after T units of time
~
Example
2
A
2
L
3
L
4
L
L
A
1
A
3
1
2
1
3
2
Example (Network evolution)
A
1
A
1
A
2
A
2
A
3
A
3
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Semantic Pendulum (Cyclic)
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Cyclic Pendulum Example
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t = t
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Semantic Rules in SWRL
Metasemantic Algebra of
Contexts

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Semantic Operations: Inversion
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A L A P A L A P
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A L A P A L A P
Semantic Operations: Negation
P(<Mary>, <to_love>, <Tom>) = false,
it is the same as:
P(<Mary>, <not_to_love>, <Tom>) = true.

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Semantic Operations: Composition
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j n k i j n s s k i
A L L A P A L A P A L A P .
If it is true: P(<Mary>, <has_husband>, <Tom>) and
P(<Tom>, <has_mother>, <Diana>),
then it is also true that:
P(<Mary>, <has_mother-in-law>, <Diana>).
Composition in Semantic Web
If it is true: P(<Mary>, <has_husband>, <Tom>) and
P(<Tom>, <has_mother>, <Diana>),
then it is also true that:
P(<Mary>, <has_mother-in-law>, <Diana>).
has_husband
has_mother
has_mother-in-law
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Semantic Operations: Integration
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j n k i j n i j k i
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<to_give_birth_to> +
<to_take_care_of> =
<to_be_mother_of>.
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Semantic Operations: Interpretation
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Interpretation in Semantic Web
(RDF Reification)
has_polytical_opponent
has_coalition_partner
V. Yuschenko
V. Yanukovich
Source: Ukrayinska Pravda
Source: Obozrevatel
agrees
agrees
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level th n of metacont. about knowl.
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Interpreting Knowledge in a Context
(multiple reification)

Interpretation
(Decontextualization)
Suppose that your colleague, whose context you
know well, has described you a situation. You use
knowledge about context of this person to interpret
the real situation. Example is more complicated if
several persons describe you the same situation. In
this case, the context of the situation is the semantic
sum over all personal contexts.
) knowledge d interprete ( knowledge received
context about knowledge
x
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> <
Content Forecasting
Suppose that you observe some situation and know exactly
what happened. Than you can guess by which way this
situation will be described to you by other persons whose
context you know well.
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knowledge true
context about knowledge
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Context Recognition
> =< > < knowledge d interprete knowledge
x
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Suppose that someone sends you a message describing the
situation that you know well. You compare your own
knowledge with the knowledge you received. Usually you
can derive your opinion about the sender of this letter.
Knowledge about the source of the message, you derived,
can be considered as certain context in which real situation
has been interpreted and this can help you to recognize a
source or at least his motivation to change the reality.
| |
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alization decontextu ) ( ) (
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Lifting (Relative Decontextualization)
This means deriving knowledge interpreted in
some context if it is known how this
knowledge was interpreted in another context.
Six Challenges for the Semantic Web
Richard Benjamins, Jesus Contreras,
Oscar Corcho, Asuncion Gomez-Perez

April 2002
Currently, there is little Semantic Web content
available. There is a need need to create a set of
annotation services (middleware) concerning static
and dynamic web documents, which may include
multimedia, and web services.
Challenge 1: Availability of Content
Constructing of kernel ontologies to be used by all
the domains.

Managing evolution of ontologies and their relation
to already annotated data.
Challenge 2: Ontology Availability,
Development and Evolution
Once we have the Semantic Web content, we need
to worry about how to manage it in a scalable
manner, that is, how to organize it, where to store it
and how to find the right content.
Challenge 3: Scalability of Semantic
Web Content
Multilinguality plays an increasing role at the level of
ontologies, of annotations and of user interface.
Challenge 4: Multilinguality
With the increasing amount of information overload,
intuitive visualization of content will become more
and more important.
Challenge 5: Visualization
WWW consortium is producing
recommendations on the languages and
technology that will be used in Semantic Web
area.

In order to advance the state of the art in the
Semantic Web, it is important that such
standards appear fast and will be adopted by the
community.
Challenge 6: Semantic Web
Language Standardization
Summary
The semantic web is based on machine-
processable semantics of data.
Its backbone technology are Ontologies.
It is based on new web languages such as
XML, RDF, and OWL, and tools that make
use of these languages.
Conclusion
Semantic Web is not only a technology as many
used to name it;
Semantic Web is not only an environment as
many naming it now;
Semantic Web it is a new context within which
one should rethink and re-interpret his existing
businesses, resources, services, technologies,
processes, environments, products etc. to raise
them to totally new level of performance
Ask not what the Semantic
Web Can do for you, ask what
you can do for the Semantic
Web
Hans-Georg Stork, European Union
http://lsdis.cs.uga.edu/SemNSF