The Semantic Web

With the current changes driven by the expansion of the World Wide Web, this book uses a different approach from other books on the market: it applies ontologies to electronically available information to improve the quality of knowledge management in large and distributed organizations. Ontologies are formal theories supporting knowledge sharing and reuse. They can be used to explicitly represent semantics of semi-structured information. These enable sophisticated automatic support for acquiring, maintaining and accessing information. Methodology and tools are developed for intelligent access to large volumes of semi-structured and textual information sources in intra- and extra-, and internet-based environments to employ the full power of ontologies in supporting knowledge management from the information client perspective and the information provider. The aim of the book is to support efficient and effective knowledge management and focuses on weakly-structured online information sources. It is aimed primarily at researchers in the area of knowledge management and information retrieval and will also be a useful reference for students in computer science at the postgraduate level and for business managers who are aiming to increase the corporations' information infrastructure. The Semantic Web is a very important initiative affecting the future of the WWW that is currently generating huge interest. The book covers several highly significant contributions to the semantic web research effort, including a new language for defining ontologies, several novel software tools and a coherent methodology for the application of the tools for business advantage. It also provides 3 case studies which give examples of the real benefits to be derived from the adoption of semantic-web based ontologies in «real world» situations. As such, the book is an excellent mixture of theory, tools and applications in an important area of WWW research. * Provides guidelines for introducing knowledge management concepts and tools into enterprises, to help knowledge providers present their knowledge efficiently and effectively. * Introduces an intelligent search tool that supports users in accessing information and a tool environment for maintenance, conversion and acquisition of information sources. * Discusses three large case studies which will help to develop the technology according to the actual needs of large and or virtual organisations and will provide a testbed for evaluating tools and methods. The book is aimed at people with at least a good understanding of existing WWW technology and some level of technical understanding of the underpinning technologies (XML/RDF). It will be of interest to graduate students, academic and industrial researchers in the field, and the many industrial personnel who are tracking WWW technology developments in order to understand the business implications. It could also be used to support undergraduate courses in the area but is not itself an introductory text.

The Semantic Web combines the descriptive languages RDF (Resource Description Framework) and OWL (Web Ontology Language), with the data-centric, customizable XML (eXtensible Mark-up Language) to provide descriptions of the content of Web documents. These machine-interpretable descriptions allow more intelligent software systems to be written, automating the analysis and exploitation of web-based information. Software agents will be able to create automatically new services from already published services, with potentially huge implications for models of e-Business. Semantic Web Technologies provides a comprehensive overview of key semantic knowledge technologies and research. The authors explain (semi-)automatic ontology generation and metadata extraction in depth, along with ontology management and mediation. Further chapters examine how Semantic Web technology is being applied in knowledge management (“Semantic Information Access”) and in the next generation of Web services. Semantic Web Technologies: Provides a comprehensive exposition of the state-of-the art in Semantic Web research and key technologies. Explains the use of ontologies and metadata to achieve machine-interpretability. Describes methods for ontology learning and metadata generation. Discusses ontology management and evolution, covering ontology change detection and propagation, ontology dependency and mediation. Illustrates the theoretical concepts with three case studies on industrial applications in digital libraries, the legal sector and the telecommunication industry. Graduate and advanced undergraduate students, academic and industrial researchers in the field will all find Semantic Web Technologies an essential guide to the technologies of the Semantic Web.

The emerging idea of the semantic web is based on the maximum automation of the complete knowledge lifecycle processes: knowledge representation, acquisition, adaptation, reasoning, sharing and use. Text-based based browsers involve a costly information-retrieval process: descriptions are inherently subjective and usage is often confined to the specific application domain for which the descriptions were created. Automatic extracted audiovisual features are, in general, more objective, domain-independent and can be native to the audiovisual content. This book seeks to draw together in one concise volume the findings of leading researchers from around the globe. The focus, in particular, is on the MPEG-7 and MPEG-21 standards that seek to consolidate and render effective the infrastructure for the delivery and management of multimedia content. Provides thorough coverage of all relevant topics, including structure identification in audiovisual documents, object-based video indexing, multimedia indexing and retrieval using natural language, speech and image processing methods Contains detailed advice on ontology representation and querying for realizing semantics-driven applications Includes cutting-edge information on multimedia content description in MPEG-7 and MPEG-21 Illustrates all theory with real-world case studies gleaned from state-of-the-art worldwide research. The contributors are pioneers in the fields of multimedia analysis and knowledge technologies This unified, comprehensive up-to-date resource will appeal to integrators, systems suppliers, managers and consultants in the area of knowledge management and information retrieval; particularly those concerned with the automation of the semantic web. The detailed, theory-based practical advice is also essential reading for postgraduates and researchers in these fields.

The next enterprise computing era will rely on the synergy between both technologies: semantic web and model-driven software development (MDSD). The semantic web organizes system knowledge in conceptual domains according to its meaning. It addresses various enterprise computing needs by identifying, abstracting and rationalizing commonalities, and checking for inconsistencies across system specifications. On the other side, model-driven software development is closing the gap among business requirements, designs and executables by using domain-specific languages with custom-built syntax and semantics. It focuses on using modeling languages as programming languages. Among many areas of application, we highlight the area of configuration management. Consider the example of a telecommunication company, where managing the multiple configurations of network devices (routers, hubs, modems, etc.) is crucial. Enterprise systems identify and document the functional and physical characteristics of network devices, and control changes to those characteristics. Applying the integration of semantic web and model-driven software development allows for (1) explicitly specifying configurations of network devices with tailor-made languages, (2) for checking the consistency of these specifications (3) for defining a vocabulary to share device specifications across enterprise systems. By managing configurations with consistent and explicit concepts, we reduce cost and risk, and enhance agility in response to new requirements in the telecommunication area. This book examines the synergy between semantic web and model-driven software development. It brings together advances from disciplines like ontologies, description logics, domain-specific modeling, model transformation and ontology engineering to take enterprise computing to the next level.

Presents the state of the technology and points to future directions for semantic computing Semantic computing, a rapidly evolving interdisciplinary field, seeks to structure, design, and manipulate computer content to better satisfy the needs and intentions of users and create a more meaningful user experience. This remarkable contributed work examines the art, engineering, technology, and applications of the field. Moreover, it brings together researchers from such disciplines as natural language processing, software engineering, multimedia semantics, semantic Web, signal processing, and pattern recognition in order to provide a single source that presents the state of the technology and points to new breakthroughs on the horizon. Semantic Computing begins with an introduction that explores the concepts, technology, applications, and future of semantic computing. Next, the book is divided into four parts: Part One: Semantic Analysis Part Two: Semantic Languages and Integration Part Three: Semantic Applications Part Four: Semantic Programming and Interface As readers progress through the book, they'll learn not only the underlying science, but also the fundamental technological building blocks of semantic computing. Moreover, they'll discover a variety of cross-disciplinary solutions to current computing and communication problems. Throughout the book, references to the primary literature enable further investigation of each individual topic. Semantic Computing is ideal for industrial managers, researchers, and engineers seeking to design the next generation of computing systems in order to better meet user needs. It is also recommended as a textbook for senior undergraduate and graduate-level semantic computing courses.

Introducing a new and ambitious position in the field, Kit Fine’s Semantic Relationism is a major contribution to the philosophy of language. Written by one of today’s most respected philosophers Argues for a fundamentally new approach to the study of representation in language and thought Proposes that there may be representational relationships between expressions or elements of thought that are not grounded in the intrinsic representational features of the expressions or elements themselves Forms part of the prestigious new Blackwell/Brown Lectures in Philosophy series, based on an ongoing series of lectures by today’s leading philosophers

This book introduces the reader to methods of data mining on the web, including uncovering patterns in web content (classification, clustering, language processing), structure (graphs, hubs, metrics), and usage (modeling, sequence analysis, performance).

The new digital media offers us an unprecedented memory capacity, an ubiquitous communication channel and a growing computing power. How can we exploit this medium to augment our personal and social cognitive processes at the service of human development? Combining a deep knowledge of humanities and social sciences as well as a real familiarity with computer science issues, this book explains the collaborative construction of a global hypercortex coordinated by a computable metalanguage. By recognizing fully the symbolic and social nature of human cognition, we could transform our current opaque global brain into a reflexive collective intelligence.

Giving a sound technical introduction to 3GPP LTE and SAE, this book explains the decisions taken during standardization while also examining the likely competition for LTE such as HSPA+ and WiMAX. As well as looking at next generation network technologies, Beyond 3G – Bringing Networks, Terminals and the Web Together describes the latest mobile device developments, voice and multimedia services and the mobile web 2.0. It considers not only how the systems, devices and software work but also the reasons behind why they are designed in this particular way. How these elements strongly influence each other is discussed as well as how network capabilities, available bandwidth, mobile device capabilities and new application concepts will shape the way we communicate in the future. This book gives an end to end introduction to wireless, from mobile software architecture to core networks, making it a valuable resource for anyone working in the industry. Examines current and next-generation network technologies such as UMTS, HSPA+, WiMAX, LTE and Wifi Analyses and explains performance and capacity in practice as well as future capacity requirements and how they can be fulfilled Introduces the reader to the current cellular telephony architecture and to voice over IP architectures such as SIP, IMS and TISPAN Looks at mobile device hardware and mobile operating system evolution Encompasses all major global wireless standards for application development and the latest state of the mobile web 2.0