The Semantic Web Cannot Exist Until Enterprises Adopt Semantic Search by:Jeremy Bentley

Contrary to what many believe - that the semantic web is already here - a truly semantic

World Wide Web is unobtainable until it is semantic search is adopted inside the enterprise. Enterprises get value from semantic search - it cuts costs, saves administration, and reduces risk from inaccurate information. They are the early adopters of semantic search and it is only their adoption, and extension to their public-facing information that will ultimately lead to a semantic web.

Web 2.0 is mainly about the idea of social collaboration between groups. Common interests groups contribute to the information and the meaning around particular subjects. If someone went to Facebook, for example, and searched for me, they would quickly start to build up an understanding of who I am. The collaborative input of my friends, network, my likes and dislikes all help to provide social meaning about me - but only if read by another human. Web 3.0, aka the 'semantic web' takes this a step further by offering the promise of making the meaning of all information understandable by computer.

To give this kind of semantic meaning to the World Wide Web - to create a semantic web - every single subject, every topic, needs some kind of common structure around it to enable computers, rather than people, to understand the subject. That's a Herculean task, and to date there is very little economic drive behind getting all the creators of websites together to decide how to semantically tag and build every website.

Not so in the enterprise search environment. Businesses are big on sharing information, providing a better service, and most importantly, saving money wherever possible. There is an economic imperative behind investing in semantic search when it reduces the time it takes employees to find the correct information.

Various organisations are starting to extend their semantic search investment towards their public facing information, such as public health bodies and media companies, especially in areas where they have a duty to provide comprehensive, precise information to a diverse audience.

As more companies adopt that approach and make that semantically endowed information available on the web, over time we'll see an increasing number of semantically powered websites, but the 'semantic web' won't exist until all organisations adopt this approach.

About the author

Jeremy Bentley is the CEO of Smartlogic, the UK-based creators of Semaphore, a semantic platform that adds advanced semantic search capabilities to enterprise search and information management systems.

Adopting a semantic approach to information management delivers findability, improves the accuracy and efficacy of applying metadata to information and enables content integration across disparate sources.

- Media companies use Semaphore to improve the quality of their information feeds

- Government authorities use Semaphore to tag information according to their standards

- Investment banks use Semaphore to consolidate their information costs

- Online directories use Semaphore to increase their advertising revenues

- Intranets and websites use Semaphore to boost their use

- Knowledge managers use Semaphore to manage their taxonomies and ontologies

Clients include NASA, The National Health Service, ABN Amro, Bank of America and The Office of Public Sector Information.

Contact Jeremy Bentley: Jeremy.bentley@smartlogic.com

Copyright 2010 Smartlogic

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