About
Knowledge Web was a Network of Excellence aimed at transitioning Ontology technology from academia to industry. The consortium included 18 participants, with key partners in Semantic Web, Multimedia, Human Language Technology, Workflow, and Agents. The project focused on promoting the adoption of this technology in industry, alongside education and research to ensure long-term impact. It ran from 2004 to 2007 and was funded by the European Union Information Society initiative under Framework VI grant no. FP6-507482.
KMi’s role in the project was to showcase how Semantic Web technologies could support web-based learning. This work built on existing KMi technologies like Magpie, ScholOnto, and BuddySpace, as well as their experience with climateprediction.net. Additionally, KMi led the Network’s educational efforts, with Prof. Enrico Motta directing the European Summer School on Ontological Engineering and the Semantic Web (SSSW). Magpie, developed by KMi, was a Semantic Web filter integrated into web browsers, helping users find and explore relevant information.
Objectives
The Knowledge Web project aimed to strengthen European industry and service providers in the field of Semantic Web-enabled e-work and e-commerce. Its efforts focused on promoting the outreach of this technology to industry, alongside education and research to ensure long-lasting impact and support for the industry.
The project had three main objectives: outreach to industry, outreach to education, and coordination of research. KMi was heavily involved in outreach to education, working to establish a Virtual Institute for Semantic Web Education (VISWE) as the primary hub for educational activities on the Semantic Web. This initiative aimed to create updated learning materials, curricula, and degree programs, using Semantic Web technologies alongside traditional e-learning environments.
Semantic Tools
The success of the internet had radically transformed the way people worked, studied, shopped, and communicated. The next generation of the web, which was under development, promised to perform many more tasks for users through intelligent software capable of interpreting meaning to better understand their needs. For example, future search engines would not just search for keywords but would also interpret the meaning of users’ queries using a new generation of ‘semantic mark-up’ language developed by researchers worldwide. This advancement also made it possible to create ‘smart agents’ that could collaborate on users’ behalf.
Magpie, or the Advanced Semantic Platform for Learning (ASPL), was an experimental Semantic Web ‘filter’ developed in KMi. It functioned as a streamlined toolbar within web browsers, assisting users in finding and elaborating on topics of interest. While it was particularly relevant to climateprediction.net, Magpie had broader applicability. It automatically highlighted key items of interest on web pages and provided a set of ‘services’—such as explanations and additional links—when users right-clicked on highlighted terms.
To evaluate the Magpie/ASPL demonstrator, users were encouraged to download the software and complete an evaluation questionnaire, alongside utilising the ASPL Readme file that summarized the key aspects of using ASPL.
Partners
Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy
Learning Lab Lower Saxony (L3S), German
The Open University, UK
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain
University of Karlsruhe, Germany
University of Sheffield, USFD, UK
University of Trento, Italy
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Publications
Dzbor, M., Motta, E. and Domingue, J. (2007) Magpie: Experiences in supporting Semantic Web browsing, Journal of Web Semantics: Science, Services and Agents on the World Wide Web, 5, 3, pp. 204-222, Elsevier B.V.
Dzbor, M. and Motta, E. (2007) Semantic Web Technology to Support Learning about the Semantic Web, 13th Intl. Conf. on Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED), Marina del Rey, Los Angeles, California, eds. R. Luckin, K.R. Koedinger and J. Greer, pp. 25-32, IOS Press.
Dzbor, M., Stutt, A., Motta, E. and Collins, T. (2007) Representations for semantic learning webs: Semantic Web technology in learning support, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 23, 1, pp. 69-82, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., UK.
Dzbor, M. and Motta, E. (2006) Study on Integrating Semantic Applications with Magpie, 12th Conference on AI Methodology, Systems & Applications (AIMSA), Varna, Bulgaria, eds. Jerome Euzenat and John Domingue, pp. 66-76, Springer Verlag.
