Ontologies and Applications

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Ontologies and Applications

• Martin Hepp
• Semantics in Business Information Systems Group

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Ontologies Component Team

• Head of Team
• Martin Hepp
• Researchers
• Katharina Siorpaes
• Francois Scharffe
• Junior Researchers
• Junior Researchers
• Andreas Radinger
• Andreas Wechselberger
• Alexander Gamper
• Doris Silbernagl
• Andreas Klotz
• Michael Waltl
• Werner Huber

• Meetings
• Mostly on demand and virtual

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Computer Systems, Models, and the Real World
Algorithm
Abstractionfor P1
Abstraction for P2
Model
Real World
Space of Possible Transformations
Phenomenon P1
Phenomenon P2
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The Root of Interoperability ProblemsWeak Ties
between Reality and Abstractions of Reality
Weak, informal treaty
Treaty not accessible to computers

• Model of Reality
• Data
• Processes

Reality

• Symptoms
• We can hardly validate whether a given ER model
  is correct
• We face difficulties making sure that the
  customization of SAP myERP matches the
  business needs of a given enterprise

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Semantic Web A very simple ontology
Corporation http//myont/corporation Business
http//myont/business Each instance of
Corporation be also an instance of
Business. Siemens http//companies.org/Siem
ens Siemens is an instance of Corporation.
Group consensus about this representation
Languages RDF-S, OWL, WSML, CycL, ...
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Six Effects of Ontologies
Using Philosophical Notions as Guidance for
Identifying Stable, Reusable Conceptual Elements
Excluding Unwanted Interpretations by Means of
Formal Semantics
Unique Identifiers for Conceptual Elements
Inferring Implicit Facts Automatically
Spotting Logical Inconsistencies
Excluding Unwanted Interpretations by Means of
Informal Semantics
From Martin Hepp Ontologies State of the Art,
Business Potential, and Grand Challenges, in
Martin Hepp, Pieter De Leenheer, Aldo de Moor,
York Sure. (Eds.) Ontology Management Semantic
Web, Semantic Web Services, and Business
Applications, ISBN 978-0-387-69899-1, Springer,
2007, pp. 3-22.
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Real-world Ontologies for E-Commerce

• OWL, WSML, SKOS variants of
• eClass
• UNSPSC

http//www.heppnetz.de/projects/eclassowl/
http//www.heppnetz.de/projects/eclass-skos/
http//www.heppnetz.de/projects/eclasswsml/
http//www.heppnetz.de/projects/unspscowl/
http//www.heppnetz.de/projects/unspscskos/
http//www.heppnetz.de/projects/unspscwsml/
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GoodRelations

• An ontology for linking product descriptions and
  business entities on the Web

http//www.heppnetz.de/projects/goodrelations/
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OntoNaviERP

• Using ontologies for improved navigation in SAP
  documentation

http//www.heppnetz.de/projects/ontonavi/
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SKOS2GenTax

• Online tool for deriving OWL ontologies from SKOS
  categorization schemas

http//www.heppnetz.de/projects/skos2gentax/
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OntoGame

• A pre-requisite for the Semantic Web to become a
  reality is the availability of annotated data.
• Tasks, that are difficult to do for a computer,
  but doable (not necessarily easy) for a human
• Ontology construction and maintenance
• Annotation of content
• Alignment of ontologies

http//www.ontogame.org
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OntoGame

• Building the Semantic Web is not a one-time task,
  but a continuous challenge.
• ? The work will never be done.

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OntoGame
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OntoGame
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Thank you!

• Martin Hepp
• Semantics in Business Information Systems Group