Semantic Technology Solutions For Gov 2 0 Citizen-Friendly Recovery.Gov and Data.Gov With Transparency, Openness, and Collaboration

Semantic Technology Solutions for Gov 2.0:
Citizen-Friendly Recovery.gov and Data.gov with
Transparency, Openness & Collaboration
Mills Davis, Project10X
May 13, 2009
7:00-7:45 pm
Washington Semantic Meet-up
George Mason University

Semantic Technology Solutions for Gov 2.0 | Introduction 2

Mills Davis
Mills Davis is founder and managing director of
Project10X — a Washington, DC based research
consultancy specializing in next wave semantic
technologies, solutions, and business models. The ﬁrmʼs
clients include technology manufacturers, global 2000
corporations, government agencies, and web 3.0 start-
ups. Mills serves as principal investigator for the
Semantic Wave research program. A noted consultant
and industry analyst, he has authored more than 100
reports, whitepapers, articles, and industry studies.
Mills is active in both government and industry-wide
technology initiatives that are advancing semantic
mdavis@project10x.com technologies. He co-chairs the Federal Semantic
1-202-667-6400 Interoperability Community of Practice (SICoP). Mills is a
founding member of the AIIM interoperable enterprise
content management (iECM) working group, and a
founding member of the National Center for Ontology
Research (NCOR). Also, he serves on the advisory
board of several new ventures in the semantic space.


Semantic Wave Research
NEW


Topics
Where are semantic technologies and the next internet taking us?

What is the Obama administration’s directive for transparency, openness,
and collaboration?

How can we exploit cloud computing, web 2.0, and web 3.0 semantic
technologies to build citizen-friendly recovery.gov and data.gov?

Demo: Using Cambridge Semantics’ Anzio in support of recovery.gov

Call to action: demonstrate citizen-friendly semantic solutions for
recovery.gov and data.gov, with transparency, openness & collaboration!

Where are web 3.0, semantic technologies,
and the next internet taking us?

• What is the evolution of the • What key ideas motivate
internet to 2020? Web 2.0 services?
• What are characteristics of the • What is Web 3.0?
next internet?
• What are semantic technologies?
• What technologies are shaping • What is the value space of
the next internet? semantic technologies?
• What is cloud computing? • How do semantic technologies
• What is Web 2.0? tap new value?
• What are representative • What is Web 4.0?
elements of Web 2.0?
• What is ubiquitous mobility?

Semantic Technology Solutions for Gov 2.0 | Where are web 3.0, semantic technologies, and the next internet tacking us? 6

What is the evolution of the internet to 2020?
A tidal wave of four internet growth stages.

The chart to the right depicts four stages
of internet growth.
Web 1.0, was about connecting
information and getting on the net.
Web 2.0 is about connecting people —
putting the “I” in user interface, and the
“we” into webs of social participation.
Web 3.0 is starting now. It’s about
representing meanings, connecting
knowledge, and putting these to work in
ways that make our experience of internet
more relevant, useful, and enjoyable.
Web 4.0 will come later. It is about
connecting intelligences in a ubiquitous
web where both people and things
reason and communicate together.
Over the next decade, semantic
technologies will spawn multi-billion dollar
technology markets that will drive trillion
dollar global economic expansions to
transform industries as well as our
experience of the internet.


What are characteristics of the next internet?
Internet of services, things, and 3D interactivity.
Virtualized infrastructure & everything as a service.


What technologies are shaping the next internet?
Cloud computing, Web 2.0, and Web 3.0 semantic technologies.

From analog media, to digital data, to social media,
to concept-based networked knowledge computation.


What is cloud computing?
Scalable, on-demand, click-and-run, pay-by-the-drink
resources and services provisioned over the internet.


What is Web 2.0?
A web of participation.

Web 2.0 is the social web that connects people. It is a web
of participation. Putting the “I” in UI. And the “we” in web.
Users consume & create. Sites are interactive, for example:
blogs–keep a web-diary; Wikipedia — free encyclopedia,
anyone edits; Del.icio.us — social bookmarking; mySpace,
Facebook & openBC – cultivate social relations; Flickr
— share photos; and YouTube–broadcast yourself.
According to Tim OʼReilly, several principles distinguish
web 2.0, for example:
(1) the web as platform
(2) harnessing collective intelligence
(3) data is the next Intel inside
(4) end of the software release cycle
(5) lightweight programming models
(6) software above the level of a single device, and
(7) rich user experiences.
In addition Web 2.0 approaches embrace: remixing data
and services; relation-orientation; the long tail; and bi-
directional interaction. Web 2.0 social computing has both
consumer and enterprise impacts.

Source: EbOY


What are representative elements of Web 2.0?
User experience, rich media, social computing, and collaboration.
User Experience Rich Media


What key ideas motivate web 2.0 services?
Web-as-platform. Provide a sandbox. Data and users are king.


What is Web 3.0?
A web of meanings and connected knowledge.

Web 3.0 is the third stage of internet evolution that is
starting now. It is a web of meanings. It connects
knowledge. It represents meanings and knowledge about
things so both computers and people can work with them. It
adds new levels of intelligence to the user interface, social
collaboration, applications, and the infrastructure of the
web.
Web 3.0 is not about re-inventing the internet; itʼs about
making the internet more useful, and our experience of it
better. Web 3.0 makes the internet more connected, open,
and intelligent. Users are served by systems that present
personalized information, are context-aware, can link and
share information in relevant ways, connect with relevant
people, better organize the digital life, combine and
integrate processes, arrange dates and tasks, give
meaningful answers instead of data in bulk.
Semantic technologies tap new value by modeling
knowledge, adding intelligence, and enabling learning.
Web 3.0 gives us architectures of learning and knowing over and above
architectures of social participation and “perpetual beta” that emerged
during web 2.0. Web 3.0 systems will gain new knowledge and get better
with use and with scale of adoption.
Source: Mills Davis, Project10X


What are semantic technologies?
Semantic technologies are tools and methods that represent
knowledge separately from documents, data, and program code.

• All programming methods represent knowledge some way in order to
compute using it.
• Knowledge structures that represent meanings, associations, theories,
and know-how about the uses of things are called ontologies.
• Fixed ontologies are relatively static. A general ledger is an example.
Dynamic ontologies have evolving requirements. Linking and making
sense of diverse information sources across the web, and presenting
results multiple ways in differing contexts is an example.
• Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 technologies both can process ﬁxed ontologies that
describe resources, services, information, and computing infrastructure.
Semantic technologies are required when solutions involve knowledge
structures that are changing and dynamic. Use the right tool for the job.
• Recovery.gov and data.gov require both Web 2.0 and Web 3.0
semantic technology approaches.


What is the value space of semantic technologies?
Four dimensions that matter include: capability, performance,
user experience, and life cycle economics.

The value space of semantic technologies has four
dimensions or axes: capability, performance, user Capability
experience, and life cycle economics.
Capabilities — Semantic technologies and solution
patterns tap new value by modeling knowledge, adding
intelligence, and enabling learning. User
Experience Performance
User experience — Adding intelligence to the UI
increases relevance, helpfulness, utility, and pleasure as
experienced by the user: both individually and as groups.
Performance — Semantic solutions drive gains in Life Cycle
efﬁciency and effectiveness, and provide strategic edge. Economics
Life cycle economics — Semantic solutions improve
the ratio of beneﬁts to cost and risk over the life of the
investment: development, operations, and evolution.


How do semantic technologies tap new value?
By modeling knowledge, adding intelligence, and enabling learning.

2007, 2008 Copyright MILLS•DAVIS. All rights reserved


Does semantic computing at web scale in the cloud
apply to more than government?
Absolutely.
blackbook2

Source: BlackBook2, Scott Streit Source: LarKC


What is the path from search to knowing?
More expressive knowledge representation enables more powerful
reasoning: from recovery, to discovery, to intelligence, to question
answering, to smart behaviors.


What is next generation semantic collaboration?
Combining wikis, semantic content tools, semantic search,
ontology-driven applications, and intelligent user interfaces.

MediaWiki Semantic SMW+ Future
MediaWiki Semantic Semantic
MediaWiki+ Wikis

Wikipedia Dbpedia Desktop import Natural language
Read/Write Linked Data Ontology mgmt Transemiotics
Semantic search Machine learning
Semantic apps Multi-agent apps


What are next generation STM semantic applications?
Ontology-driven, active, immersive, adaptive, dynamic, and smarter.


What is Web 4.0?
A web of connected intelligences.

Web 4.0 is the ubiquitous web. Everything is connected. Everything
has some intelligence, memory, a lifecycle, and agency. It is a web
of semantic agents. Both people and things contribute to co-
evolving social dialog.

The emerging pervasive/ubiquitous computing landscape is a
network of connected “things,” agents, and services with invisible
processors, lightweight, small, cheap, low/no power in almost all
everyday objects, wirelessly interconnected, continuously "online.”
Seamless services across all contexts.

This is a post-PC, post-IP era. Object-orientation and stack
architectures get jettisoned as “trainer wheels.” Interaction,
coordination, security, and integrity cannot be organized centrally.
The most granular societal artifacts have skills for orientation,
planning, scheduling, and acting. Intellectual property is autonomic.
Whether we are speaking of a content paragraph, picture, a model,
a software service, a sensor, a product or other physical entity — all
are self-organizing, context-aware, self-describing, self-conﬁguring,
autonomic, pervasively adaptive, and communicating
autonomously.


What is ubiquitous mobility?
Easy to create, self-describing, context-aware services.
The intelligent physical world communicates with us.
The focus of mobile services to
present has been to listen,
watch, command, surf, play,
and record your life with a box.
The future of mobility is
sensing, communications and
computing where physical and
digital worlds fuse. The
intelligent physical world
communicates with us. We
have wearable personal
trusted devices that augment
human senses and enhance
human capabilities.
Behind the scenes there is
seamless access to
(intelligent) services, wherever,
whenever. Also, weʼll have
robust, feature-rich web
servers on mobile phones,
accessible by anyone, with any
browser, from anywhere.

What is the Obama administrationʼs directive for
transparency, openness & collaboration in government?
The Obama administration is committed to society, and public officials benefit from having
creating an unprecedented level of openness in access to that dispersed knowledge. Executive
Government to strengthen our democracy and departments and agencies should offer
promote its efficiency and effectiveness. Americans increased opportunities to participate
in policy-making and to provide their
• Government should be transparent. Government with the benefits of their collective
Transparency promotes accountability and expertise and information. Executive
provides information for citizens about what departments and agencies should also solicit
their Government is doing. Information public input on how we can increase and
maintained by the Federal Government is a improve opportunities for public participation in
national asset. My Administration will take
Government.
appropriate action, consistent with law and
policy, to disclose information rapidly in forms • Government should be collaborative.
that the public can readily find and use. Collaboration actively engages Americans in the
Executive departments and agencies should work of their Government. Executive
harness new technologies to put information departments and agencies should use
about their operations and decisions online and innovative tools, methods, and systems to
readily available to the public. Executive cooperate among themselves, across all levels
departments and agencies should also solicit of Government, and with nonprofit
public feedback to identify information of organizations, businesses, and individuals in the
greatest use to the public. private sector. Executive departments and
agencies should solicit public feedback to
• Government should be participatory. assess and improve their level of collaboration
Public engagement enhances the Government's and to identify new opportunities for
effectiveness and improves the quality of its cooperation.
decisions. Knowledge is widely dispersed in
Source: White House Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, January 29, 2009

Semantic Technology Solutions for Gov 2.0 | What is the Obama administrationʼs directive for transparent open government? 25

What is digital age democracy?
A new era of connected governance.

Source: Don Tapscott


Whatʼs different about connected governance?
New models and ecosystems for engagement, interaction,
decision-making, and service delivery.

4 Policy-Making,
Governance,
Transparency &
Management

1 2 3
Connection, Collaboration, Communication,
Engagement & Innovation & Interaction &
Resourcing Problem-Solving Service Delivery

5
Next Internet,
Web 2.0/3.0 Semantic Web
& Cloud Computing


What are some principles of open government data?
Itʼs open if itʼs complete, primary, timely, accessible, machine
processable, non-discriminatory, non-proprietary, and license-free.

1. Complete — All public data is made 5. Machine processable — Data is
available. Public data is data that is not reasonably structured to allow automated
subject to valid privacy, security or privilege processing.
limitations. 6. Non-discriminatory — Data is available
2. Primary — Data is as collected at the to anyone, with no requirement of
source, with the highest possible level of registration.
granularity, not in aggregate or modiﬁed 7. Non-proprietary — Data is available in a
forms. format over which no entity has exclusive
3. Timely — Data is made available as control.
quickly as necessary to preserve the value 8. License-free — Data is not subject to any
of the data. copyright, patent, trademark or trade secret
4. Accessible — Data is available to the regulation. Reasonable privacy, security
widest range of users for the widest range and privilege restrictions may be allowed.
of purposes.

Source: Resource.org

How can we exploit cloud computing, Web 2.0, and
Web 3.0 semantic technologies to build citizen-friendly
recovery.gov and data.gov?

• What do we mean by citizen-friendly?
• What sort of computing environment will deliver citizen-friendly
• How do we combine Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 semantic technologies?
• Who is partnering to build demonstrations?

Semantic Technology Solutions for Gov 2.0 | How do we build citizen-friendly recovery.gov and data.gov? 29

What do we mean by “citizen-friendly”?
Recovery.gov & data.gov provide timely, simple, open access to
relevant information that citizens can easily consume, contribute to,
and mash-up with other data sources.

Consumer
Search, Read Content Explore, Write
Navigate, (Wiki) Download Comments
Discover “Apps” (Wiki)

Contributor
Citizen
Content
Fabric Visualization “Apps
(Wiki)

Analysis,
Data Mash-ups


What sort of semantic computing environment will
deliver citizen-friendly recovery.gov and data.gov?
A RESTful, combination of cloud, Web 2 and Web 3 technologies.
Use the right tools for the job.

Citizen Tools & Services Recovery.gov
Semantic Computing Environment

• Desktop tools (e.g. Excel)

Evoling Semantic Fabric
Consumer

• Wiki read, write, upload,
Cloud, Web 2, Web 3

Linking Data Sources
versioning, web services Data.gov
• Fabric tools expose, edit:
– data semantics, access,
provenance
– process semantics of
services, tools & apps Public Data
– External K-models
• Semantic search, query,
navigation, discovery, etc.
Contributor

• Semantic tools to:
– filter, merge, extract, Private Data
– mash-up w/other data
– visualize using lenses
• Package & publish “apps”
Media &
– discover, use download
– rights, e-commerce Social Media


How do we combine the Web 2.0 and Web 3.0?
Separate the semantics from the data, the context from
the presentation, and the “know from the ﬂow.”
Security Navigation Search, Templates Author, Edit, Attachments Extensions, Apps Publish
Query Comment Scripts
Web 3.0 • Ontology- • Faceted • SPARQL Semantic tools Semantic tools Semantic tools Semantic tools Semantic tools Semantic tools
based navigation queries on to: to: to: to: to: to:
security using wiki semantics of • Expose, edit • Expose, edit • Expose, edit • Expose, edit • Expose, edit • Expose, edit
models knowledge fabric—data, semantics of semantics of semantics of semantics of semantics of semantics of
can enable model(s) templates, templates to page content attachments extensions to apps to fabric published
flexible attachments, fabric to fabric including fabric “apps” to
and very extensions & • Package
• Present • Filter, extract, access & • Register semantic fabric
granular apps provenance to
security. templates in mash-up w/ extensions apps • Search,
• Semantic different ways other data, & fabric for search, discover,
NLP search & • Register
using visualize using • Filter, extract, discovery, “apps” for try out,
discovery semantic lenses mash-up w/ rights, & download, &
search,
• Semantic lenses • Semantic other data, & e-commerce discovery, set rights for
question desktop tools visualize using rights, & e-commerce
answering and plug-ins lenses e-commerce in “apps”

Web 2.0 • Registry of • Navigation • Keyword • Templates to • Pages w/ text, • Documents, • Scripting • Package • Service to
users with sidebar search of wiki author pages lists, tables, presentations, language pages, provide
authorized based on tags, • Presentation graphics (svg), spreadsheets, • Registry of extensions, citizen
access by: page names content, by themes & images images, audio, widgets, scripts, etc as access to
- Person attachments, CSS styling • Int/ext links video,& other extensions & an “app” “apps” and
plus content files connectors. • Registry of data
- Role included by • Embedded,
connectors, • Metadata, tags • Extension published
- Page extension or “apps”
script. extensions, • Version control management
scripts
• Desktop
connectors


Whoʼs partnering to build demonstrations?
So far, itʼs MindTouch, Cambridge Semantics, zAgile, and
Expert Systems. Weʼre open to other players joining.
search,

- Role
- Page
plus content
included by
extension or
MINDTOUCH • Embedded,
connectors,
files connectors. • Registry of
• Metadata, tags • Extension published
data

“apps”
script.
http://www.mindtouch.com/ extensions,
scripts
• Desktop
• Version control management

connectors


granular
security. CAMBRIDGE SEMANTICS
apps
• Semantic
templates in
different ways
mash-up w/
other data, &
provenance to
fabric
extensions
for search,
apps
• Register
• Search,
discover,
http://www.cambridgesemantics.com/
NLP search &
discovery
using
semantic
visualize using
lenses
• Filter, extract,
mash-up w/
discovery,
rights, &
“apps” for try out,
download, &
search,

scripts
• Desktop
connectors


granular
security. ZAGILE
apps
• Semantic
templates in
different ways
mash-up w/
other data, &
provenance to
fabric
extensions
for search,
apps
• Register
• Search,
discover,
http://zagile.com/
NLP search &
discovery
using
semantic
visualize using
lenses
mash-up w/
discovery,
rights, &
“apps” for try out,
download, &
search,

scripts
• Desktop
connectors


granular
security.
EXPERT apps
• Semantic
• Present
templates in
mash-up w/
other data, &
access &
provenance to
fabric
• Register
extensions
for search,
semantic
apps
fabric
• Search,
discover,
different ways
SYSTEM NLP search &
discovery
using
semantic
visualize using
lenses
mash-up w/
discovery,
rights, &
• Register
“apps” for
search,
try out,
download, &

scripts
• Desktop
connectors

http://www.expertsystem.net/


search,

scripts
• Desktop
connectors


What is a semantic scenario for citizen-friendly
Author, expose, weave, mash-up, visualize, publish, and use.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Author, Expose Link Data, Edit, Filter, Visualize, Package Discover,
Collect, Data to Weave Extract, Present App & Download,
Report Fabric Fabric Mash-up Result Publish Use App


DEMO: Using Cambridge Semanticsʼ Anzio
in support of Recovery.gov

Practical Semantics
Applied to Recovery.gov
Jordi Albornoz Mulligan
Mills Davis
Brand Niemann

May 2009

Recovery.gov = Opportunity & Challenge
The data is helpful with more coming daily, all for openness &
transparency
But it has limits, especially when:
• Data is in multiple sources
• Answers require data from outside of Recovery.gov
• Request volume outstrips Recovery.gov (people) resources
Semantic Technology can enable citizens to help themselves (and
the government) provide answers to more citizens
• Link data sources to a semantic fabric
• Provide access and tools so information can be:
• Combined
• Manipulated
• Viewed by…
Virtually anyone regardless of technical capability

Simple Questions, Hard to Answer

Example:
•Is there a correlation between geographic
distribution of recovery dollars, population and
new jobs created?

To get the answer, you need to know:
•Recovery spending by state
•Population by state
•New jobs by state

Recovery.gov alone cannot answer this question

The Answers Live in Three Sources

Show the answer graphically…

How it’s Done:
Leave Data Where it Lives and…
1. Link Source Data to the Anzo Data Collaboration Server

RDBMS

2. Let the user “draw” a picture of what they want

Anzo Data Collaboration Server

3. Fill the picture with the appropriate data

Linking Source Data is Simple
Anzo for Excel
Plug-in

Linking Source Data is Simple
Link data (columns in the spreadsheet) to classes and
properties in an ontology exposed in the plug in

Different Source, Same Process

Select a Data Set

Select a description

Repeat the Process

Now that the data is linked…

Anzo on the Web Can Work With It

Select from Linked Data Sets

Lenses Allow Various Views

Choose a Lens

Combined Data Displayed Graphically

Another Option…
Combining and Filtering Data

Notice multiple
sources (agencies)

Manipulate As Desired

Click to sort and ﬁlter the data to on-the-ﬂy

Apply a Finer Filter

Check the desired ﬁlter

Add More Data to Your View

The ontology guides users
as they explore relationships

The New Data is Immediately Avaialble

Add Filters on the Fly
The system Guides the User
Just click and add

The Filter is Added

The new ﬁlter
appears here

…and Works Immediately

The view is
narrowed
further

The Possibilities are Endless…

http://www.cambridgesemantics.com/

Call to action:
Let’s demonstrate citizen-friendly semantic solutions
for recovery.gov and data.gov,
with transparency, openness & collaboration!
Mills Davis
Project10X
202-667-6400
www.project10x.com

Semantic Technology Solutions For Gov 2 0 Citizen-Friendly Recovery.Gov and Data.Gov With Transparency, Openness, and Collaboration

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