The document discusses the evolution of the web from a network of linked documents accessible to humans, to a network of linked data accessible to machines through semantic technologies. It outlines the development of linked open data starting in the early 2000s with projects publishing data in RDF/XML. This allowed machines to understand relationships between things, not just documents, enabling new applications and insights. The document argues this emerging "Web of Data" will allow machines to help humans gain new understandings by making sense of the vast amounts of machine-readable knowledge online.

1. The Journey of
Linked Data
Chris Waring | @cwaring
Creative Lead

2. Semantic Web

3. Web

5. Web
(links + documents)

6. The Web of Documents
• A global network of linked documents
• A place where anyone can say anything about anything
• A vast collection of human-readable knowledge (and
opinion)
• Documents are linked, but links are not qualified

7. Data

8. Open Data

9. 2001

10. 2004

11. 2005

12. 2006

13. 2007

14. 2009

15. 2010

16. This is great,
but it will only take us so far...

17. The issue...
• Humans are interested in things, not just documents.

18. The other issue...
• Humans can read documents and obtain meaning
• Machines can’t

19. If machines
understand the web,
they can help us
understand things.

20. Semantic Web

21. Graph thinking

22. Graph thinking knows
knows
knows
knows
lives lives
knows
spouse
sibling
knows
knows

23. Graph thinking

24. The Web of Documents
• A global network of linked documents
• A place where anyone can say anything about anything
• A vast collection of human-readable knowledge (and
opinion)
• Documents are linked, but links are not qualified

25. The Web of Data
• A global network of linked statements
• A place where anyone can say anything about anything
• A vast collection of machine-readable knowledge (and
opinion)
• Statements are linked, and links are qualified

36. This is happening
now

37. This work is Copyright © 2011 Talis Systems Limited.
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39. References
Tim Berners-Lee: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee
Creative Commons: http://creativecommons.org/
OpenStreetMap: http://www.openstreetmap.org/
Science Commons: http://creativecommons.org/science
Guardian “Give us back our crown jewels”: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2006/mar/09/education.epublic
Talis Open Data Commons: http://blogs.talis.com/nodalities/2007/12/talis_and_creative_commons_lau.php
Tim Berners-Lee “The Next Web”: http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_berners_lee_on_the_next_web.html
Data.gov: http://data.gov
WorldBank: http://data.worldbank.org/
Afghanistan Elections: http://afghanistanelectiondata.org/
Data.gov.uk: http://data.gov.uk
London Data Store: http://data.london.gov.uk/
Scientific American : http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-semantic-web
Facebook Graph: http://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-engineering/visualizing-friendships/469716398919
Linked Open Data cloud: http://richard.cyganiak.de/2007/10/lod/
BBC Wildlife Finder: http://www.bbc.co.uk/wildlifefinder/