Ontologies and Applications

Martin HeppSemantics in Business

Information Systems Group

Martin Hepp

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

Martin Hepp

Computer Systems, Models, and the Real World

Phenomenon P1 Phenomenon P2

Abstractionfor P1

Abstraction for P2

Space of Possible Transformations

Algorithm

Model

Martin Hepp

The Root of Interoperability Problems:Weak Ties between Reality and

Abstractions of Reality

Model of Reality• Data• Processes

Reality

Weak, informal treaty

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

Treaty not accessible to computers

Martin Hepp

Semantic Web: A very simple ontology

„Corporation“ = http://myont/corporation„Business“ = http://myont/businessEach instance of „Corporation“ be also an instance of „Business“.

„Siemens“ = http://companies.org/Siemens„Siemens“ is an instance of „Corporation“.

+ Group consensus about this representation

Languages: RDF-S, OWL, WSML, CycL, ...

Martin Hepp

Six Effects of Ontologies

Using Philosophical Notions as Guidance for Identifying Stable, Reusable Conceptual Elements

Unique Identifiers for Conceptual Elements

Excluding Unwanted Interpretations by Means of Informal Semantics

Spotting Logical Inconsistencies

Inferring Implicit Facts Automatically

Excluding Unwanted Interpretations by Means of Formal 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.

Martin Hepp

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/

Martin Hepp

GoodRelations

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

We sell many different kinds of outdoor gear.

We sell some instances of sleeping

bags.

We sell some instances of

sleeping bags made by Marmot and The

North Face.

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

Martin Hepp

OntoNaviERP

• Using ontologies for improved navigation in SAP documentation

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

Martin Hepp

SKOS2GenTax

• Online tool for deriving OWL ontologies from SKOS categorization schemas

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

Martin Hepp

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

Martin Hepp

OntoGame

Building the Semantic Web is not a one-time task, but a continuous challenge.

The work will never be done.

Martin Hepp

OntoGame

Martin Hepp

OntoGame

Thank you!

Martin HeppSemantics in Business

Information Systems Group