Provenance for SPARQL queries

Determining trust of data available in the Semantic Web is fundamental for applications and users, in particular for linked open data obtained from SPARQL endpoints. There exist several proposals in the literature to annotate SPARQL query results with values from abstract models, adapting the seminal works on provenance for annotated relational databases. We provide an approach capable of providing provenance information for a large and significant fragment of SPARQL 1.1, including for the first time the major non-monotonic constructs under multiset semantics. The approach is based on the translation of SPARQL into relational queries over annotated relations with values of the most general m-semiring, and in this way also refuting a claim in the literature that the OPTIONAL construct of SPARQL cannot be captured appropriately with the known abstract models.Comment: 22 pages, extended version of the ISWC 2012 paper including proof

LiteMat: a scalable, cost-efficient inference encoding scheme for large RDF graphs

The number of linked data sources and the size of the linked open data graph keep growing every day. As a consequence, semantic RDF services are more and more confronted with various "big data" problems. Query processing in the presence of inferences is one them. For instance, to complete the answer set of SPARQL queries, RDF database systems evaluate semantic RDFS relationships (subPropertyOf, subClassOf) through time-consuming query rewriting algorithms or space-consuming data materialization solutions. To reduce the memory footprint and ease the exchange of large datasets, these systems generally apply a dictionary approach for compressing triple data sizes by replacing resource identifiers (IRIs), blank nodes and literals with integer values. In this article, we present a structured resource identification scheme using a clever encoding of concepts and property hierarchies for efficiently evaluating the main common RDFS entailment rules while minimizing triple materialization and query rewriting. We will show how this encoding can be computed by a scalable parallel algorithm and directly be implemented over the Apache Spark framework. The efficiency of our encoding scheme is emphasized by an evaluation conducted over both synthetic and real world datasets.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur

Virtual Knowledge Graphs: An Overview of Systems and Use Cases

In this paper, we present the virtual knowledge graph (VKG) paradigm for data integration and access, also known in the literature as Ontology-based Data Access. Instead of structuring the integration layer as a collection of relational tables, the VKG paradigm replaces the rigid structure of tables with the flexibility of graphs that are kept virtual and embed domain knowledge. We explain the main notions of this paradigm, its tooling ecosystem and significant use cases in a wide range of applications. Finally, we discuss future research directions

SDM-RDFizer: An RML Interpreter for the Efficient Creation of RDF Knowledge Graphs

In recent years, the amount of data has increased exponentially, and knowledge graphs have gained attention as data structures to integrate data and knowledge harvested from myriad data sources. However, data complexity issues like large volume, high-duplicate rate, and heterogeneity usually characterize these data sources, being required data management tools able to address the negative impact of these issues on the knowledge graph creation process. In this paper, we propose the SDM-RDFizer, an interpreter of the RDF Mapping Language (RML), to transform raw data in various formats into an RDF knowledge graph. SDM-RDFizer implements novel algorithms to execute the logical operators between mappings in RML, allowing thus to scale up to complex scenarios where data is not only broad but has a high-duplication rate. We empirically evaluate the SDM-RDFizer performance against diverse testbeds with diverse configurations of data volume, duplicates, and heterogeneity. The observed results indicate that SDM-RDFizer is two orders of magnitude faster than state of the art, thus, meaning that SDM-RDFizer an interoperable and scalable solution for knowledge graph creation. SDM-RDFizer is publicly available as a resource through a Github repository and a DOI

Semantic Data Management in Data Lakes

In recent years, data lakes emerged as away to manage large amounts of heterogeneous data for modern data analytics. One way to prevent data lakes from turning into inoperable data swamps is semantic data management. Some approaches propose the linkage of metadata to knowledge graphs based on the Linked Data principles to provide more meaning and semantics to the data in the lake. Such a semantic layer may be utilized not only for data management but also to tackle the problem of data integration from heterogeneous sources, in order to make data access more expressive and interoperable. In this survey, we review recent approaches with a specific focus on the application within data lake systems and scalability to Big Data. We classify the approaches into (i) basic semantic data management, (ii) semantic modeling approaches for enriching metadata in data lakes, and (iii) methods for ontologybased data access. In each category, we cover the main techniques and their background, and compare latest research. Finally, we point out challenges for future work in this research area, which needs a closer integration of Big Data and Semantic Web technologies

A Nine Month Progress Report on an Investigation into Mechanisms for Improving Triple Store Performance

This report considers the requirement for fast, efficient, and scalable triple stores as part of the effort to produce the Semantic Web. It summarises relevant information in the major background field of Database Management Systems (DBMS), and provides an overview of the techniques currently in use amongst the triple store community. The report concludes that for individuals and organisations to be willing to provide large amounts of information as openly-accessible nodes on the Semantic Web, storage and querying of the data must be cheaper and faster than it is currently. Experiences from the DBMS field can be used to maximise triple store performance, and suggestions are provided for lines of investigation in areas of storage, indexing, and query optimisation. Finally, work packages are provided describing expected timetables for further study of these topics