Challenges to knowledge representation in multilingual contexts

To meet the increasing demands of the complex inter-organizational processes and the demand for continuous innovation and internationalization, it is evident that new forms of organisation are being adopted, fostering more intensive collaboration processes and sharing of resources, in what can be called collaborative networks (Camarinha-Matos, 2006:03). Information and knowledge are crucial resources in collaborative networks, being their management fundamental processes to optimize. Knowledge organisation and collaboration systems are thus important instruments for the success of collaborative networks of organisations having been researched in the last decade in the areas of computer science, information science, management sciences, terminology and linguistics. Nevertheless, research in this area didn’t give much attention to multilingual contexts of collaboration, which pose specific and challenging problems. It is then clear that access to and representation of knowledge will happen more and more on a multilingual setting which implies the overcoming of difficulties inherent to the presence of multiple languages, through the use of processes like localization of ontologies. Although localization, like other processes that involve multilingualism, is a rather well-developed practice and its methodologies and tools fruitfully employed by the language industry in the development and adaptation of multilingual content, it has not yet been sufficiently explored as an element of support to the development of knowledge representations - in particular ontologies - expressed in more than one language. Multilingual knowledge representation is then an open research area calling for cross-contributions from knowledge engineering, terminology, ontology engineering, cognitive sciences, computational linguistics, natural language processing, and management sciences. This workshop joined researchers interested in multilingual knowledge representation, in a multidisciplinary environment to debate the possibilities of cross-fertilization between knowledge engineering, terminology, ontology engineering, cognitive sciences, computational linguistics, natural language processing, and management sciences applied to contexts where multilingualism continuously creates new and demanding challenges to current knowledge representation methods and techniques. In this workshop six papers dealing with different approaches to multilingual knowledge representation are presented, most of them describing tools, approaches and results obtained in the development of ongoing projects. In the first case, Andrés Domínguez Burgos, Koen Kerremansa and Rita Temmerman present a software module that is part of a workbench for terminological and ontological mining, Termontospider, a wiki crawler that aims at optimally traverse Wikipedia in search of domainspecific texts for extracting terminological and ontological information. The crawler is part of a tool suite for automatically developing multilingual termontological databases, i.e. ontologicallyunderpinned multilingual terminological databases. In this paper the authors describe the basic principles behind the crawler and summarized the research setting in which the tool is currently tested. In the second paper, Fumiko Kano presents a work comparing four feature-based similarity measures derived from cognitive sciences. The purpose of the comparative analysis presented by the author is to verify the potentially most effective model that can be applied for mapping independent ontologies in a culturally influenced domain. For that, datasets based on standardized pre-defined feature dimensions and values, which are obtainable from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) have been used for the comparative analysis of the similarity measures. The purpose of the comparison is to verify the similarity measures based on the objectively developed datasets. According to the author the results demonstrate that the Bayesian Model of Generalization provides for the most effective cognitive model for identifying the most similar corresponding concepts existing for a targeted socio-cultural community. In another presentation, Thierry Declerck, Hans-Ulrich Krieger and Dagmar Gromann present an ongoing work and propose an approach to automatic extraction of information from multilingual financial Web resources, to provide candidate terms for building ontology elements or instances of ontology concepts. The authors present a complementary approach to the direct localization/translation of ontology labels, by acquiring terminologies through the access and harvesting of multilingual Web presences of structured information providers in the field of finance, leading to both the detection of candidate terms in various multilingual sources in the financial domain that can be used not only as labels of ontology classes and properties but also for the possible generation of (multilingual) domain ontologies themselves. In the next paper, Manuel Silva, António Lucas Soares and Rute Costa claim that despite the availability of tools, resources and techniques aimed at the construction of ontological artifacts, developing a shared conceptualization of a given reality still raises questions about the principles and methods that support the initial phases of conceptualization. These questions become, according to the authors, more complex when the conceptualization occurs in a multilingual setting. To tackle these issues the authors present a collaborative platform – conceptME - where terminological and knowledge representation processes support domain experts throughout a conceptualization framework, allowing the inclusion of multilingual data as a way to promote knowledge sharing and enhance conceptualization and support a multilingual ontology specification. In another presentation Frieda Steurs and Hendrik J. Kockaert present us TermWise, a large project dealing with legal terminology and phraseology for the Belgian public services, i.e. the translation office of the ministry of justice, a project which aims at developing an advanced tool including expert knowledge in the algorithms that extract specialized language from textual data (legal documents) and whose outcome is a knowledge database including Dutch/French equivalents for legal concepts, enriched with the phraseology related to the terms under discussion. Finally, Deborah Grbac, Luca Losito, Andrea Sada and Paolo Sirito report on the preliminary results of a pilot project currently ongoing at UCSC Central Library, where they propose to adapt to subject librarians, employed in large and multilingual Academic Institutions, the model used by translators working within European Union Institutions. The authors are using User Experience (UX) Analysis in order to provide subject librarians with a visual support, by means of “ontology tables” depicting conceptual linking and connections of words with concepts presented according to their semantic and linguistic meaning. The organizers hope that the selection of papers presented here will be of interest to a broad audience, and will be a starting point for further discussion and cooperation

Radio Spectrum Management in the European Union

This thesis work was conducted to explain how the radio spectrum is managed in the European Union (EU). The radio spectrum is the natural resource which makes modern wireless communication possible. Like other natural resources, the radio spectrum is managed by nations within their national territories. Although nations have permanent sovereignty over the radio spectrum, the countries member of the EU share with the EU institutions the responsibility to manage such resource. The fact that EU and national institutions co-manage the radio spectrum generates a tension between the stances of the EU and the EU member states with respect to how the radio spectrum should be used. On the one hand, the EU aims to develop a common approach to radio spectrum use by promoting centralisation of decisional power to the EU level. On the other hand, the EU member states oppose major limitations to national sovereignty over the radio spectrum, protecting their right to dispose of their national resources in accordance with their national interests. A coordinated approach to radio spectrum management at EU level has only recently been set up. For this reason, the extent to which roles and responsibilities are divided between the EU and the EU member states has not been thoroughly investigated.This thesis concentrated on identifying entities which manage the spectrum resource in the EU and the mechanisms used by such entities. To address these two aspects, qualitative data on EU legislative interventions in radio spectrum policy was collected to show variation over time of distribution of decisional power between the EU and the EU member states. Moreover, the phenomenon of business lobbying was studied to understand the importance of influencing EU legislation for commercial radio spectrum users. The external representation of the EU in international negotiations on radio spectrum use was also analysed to show the dual nature of the EU, being simultaneously one unitary entity and a conglomeration of several sovereign states. In addition, the use of soft power by the EU to develop a common approach to radio spectrum across the EU was discussed, in particular with respect to radio spectrum sharing.This research work showed that radio spectrum management is a very complex matter where there is no clear-cut division of responsibilities between the EU and the EU member states. Over time, the EU has developed a more systematic approach to radio spectrum management, designing specific mechanisms to promote EU-coordinated radio spectrum use. At the same time, there are certain areas of radio spectrum management where the EU plays a mere advisory and coordinating role, while relevant decisions are taken at national level. Technological progress has often motivated the EU to put pressure on the EU member states for further integration. In this regard, it can be expected that future technological developments will drive further changes in the distribution of responsibilities between the two levels of governance

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

South American Expert Roundtable : increasing adaptive governance capacity for coping with unintended side effects of digital transformation

This paper presents the main messages of a South American expert roundtable (ERT) on the unintended side effects (unseens) of digital transformation. The input of the ERT comprised 39 propositions from 20 experts representing 11 different perspectives. The two-day ERT discussed the main drivers and challenges as well as vulnerabilities or unseens and provided suggestions for: (i) the mechanisms underlying major unseens; (ii) understanding possible ways in which rebound effects of digital transformation may become the subject of overarching research in three main categories of impact: development factors, society, and individuals; and (iii) a set of potential action domains for transdisciplinary follow-up processes, including a case study in Brazil. A content analysis of the propositions and related mechanisms provided insights in the genesis of unseens by identifying 15 interrelated causal mechanisms related to critical issues/concerns. Additionally, a cluster analysis (CLA) was applied to structure the challenges and critical developments in South America. The discussion elaborated the genesis, dynamics, and impacts of (groups of) unseens such as the digital divide (that affects most countries that are not included in the development of digital business, management, production, etc. tools) or the challenge of restructuring small- and medium-sized enterprises (whose service is digitally substituted by digital devices). We identify specific issues and effects (for most South American countries) such as lack of governmental structure, challenging geographical structures (e.g., inclusion in high-performance transmission power), or the digital readiness of (wide parts) of society. One scientific contribution of the paper is related to the presented methodology that provides insights into the phenomena, the causal chains underlying “wanted/positive” and “unwanted/negative” effects, and the processes and mechanisms of societal changes caused by digitalization

Legal linked data ecosystems and the rule of law

This chapter introduces the notions of meta-rule of law and socio-legal ecosystems to both foster and regulate linked democracy. It explores the way of stimulating innovative regulations and building a regulatory quadrant for the rule of law. The chapter summarises briefly (i) the notions of responsive, better and smart regulation; (ii) requirements for legal interchange languages (legal interoperability); (iii) and cognitive ecology approaches. It shows how the protections of the substantive rule of law can be embedded into the semantic languages of the web of data and reflects on the conditions that make possible their enactment and implementation as a socio-legal ecosystem. The chapter suggests in the end a reusable multi-levelled meta-model and four notions of legal validity: positive, composite, formal, and ecological

Analysing Business Models for Cross Border E-Services Provided by the Chambers of Commerce

The term "Business Model" started to gain momentum in the early rise of the new economy and it is currently used both in business practice and scientific research. Under a general point of view BMs are considered as a contact point among technology, organization and strategy used to describe how an organization gets value from technology and uses it as a source of competitive advantage. Recent contributions suggest to use ontologies to define a shareable conceptualization of BM. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of BM Ontologies as a conceptual tool for the cooperation of subjects interested in achieving a common goal and operating in complex and innovative environments. This is the case for example of those contexts characterized by the deployment of e-services from multiple service providers in cross border environments. Through an extensive literature review on BM we selected the most suitable conceptual tool and studied its application to the LD-CAST project during a participatory action research activity in order to analyse the BM design process of a new organisation based on the cooperation of service providers (the Chambers of Commerce from Italy, Romania, Poland and Bulgaria) with different needs, legal constraints and cultural background.The term "Business Model" started to gain momentum in the early rise of the new economy and it is currently used both in business practice and scientific research. Under a general point of view BMs are considered as a contact point among technology, organization and strategy used to describe how an organization gets value from technology and uses it as a source of competitive advantage. Recent contributions suggest to use ontologies to define a shareable conceptualization of BM. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of BM Ontologies as a conceptual tool for the cooperation of subjects interested in achieving a common goal and operating in complex and innovative environments. This is the case for example of those contexts characterized by the deployment of e-services from multiple service providers in cross border environments. Through an extensive literature review on BM we selected the most suitable conceptual tool and studied its application to the LD-CAST project during a participatory action research activity in order to analyse the BM design process of a new organisation based on the cooperation of service providers (the Chambers of Commerce from Italy, Romania, Poland and Bulgaria) with different needs, legal constraints and cultural background.Uninvited Submission