23 research outputs found
Updating DL-Lite ontologies through first-order queries
In this paper we study instance-level update in DL-LiteA, the description logic underlying the OWL 2 QL standard. In particular we focus on formula-based approaches to ABox insertion and deletion. We show that DL-LiteA, which is well-known for enjoying first-order rewritability of query answering, enjoys a first-order rewritability property also for updates. That is, every update can be reformulated into a set of insertion and deletion instructions computable through a nonrecursive datalog program. Such a program is readily translatable into a first-order query over the ABox considered as a database, and hence into SQL. By exploiting this result, we implement an update component for DLLiteA-based systems and perform some experiments showing that the approach works in practice.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
An introduction to description logics and query rewriting
This chapter gives an overview of the description logics underlying the OWL 2 Web Ontology Language and its three tractable profiles, OWL 2 RL, OWL 2 EL and OWL 2 QL. We consider the syntax and semantics of these description logics as well as main reasoning tasks and their computational complexity. We also discuss the semantical foundations for fist-order and datalog rewritings of conjunctive queries over knowledge bases given in the OWL2 profiles, and outline the architecture of the ontology-based data access system Ontop
SPARQL Update for Materialised Triple Stores under DL-Lite RDFS Entailment
Abstract. Updates in RDF stores have recently been standardised in the SPARQL 1.1 Update specification. However, computing answers entailed by ontologies in triple stores is usually treated orthogonally to updates. Even W3C’s SPARQL 1.1 Update language and SPARQL 1.1 Entailment Regimes specifications explicitly exclude a standard behaviour for entailment regimes other than simple entailment in the context of updates. In this paper, we take a first step to close this gap. We define a fragment of SPARQL basic graph patterns corresponding to (the RDFS fragment of) DL-Lite and the corresponding SPARQL update language, dealing with updates both of ABox and of TBox statements. We discuss possible semantics along with potential strategies for implementing them. Particularly, we treat materialised RDF stores, which store all entailed triples explicitly, and preservation of materialisation upon ABox and TBox updates.
Scalable Reasoning for Knowledge Bases Subject to Changes
ScienceWeb is a semantic web system that collects information about a research community and allows users to ask qualitative and quantitative questions related to that information using a reasoning engine. The more complete the knowledge base is, the more helpful answers the system will provide. As the size of knowledge base increases, scalability becomes a challenge for the reasoning system. As users make changes to the knowledge base and/or new information is collected, providing fast enough response time (ranging from seconds to a few minutes) is one of the core challenges for the reasoning system.
There are two basic inference methods commonly used in first order logic: forward chaining and backward chaining. As a general rule, forward chaining is a good method for a static knowledge base and backward chaining is good for the more dynamic cases. The goal of this thesis was to design a hybrid reasoning architecture and develop a scalable reasoning system whose efficiency is able to meet the interaction requirements in a ScienceWeb system when facing a large and evolving knowledge base.
Interposing a backward chaining reasoner between an evolving knowledge base and a query manager with support of trust yields an architecture that can support reasoning in the face of frequent changes. An optimized query-answering algorithm, an optimized backward chaining algorithm and a trust-based hybrid reasoning algorithm are three key algorithms in such an architecture. Collectively, these three algorithms are significant contributions to the field of backward chaining reasoners over ontologies.
I explored the idea of trust in the trust-based hybrid reasoning algorithm, where each change to the knowledge base is analyzed as to what subset of the knowledge base is impacted by the change and could therefore contribute to incorrect inferences. I adopted greedy ordering and deferring joins in optimized query-answering algorithm. I introduced four optimizations in the algorithm for backward chaining. These optimizations are: 1) the implementation of the selection function, 2) the upgraded substitute function, 3) the application of OLDT and 4) solving of the owl: sameAs problem.
I evaluated our optimization techniques by comparing the results with and without optimization techniques. I evaluated our optimized query answering algorithm by comparing to a traditional backward-chaining reasoner. I evaluated our trust-based hybrid reasoning algorithm by comparing the performance of a forward chaining algorithm to that of a pure backward chaining algorithm. The evaluation results have shown that the hybrid reasoning architecture with the scalable reasoning system is able to support scalable reasoning of ScienceWeb to answer qualitative questions effectively when facing both a fixed knowledge base and an evolving knowledge base
Aspects of semantic ETL
Tesi en modalitat de cotutela: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya i Aalborg UniversitetBusiness Intelligence tools support making better business decisions by analyzing available organizational data. Data Warehouses (DWs), typically structured with the Multidimensional (MD) model, are used to store data from different internal and external sources processed using Extract-Transformation-Load (ETL) processes. On-Line analytical Processing (OLAP) queries are applied on DWs to derive important business-critical knowledge. DW and OLAP technologies perform efficiently when they are applied on data that are static in nature and well organized in structure. Nowadays, Semantic Web technologies and the Linked Data principles inspire organizations to publish their semantic data, which allow machines to understand the meaning of data, using the Resource Description Framework (RDF) model. In addition to traditional (non-semantic) data sources, the incorporation of semantic data sources into a DW raises the additional challenges of schema derivation, semantic heterogeneity, and schema and data management model over traditional ETL tools. Furthermore, most SW data provided by business, academic and governmental organizations include facts and figures, which raise new requirements for BI tools to enable OLAP-like analyses over those semantic (RDF) data. In this thesis, we 1) propose a layer-based ETL framework for handling diverse semantic and non-semantic data sources by addressing the challenges mentioned above, 2) propose a set of high-level ETL constructs for processing semantic data, 3) implement appropriate environments (both programmable and GUI) to facilitate ETL processes and evaluate the proposed solutions. Our ETL framework is a semantic ETL framework because it integrates data semantically. We propose SETL, a unified framework for semantic ETL. The framework is divided into three layers: the Definition Layer, ETL Layer, and Data Warehouse Layer. In the Definition Layer, the semantic DW (SDW) schema, sources, and the mappings among the sources and the target are defined. In the ETL Layer, ETL processes to populate the SDW from sources are designed. The Data Warehouse Layer manages the storage of transformed semantic data. The framework supports the inclusion of semantic (RDF) data in DWs in addition to relational data. It allows users to define an ontology of a DW and annotate it with MD constructs (such as dimensions, cubes, levels, etc.) using the Data Cube for OLAP (QB4OLAP) vocabulary. It supports traditional transformation operations and provides a method to generate semantic data from the source data according to the semantics encoded in the ontology. It also provides a method to connect internal SDW data with external knowledge bases. On top of SETL, we propose SETLCONSTUCT where we define a set of high-level ETL tasks/operations to process semantic data sources. We divide the integration process into two layers: the Definition Layer and Execution Layer. The Definition Layer includes two tasks that allow DW designers to define target (SDW) schemas and the mappings between (intermediate) sources and the (intermediate) target. To create mappings among the sources and target constructs, we provide a mapping vocabulary called S2TMAP. Different from other ETL tools, we propose a new paradigm: we characterize the ETL flow transformations at the Definition Layer instead of independently within each ETL operation (in the Execution Layer). This way, the designer has an overall view of the process, which generates metadata (the mapping file) that the ETL operators will read and parametrize themselves with automatically. In the Execution Layer, we propose a set of high-level ETL operations to process semantic data sources. Finally, we develop a GUI-based semantic BI system SETLBI to define, process, integrate, and query semantic and non-semantic data. In addition to the Definition Layer and the ETL Layer, SETLBI has the OLAP Layer, which provides an interactive interface to enable OLAP analysis over the semantic DWLes eines d’Intel·ligència Empresarial (BI), conegudes en anglès com Business
Intelligence, donen suport a la millora de la presa de decisions empresarials
mitjançant l’anà lisi de les dades de l’organització disponibles. Els magatzems
de dades, o data warehouse, (DWs), tÃpicament estructurats seguint el model
Multidimensional (MD), s’utilitzen per emmagatzemar dades de diferents
fonts, tant internes com externes, processades mitjançant processos Extract-
Transformation-Load (ETL). Les consultes de processament analÃtic en lÃnia
(OLAP) s’apliquen als DW per extraure coneixement crÃtic en l’à mbit empresarial.
Els DW i les tecnologies OLAP funcionen de manera eficient quan
s’apliquen sobre dades de natura està tica i ben estructurades. Avui en dia,
les tecnologies de la Web Semà ntica (SW) i els principis Linked Data (LD) inspiren les organitzacions per publicar les seves dades en formats semà ntics,
que permeten que les mà quines entenguin el significat de les dades, mitjançant
el llenguatge de descripció de recursos (RDF). Una de les raons per
les quals les dades semà ntiques han tingut tant d’èxit és que es poden gestionar i fer que estiguin disponibles per tercers amb poc esforç, i no depenen d’esquemes de dades sofisticats.
A més de les fonts de dades tradicionals (no semà ntiques), la incorporació
de fonts de dades semà ntiques en un DW planteja reptes addicionals
tals com derivar-hi esquema, l’heterogeneïtat semà ntica i la representació de
l’esquema i les dades a través d’eines d’ETL. A més, la majoria de dades SW
proporcionades per empreses, organitzacions acadèmiques o governamentals
inclouen fets i figures que representen nous reptes per les eines de BI per tal
d’habilitar l’anà lisi OLAP sobre dades semà ntiques (RDF). En aquesta tesi, 1)
proposem un marc ETL basat en capes per a la gestió de diverses fonts de
dades semà ntiques i no semà ntiques i adreçant els reptes esmentats anteriorment, 2) proposem un conjunt d’operacions ETL per processar dades semà ntiques, i 3) la creació d’entorns apropiats de desenvolupament (programà tics i GUIs) per facilitar la creació i gestió de DW i processos ETL semà ntics, aixà com avaluar les solucions proposades. El nostre marc ETL és un marc ETL semà ntic perquè Es capaç de considerar e integrar dades de forma semà ntica.
Els següents parà grafs elaboren sobre aquests contribucions.
Proposem SETL, un marc unificat per a ETL semà ntic. El marc es divideix
en tres capes: la capa de definició, la capa ETL i la capa DW. A la
capa de definició, es defineixen l’esquema del DW semà ntic (SDW), les fonts
i els mappings entre les fonts i l’esquema del DW. A la capa ETL, es dissenyen
processos ETL per popular el SDW a partir de fonts. A la capa DW,
es gestiona l’emmagatzematge de les dades semà ntiques transformades. El
nostre marc dóna suport a la inclusió de dades semà ntiques (RDF) en DWs,
a més de dades relacionals. AixÃ, permet als usuaris definir una ontologia
d’un DW i anotar-la amb construccions MD (com ara dimensions, cubs, nivells,
etc.) utilitzant el vocabulari Data Cube for OLAP (QB4OLAP). També
admet operacions de transformació tradicionals i proporciona un mètode per
generar semà ntica de les dades d’origen segons la semà ntica codificada al
document ontologia. També proporciona un mètode per connectar l’SDW
amb bases de coneixement externes. Per tant, crea una base de coneixement,
composta per un ontologia i les seves instà ncies, on les dades estan
connectades semà nticament amb altres dades externes / internes. Per fer-ho,
desenvolupem un mètode programà tic, basat en Python, d’alt nivell, per
realitzar les tasques esmentades anteriorment. S’ha portat a terme un experiment
complet d’avaluació comparant SETL amb una solució elaborada amb
eines tradicional (que requereixen molta més codificació). Com a cas d’ús,
hem emprat el Danish Agricultural dataset, i els resultats mostren que SETL
proporciona un millor rendiment, millora la productivitat del programador i
la qualitat de la base de coneixement. La comparació entre SETL i Pentaho
Data Integration (PDI) mostra que SETL és un 13,5% més rà pid que PDI. A
més de ser més rà pid que PDI, tracta les dades semà ntiques com a ciutadans
de primera classe, mentre que PDI no conté operadors especÃfics per a dades
semà ntiques.
A sobre de SETL, proposem SETLCONSTUCT on definim un conjunt de
tasques d’alt nivell / operacions ETL per processar fonts de dades semà ntiques
i orientades a encapsular i facilitar la creació de l’ETL semà ntic. Dividim
el procés d’integració en dues capes: la capa de definició i la capa
d’execució. La capa de definició inclou dues tasques que permeten definir
als dissenyadors de DW esquemes destà (SDW) i mappings entre fonts (o resultats intermedis) i l’SDW (potencialment, altres resultats intermedis). Per
crear mappings entre les fonts i el SDW, proporcionem un vocabulari de mapping anomenat Source-To-Target Mapping (S2TMAP). A diferència d’altres
eines ETL, proposem un nou paradigma: les transformacions del flux ETL es
caracteritzen a la capa de definició, i no de forma independent dins de cada
operació ETL (a la capa d’execució). Aquest nou paradigma permet al dissenyador tenir una visió global del procés, que genera metadades (el fitxer de mapping) que els operadors ETL individuals llegiran i es parametritzaran automà ticament.
A la capa d’execució proposem un conjunt d’operacions ETL d’alt nivell per processar fonts de dades semà ntiques. A més de la neteja, la unió i la transformació per dades semà ntiques, proposem operacions per generar semà ntica multidimensional i actualitzar el SDW per reflectir els canvis
en les fonts. A més, ampliem SETLCONSTRUCT per permetre la generació
automà tica de flux d’execució ETL (l’anomenem SETLAUTO). Finalment, proporcionem una à mplia avaluació per comparar la productivitat, el temps de
desenvolupament i el rendiment de SETLCONSTRUCT i SETLAUTO amb el marc anterior SETL. L’avaluació demostra que SETLCONSTRUCT millora considerablement sobre SETL en termes de productivitat, temps de desenvolupament i rendiment. L’avaluació mostra que 1) SETLCONSTRUCT utilitza un 92% menys de carà cters mecanografiats (NOTC) que SETL, i SETLAUTO redueix encara més el nombre de conceptes usats (NOUC) un altre 25%; 2) utilitzant SETLCONSTRUCT, el temps de desenvolupament es redueix gairebé a la meitat en comparació amb SETL, i es redueix un altre 27 % mitjançant SETLAUTO; 3) SETLCONSTRUCT es escalable i té un rendiment similar en comparació amb SETL.
Finalment, desenvolupem un sistema de BI semà ntic basat en GUI SETLBI
per definir, processar, integrar i consultar dades semà ntiques i no semà ntiques.
A més de la capa de definició i de la capa ETL, SETLBI té una capa OLAP, que proporciona una interfÃcie interactiva per permetre l’anà lisi OLAP
d’autoservei sobre el DW semà ntic. Cada capa està composada per un conjunt
d’operacions / tasques. Per formalitzar les connexions intra i inter-capes
dels components de cada capa, emprem una ontologia. La capa ETL amplia
l’execució de la capa de SETLCONSTUCT afegint operacions per processar
fonts de dades no semà ntiques. Per últim, demostrem el sistema final mitjançant el cens de la població de Bangladesh (2011).
La solució final d’aquesta tesi és l’eina SETLBI . SETLBI facilita (1) als dissenyadors del DW amb pocs / sense coneixements de SW, integrar semà nticament les dades (semà ntiques o no) i analitzar-les emprant OLAP, i (2) als usuaris de la SW els permet definir vistes sobre dades semà ntiques, integrar-les amb fonts no semà ntiques, i visualitzar-les segons el model MD i fer anà lisi OLAP. A més, els usuaris SW poden enriquir l’esquema SDW generat amb construccions RDFS / OWL. Prenent aquest marc com a punt de partida, els investigadors poden emprar-lo per a crear SDWs de forma interactiva i automà tica. Aquest projecte crea un pont entre les tecnologies BI i SW, i obre la porta a altres oportunitats de recerca com desenvolupar tècniques de DW i ETL comprensibles per les mà quines.(Danskere) Business Intelligence (BI) værktøjer understøtter at tage bedre forretningsbeslutninger,
ved at analysere tilgængelige organisatoriske data. Data Warehouses
(DWs), typisk konstrueret med den Multidimensionelle (MD) model,
bruges til at lagre data fra forskellige interne og eksterne kilder, der behandles
ved hjælp af Extract-Transformation-Load (ETL) processer. On-Line
Analytical Processing (OLAP) forespørgsler anvendes på DWs for at udlede
vigtig forretningskritisk viden. DW og OLAP-teknologier fungerer effektivt,
når de anvendes på data, som er statiske af natur og velorganiseret i struktur.
I dag inspirerer Semantic Web (SW) teknologier og Linked Data (LD) principper
organisationer til at offentliggøre deres semantiske data, som tillader
maskiner at forstå betydningen af denne, ved hjælp af Resource Description
Framework (RDF) modellen. En af grundene til, at semantiske data er blevet
succesfuldt, er at styringen og udgivelsen af af dataene er nemt, og ikke er
afhængigt af et sofistikeret skema.
Ud over problemer ved overførslen af traditionelle (ikke-semantiske) databaser
til DWs, opstår yderligere udfordringer ved overførslen af semantiske
databaser, såsom skema nedarvning, semantisk heterogenitet samt skemaet
for data repræsentation over traditionelle ETL værktøjer. På den anden side
udgør en stor del af den semantiske data der bliver offentliggjort af virksomheder,
akademikere samt regeringer, af figurer og fakta, der igen giver
nye problemstillinger og krav til BI værktøjer, for at gøre OLAP lignende
analyser over de semantiske data mulige. I denne afhandling gør vi følgende:
1) foreslår et lag-baseret ETL framework til at håndterer multiple
semantiske og ikke-semantiske datakilder, ved at svare på udfordringerne
nævnt herover, 2) foreslår en mængde af ETL operationer til at behandle
semantisk data, 3) implementerer passende miljøer (både programmerbare
samt grafiske brugergrænseflader), for at lette ETL processer og evaluere den
foreslåede løsning. Vores ETL framework er et semantisk ETL framework,
fordi det integrerer data semantisk. Den følgende sektion forklarer vores
bidrag.
Vi foreslår SETL, et samlet framework for semantisk ETL. Frameworket
er splittet i tre lag: et definitions-lag, et ETL-lag, og et DW-lag. Det semanvii
tiske DW (SWD) skema, datakilder, samt sammenhængen mellem datakilder
og deres mål, er defineret i definitions-laget. I ETL-laget designes ETLprocesser
til at udfylde SDW fra datakilderne. DW-laget administrerer lagring
af transformerede semantiske data. Frameworket understøtter inkluderingen
af semantiske (RDF) data i DWs ud over relationelle data. Det giver
brugerne mulighed for at definere en ontologi for et DW og annotere med
MD-konstruktioner (såsom dimensioner, kuber, niveauer osv.) ved hjælp af
Data Cube til OLAP (QB4OLAP) ordforrådet. Det understøtter traditionelle
transformations operationer, og giver en metode til at generere semantiske
data fra de oprindelige data, i henhold til semantikken indkodet i ontologien.
Det muliggør også en metode til at forbinde interne SDW data med
eksterne vidensbaser. Herved skaber det en vidensbase, der er sammensat af
en ontologi og dets instanser, hvor data er semantisk forbundet med andre
eksterne / interne data. Vi udvikler et høj niveau Python-baseret programmerbart
framework for at udføre de ovennævnte opgaver. En omfattende
eksperimentel evaluering, der sammenligner SETL med en traditionel løsning
(hvilket krævede meget manuel kodning), om brugen af danske landbrugsog
forretnings datasæt, viser at SETL præsterer bedre, programmør produktivitet
og vidensbase kvalitet. Sammenligningen mellem SETL og Pentaho
Data Integration (PDI) ved behandling af en semantisk kilde viser, at SETL
er 13,5% hurtigere end PDI.
Udover SETL, foreslår vi SETLCONSTRUCT hvor vi definerer et sæt ETLoperationer
på højt niveau til behandling af semantiske datakilder. Vi deler
integrationsprocessen i to lag: Definitions-lag og eksekverings-lag. Definitionslaget
indeholder to opgaver, der giver DW designere muligheden for at definere
(SDW) skemaer, og kortlægningerne mellem kilder og målet. For
at oprette kortlægning mellem kilderne og målene, leverer vi et kortlægnings
ordforråd kaldet Source-to-Target Mapping (S2TMAP). Forskelligt fra
andre ETL-værktøjer foreslår vi et nyt paradigme: vi karakteriserer ETLflowtransformationerne
i definitions-laget i stedet for uafhængigt inden for
hver ETL-operation (i eksekverings-laget). På denne måde har designeren
et overblik over processen, som genererer metadata (kortlægningsfilen), som
ETL operatørerne vil læse og parametrisere automatisk. I eksekverings-laget
foreslår vi en mængde høj niveau ETL-operationer til at behandle semantiske
datakilder. Udover rensning, sammenføjning og datatypebaseret transformationer
af semantiske data, foreslår vi operationer til at generere multidimensionel
semantik på data-niveau og operationer til at opdatere et SDW for
at afspejle ændringer i kilde-dataen. Derudover udvider vi SETLCONSTRUCT
for at muliggøre automatisk ETL-eksekveringsstrømgenerering (vi kalder det
SETLAUTO). Endelig leverer vi en omfattende evaluering for at sammenligne
produktivitet, udviklingstid og ydeevne for scon og SETLAUTO med
den tidligere ramme SETL. Evalueringen viser, at SETLCONSTRUCT forbedres
markant i forhold til SETL med hensyn til produktivitet, udviklingstid og ydeevne. Evalueringen viser, at 1) SETLCONSTRUCT bruger 92% færre antal
indtastede tegn (NOTC) end SETL, og SETLAUTO reducerer antallet af brugte
begreber (NOUC) yderligere med 25%; 2) ved at bruge SETLCONSTRUCT, er
udviklingstiden næsten halveret sammenlignet med SETL, og skæres med
yderligere 27% ved hjælp af SETLAUTO; 3) SETLCONSTRUCT er skalerbar og
har lignende ydelse sammenlignet med SETL.
Til slut udvikler vi et GUI-baseret semantisk BI system SETLBI for at
definere, processere, integrere og lave forespørgsler på semantiske og ikkesemantiske
data. Ud over definitions-laget og ETL-laget, har SETLBI et
OLAP-lag, som giver en interaktiv grænseflade for at muliggøre selvbetjenings
OLAP analyser over det semantiske DW. Hvert lag er sammensat af en
mængde operationer/opgaver. Vi udarbejder en ontologi til at formalisere
intra-og ekstra-lags forbindelserne mellem komponenterne og lagene. ETLlaget
udvider eksekverings-laget af SETLCONSTUCT ved at tilføje operationer
til at behandle ikke-semantiske datakilder. Vi demonstrerer systemet ved
hjælp af Bangladesh population census 2011 datasættet.
Sammenfatningen af denne afhandling er BI-værktøjet SETLBI . SETLBI
fremmer (1) DW-designere med ringe / ingen SW-viden til semantisk at integrere
semantiske og / eller ikke-semantiske data og analysere det i OLAP
stil, og (2) SW brugere med grundlæggende MD-baggrund til at definere MDvisninger
over semantiske data, der aktiverer OLAP-lignende analyse. Derudover
kan SW-brugere berige det genererede SDW-skema med RDFS / OWLkonstruktioner.
Med udgangspunkt i frameworket som et grundlag kan
forskere sigte mod at udvikle yderligere interaktive og automatiske integrationsrammer
for SDW. Dette projekt bygger bro mellem de traditionelle BIteknologier
og SW-teknologier, som igen vil åbne døren for yderligere forskningsmuligheder
som at udvikle maskinforståelige ETL og lagerteknikker.Postprint (published version
A survey of large-scale reasoning on the Web of data
As more and more data is being generated by sensor networks, social media and organizations, the Webinterlinking this wealth of information becomes more complex. This is particularly true for the so-calledWeb of Data, in which data is semantically enriched and interlinked using ontologies. In this large anduncoordinated environment, reasoning can be used to check the consistency of the data and of asso-ciated ontologies, or to infer logical consequences which, in turn, can be used to obtain new insightsfrom the data. However, reasoning approaches need to be scalable in order to enable reasoning over theentire Web of Data. To address this problem, several high-performance reasoning systems, whichmainly implement distributed or parallel algorithms, have been proposed in the last few years. Thesesystems differ significantly; for instance in terms of reasoning expressivity, computational propertiessuch as completeness, or reasoning objectives. In order to provide afirst complete overview of thefield,this paper reports a systematic review of such scalable reasoning approaches over various ontologicallanguages, reporting details about the methods and over the conducted experiments. We highlight theshortcomings of these approaches and discuss some of the open problems related to performing scalablereasoning
The state of semantic technology today - overview of the first SEALS evaluation campaigns
This paper describes the first five SEALS Evaluation Campaigns over the semantic technologies covered by the SEALS project (ontology engineering tools, ontology reasoning tools, ontology matching tools, semantic search tools, and semantic web service tools). It presents the evaluations and test data used in these campaigns and the tools that participated in them along with a comparative analysis of their results. It also presents some lessons learnt after the execution of the evaluation campaigns and draws some final conclusions
A Semantic-Aware Data Management System for Seismic Engineering Research Projects and Experiments
The invention of the Semantic Web and related technologies is fostering a computing paradigm that entails a shift from databases to Knowledge Bases (KBs). There the core is the ontology that plays a main role in enabling reasoning power that can make implicit facts explicit; in order to produce better results for users. In addition, KB-based systems provide mechanisms to manage information and semantics thereof, that can make systems semantically interoperable and as such can exchange and share data between them. In order to overcome the interoperability issues and to exploit the benefits offered by state of the art technologies, we moved to KB-based system. This paper presents the development of an earthquake engineering ontology with a focus on research project management and experiments. The developed ontology was validated by domain experts, published in RDF and integrated into WordNet. Data originating from scientific experiments such as cyclic and pseudo dynamic tests were also published in RDF. We exploited the power of Semantic Web technologies, namely Jena, Virtuoso and VirtGraph tools in order to publish, storage and manage RDF data, respectively. Finally, a system was developed with the full integration of ontology, experimental data and tools, to evaluate the effectiveness of the KB-based approach; it yielded favorable outcomes