1. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 1 The Ontolog Community: Differentiation & Potential Contribution Ontology Community Efforts: Differentiation & Synergy by Peter P. Yim ONTOLOG, co-convener / CIM3, CEO presented at the: Joint SICoP-Ontolog Panel Discussion: November 10, 2005 ( v 1.02)

2. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 2 ONTOLOG (aka. Ontolog Forum) est. Apr.2002 3 co-conveners3 co-conveners - PeterYim; LeoObrst & KurtConrad HostedHosted on the CIM3 collaborative work environment infrastructure Charter :Charter - Ontolog is an open, international, virtual community of practice, whose membership will:   Discuss practical issues and strategies associated with the development and application of both formal and informal ontologies.   Identify ontological engineering approaches that might be applied to the UBL effort, as well as to the broader domain of eBusiness standardization efforts.   Strive to advance the field of ontological engineering and semantic technologies, and to help move them into main stream applications. Activities:Activities:   Weekly conference calls of active members   Monthly virtual Invited Speaker events   Scheduled Technical Discussions   Specific Projects: like [CCT-Rep], [Health-Ont], NHIN-RFI response,...   Resides on a virtual collaborative work environment which serves as a dynamic knowledge repository to the community's collective intelligence We welcome your participation – see: http://ontolog.cim3.net/wiki/We welcome your participation – see: http://ontolog.cim3.net/wiki/ Introducing:

3. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 3 Working as Communities of Practice What are CoP’s anyway? small groups of people who have worked together over a period of time. Not a team, not a task force, not necessarily an authorized or identified group. They are peers in the execution of "real work." What holds them together is a common sense of purpose and a real need to know what each other knows. (--John Seely Brown / ref: )small groups of people who have worked together over a period of time. Not a team, not a task force, not necessarily an authorized or identified group. They are peers in the execution of "real work." What holds them together is a common sense of purpose and a real need to know what each other knows. (--John Seely Brown / ref: ttp://ps1.cim3.net/ps.php?theurl=http://www.fastcompany.com/online/01/people.html#purp205) ttp://ps1.cim3.net/ps.php?theurl=http://www.fastcompany.com/online/01/people.html#purp205 a group of professionals, informally bound to one another through exposure to a common class of problems, common pursuit of solutions, and thereby themselves embodying a store of knowledge. (--Peter & Trudy Johnson-Lenz / ref: )a group of professionals, informally bound to one another through exposure to a common class of problems, common pursuit of solutions, and thereby themselves embodying a store of knowledge. (--Peter & Trudy Johnson-Lenz / ref: ttp://ps1.cim3.net/ps.php?theurl=http://www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge- garden/cop/definitions.shtml#purp47)ttp://ps1.cim3.net/ps.php?theurl=http://www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge- garden/cop/definitions.shtml#purp47 groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and who interact regularly to learn how to do it better. (--Etienne Wenger / ref: )groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and who interact regularly to learn how to do it better. (--Etienne Wenger / ref: ttp://www.ewenger.com/theory/index.htm)ttp://www.ewenger.com/theory/index.htm in our case here, it could be groups that work together along lines of business within the government that are dedicated to the support of certain business functions (ref: )in our case here, it could be groups that work together along lines of business within the government that are dedicated to the support of certain business functions (ref: ttp://colab.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?DataReferenceModel_09_2004/TheGlossary_DRM_VolIv1#nid2K8F)ttp://colab.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?DataReferenceModel_09_2004/TheGlossary_DRM_VolIv1#nid2K8F

4. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 4 Ontolog – an open CoP “ John McCarthy chating with Doug Engelbart at a bar … leading to a joint virtual project team-up”

5. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 5 Ontolog’s key Differentiation Activities are community driven; we are neutral, open, and we are not answerable to any authority or institutional structure, except for (explicitly) our charter & IPR policy, and (implicitly) our professional integrity. We are adamant about collaboration, sharing and open knowledge … and are trying to spur organic or emergent behavior in the community and our project teams

6. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 6 What really matter are … (… after one can meet with what is needed) COSTCOST  There’s practically no out-of-pocket cost to participate QUALITYQUALITY  We have been blessed with a membership that include some of the most respected names in the space … and we have nothing else to answer to except our professional integrity  Over the last 3.5 years, we’ve earned the trust and respect of fellow practitioners RESPONSIVENESS (or AGILITY)RESPONSIVENESS (or AGILITY)  Given a passionate active membership, we can ‘really’ turn on a dime Back in my CIM days, I’ve learned that …

7. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 7 What can Ontolog bring to the table? our open collaborative attitude - we can and will gladly work with other communities sharing similar attitudes and goalsour open collaborative attitude - we can and will gladly work with other communities sharing similar attitudes and goals our established infrastructure and community membership of a lot of the key players in the domainour established infrastructure and community membership of a lot of the key players in the domain our agility: we can put together a fairly substantial virtual event in short order (say, 2 weeks.)our agility: we can put together a fairly substantial virtual event in short order (say, 2 weeks.) help evangelize ontological work and educate the industryhelp evangelize ontological work and educate the industry explicit input to eGov and Standards bodies (OASIS, UN/CEFACT, …)explicit input to eGov and Standards bodies (OASIS, UN/CEFACT, …) implicit sharing of expertise with other communities (especially those who reside on and share the cim3.net infrastructure)implicit sharing of expertise with other communities (especially those who reside on and share the cim3.net infrastructure)

8. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 8 Case Examples of Communities on the CIM3.NET Collaborative Work Environments (CWE’s) OntologOntolog CWE-devCWE-dev BootstrapBootstrap ProtégéProtégé eGov: COLABeGov: COLAB eGov: DRM project work & public forumeGov: DRM project work & public forum Millennium Project (AC/UNU)Millennium Project (AC/UNU) Digital Art OntologyDigital Art Ontology Hosting of: SUMO, CODS,Hosting of: SUMO, CODS, … (more)… (more)

9. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 9 Q & A Discussion

10. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 10 Appendix Backup slides

11. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 11 US – eGovernment

12. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 12 What Does it Take to do it Effectively?... more than just smart and knowledgeable individuals:... more than just smart and knowledgeable individuals: We need to get organized (even when that ‘organization’ is supposed to be organic) we need to work as distributed nodes in a networked community, and get coordinated we need to arrive at shared understanding we need proper coordination and governance... more than research, experiments and pilots... we need adoption:... we need adoption: we need to apply ontological engineering and semantic technologies to real problems we need to operationalize these applications and deploy them on secured, robust, scalable infrastructures we need to transfer the technology and our learnings to the world at-large... please refer also to:... please refer also to: Yim, P. “Developing Semantic Technologies in a Collaborative Work Environment” presentation at: http://colab.cim3.net/cgi- bin/wiki.pl?ExpeditionWorkshop/SemanticConflictMappingandEnablement_MakingCommitm entsTogether_2005_02_22#nid2IGF

13. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 13 Working in the “wicked problem” space “ … on tackling 'wicked problems': it's about arriving at a shared commitment, with a shared understanding, augmented by a shared display and a facilitator.” -- citing the work by the IBIS people (Horst Rittle/Jeff Conklin) “wicked” problems are problems that we can’t even properly define … Ref: ttp://www.oppendieckcom/wicked.tmttp://www.oppendieckcom/wicked.tm

14. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 14 An Organizational Form that the CWE aims at Supporting – leading us toward Open Virtual Enterprises Source: Institute for the Future: Johansen, R., Swigart, R. Upsizing the Individual in the Downsized Organization introducing: The Fishnet Organization these are temporary (or semi-permanent) hierarchies, that emerge out of the CoP's, which capitalize on distributed capabilities to achieve specific purposes; when those purposes are achieved (or when the opportunities no longer exist), they disband, and the resources (people, knowledge, skill sets) are returned to the CoP's where they come from.

15. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 15 Tool System Media Portray Travel, View Study Manipulate Retrieve Compute Communicate Human System Paradigms Organization Procedures Customs Methods Language Attitudes Capability Infrastructure Percept.Motor Mental Skills Knowledge Training Capability to Improve Needs a prominent and explicit role! Harnessing explosive technology depends, to a new degree, on the “Capability-Improvement Capability ” - Doug Engelbart, Jan. 2000 (excerpt from the tanford ‘Unfinished Revolution-II’ Colloquium)tanford ‘Unfinished Revolution-II’ Colloquium

16. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 16 Software Featured in CODS Protégé Multiuser ServerProtégé Multiuser Server RDBMS backend (Oracle or MySQL)RDBMS backend (Oracle or MySQL) PomptTAB (Protégé plugin)PomptTAB (Protégé plugin) Subversion server & client (TortoiseSVN client for Windows)Subversion server & client (TortoiseSVN client for Windows) Apache web server & WebDAV serverApache web server & WebDAV server Linux platformLinux platform Augmentation of the team collaboration with the CWE suite of open source collaboration tools (for portal, archived discussion, wiki & file-sharing workspace)Augmentation of the team collaboration with the CWE suite of open source collaboration tools (for portal, archived discussion, wiki & file-sharing workspace)

17. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 17 An Augmented Approach We combine the strengths of both the Protégé ontology tools platform, and CIM3’s infrastructure to provide a collaborative ontology development environment for both humans and machines, optimizing between (sometimes conflicting) objectives like:We combine the strengths of both the Protégé ontology tools platform, and CIM3’s infrastructure to provide a collaborative ontology development environment for both humans and machines, optimizing between (sometimes conflicting) objectives like: Human expressiveness vs. machine rigorHuman expressiveness vs. machine rigor Average user vs. power user expectationAverage user vs. power user expectation Secured system vs. open systemSecured system vs. open system Transaction system vs. groupware system behaviorTransaction system vs. groupware system behavior Our intent is to foster shared understanding and learningOur intent is to foster shared understanding and learning We are trying to spur innovation, as well as organic or emergent behavior in the user communities and teamsWe are trying to spur innovation, as well as organic or emergent behavior in the user communities and teams

18. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 18 CIM Engineering Inc. (dba. CIM3) est. 1989 Mission: to enable more effective distributed collaboration and virtual enterprise through bootstrapping collective intelligence over the InternetMission: to enable more effective distributed collaboration and virtual enterprise through bootstrapping collective intelligence over the Internet Products/Services: providing an ISP/ASP based Collaborative Work Environment (“CWE”) infrastructure that enables distributed project teams, virtual enterprise partners and communities of practice to work effectively over the Internet.Products/Services: providing an ISP/ASP based Collaborative Work Environment (“CWE”) infrastructure that enables distributed project teams, virtual enterprise partners and communities of practice to work effectively over the Internet. CIM3 - Collaboration In huMan, Methods and Machine, in essence, we are about:CIM3 - Collaboration In huMan, Methods and Machine, in essence, we are about:  People, Process & Tools  Augmented Collaboration Approach-1: People as an integral part of the systemApproach-1: People as an integral part of the system Approach-2: We optimize our infrastructure, tools and process for CoP’s and Distributed Project Teams … we take care of the infrastructure, so that those communities and teams can really focus on their workApproach-2: We optimize our infrastructure, tools and process for CoP’s and Distributed Project Teams … we take care of the infrastructure, so that those communities and teams can really focus on their work Approach-3: We do it because we feel it is important, meaningful, and that we are passionate about it (but then, we still appreciate getting remunerated for the work.)Approach-3: We do it because we feel it is important, meaningful, and that we are passionate about it (but then, we still appreciate getting remunerated for the work.) Introducing:

19. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 19 Hosted Infrastructure Product features:Product features:  CWE – “open”, “community-only” & “secured”  Robust, scalable, enterprise performance  Secured and Fault Tolerant  Platform neutral ( PC’s, Mac’s, Linux, Unix, …) Infrastructure:Infrastructure:  Tier-1 hosting facility  100Mbps bandwidth into the Internet backbone  Backbone: multiple OC48 & Gige self-healing fiber-ring

20. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 20 Our Hosting Facility

21. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 21 “Open” – the final frontier we mean: open standards, open technology (including free and open source software), open content, open knowledge, open process, open access, open mind … and the transparency associated with themwe mean: open standards, open technology (including free and open source software), open content, open knowledge, open process, open access, open mind … and the transparency associated with them it’s a two-edged sword that we need to learn to handleit’s a two-edged sword that we need to learn to handle however, our unimpeded progress (as in continuous improvement to cope with an exponential rate of change) will depend on ithowever, our unimpeded progress (as in continuous improvement to cope with an exponential rate of change) will depend on it

22. ppy/Yim_Ontolog_20051110.ppt/Nov-2005 22 T he real “Key” to success the individual participants hold the key to the communities’ and their project’s success, and it’s all in their “attitude towards sharing and commitment”the individual participants hold the key to the communities’ and their project’s success, and it’s all in their “attitude towards sharing and commitment”