European conference shows interest in semantic tech growing

The 2nd annual ESTC finished on Friday last week with an interesting panel chaired by Paul Miller. In addition to Paul and myself there were a further 5 panellists and we’d been invited to discuss industrial uptake of semantic technologies. Paul's report on the panel can be found on his blog. As for myself, I was pleased, not to say relieved, in my role as conference chair to see that we achieved a (small) increase in numbers compared with the first year. Furthermore, there was a shift away from academic attendance and towards a higher proportion of industrial involvement, with 65% of attendees from industry as compared with last year's 50%. We also managed to attract some good press coverage: how's your German?

Semantic search isn't a one horse race

Some people's excitement about semantic technology boils down to who's going to use the technology to leapfrog Google. This rather misses the point about semantic technology which has many application areas beyond search (see, for example, Michael Brodie's interesting post on this). But beating Google will continue to be a popular angle for discussing the future of the technology (and indeed information technology overall). It can be misleading though as is demonstrated by a recent article. This misses the point somewhat by suggesting prospects for semantic search are summed up by what Microsoft-owned Powerset offers and that against Google this isn't much more than hype. Besides seeming unduly negative about Powerset, the article's tone tars all semantic search products with the same brush, missing the fact that companies like Expert System, Hakia and Yahoo are reportedly getting positive results from their semantic search forays. Expert System are now looking at semantic matching in search engine advertising which they claim is more accurate than can be achieved by traditional technology. And, yes, my now-traditional plug: you can get this much wider and richer picture about the state of semantic search at ESTC 2008, along with presentations on the application of semantic technology to service-oriented environments, information integration, knowledge management and more.

VCs fund the semantic web, ESTC08 runs start-up competition

Commercialising R&D can be a challenge in some markets more than others. What is interesting about semantic technology is that venture capitalists and other investors now really seem to get it. One novel feature we are adding to the ESTC 2008 event I've mentioned before, is to offer a forum for new business ideas and ventures, as well talking about the latest research, development and business benefits of the technology. A lot of this will be done informally but there’s also a business idea competition. Calling it a dragons' den is perhaps going too far but we will be putting entrants in direct contact with a set of judges who are passionate about getting great semantic technology from the lab and into the market. And for one I am looking forward to hearing the pitches and announcing the finalist.