Cutter Research Journal - June 1st Call For Papers: The Rise of the Semantic Enterprise

Description

Call for Papers

Below is the call for papers for the upcoming Cutter IT Journal issue The Rise of the Semantic Enterprise: Embracing Web 3.0-based Technologies Inside the Firewall, guest edited by Mitchell Ummel.

• Abstract Submission Date: 1 June 2009
• Articles Due: 10 July 2009
• Guidelines for Contributors

The Rise of the Semantic Enterprise: Embracing Web 3.0-based Technologies Inside the Firewall

The Internet is undergoing a rapid transformation from a web of hyperlinked documents to a web of semantically linked data. The potential change to our approach in developing enterprise systems in a Semantic Web 3.0-based world is on the verge of being explored.

However, we can say one thing for certain. Through the years, Internet-borne technologies have a perfect track record of being conceived, realized, and proven first on the Internet, before eventually finding utility within the inner realms of the enterprise. The list of technologies is long, so we won't rehash it here -- just start with TCP/IP and end with whatever the Semantic Web evolves to be.

We can define an era paralleling, but also closely trailing, the rise of the Semantic Web as the era of the Semantic Enterprise (SE). A SE can be defined as any public or private company (large or small), government agency, or organization, who successfully exploits Semantic Web 3.0-based technologies for applications within the enterprise. These technologies include (but are not limited to) the W3C-endorsed Semantic Web technologies RDF, RDFS, OWL, and SPARQL. The defining architectural frameworks which enable the SE can be referred to as the Semantic Enterprise Architecture (SEA).

As for applicability within the enterprise, one might suggest that traditional enterprise systems are from Mars and Semantic Enterprise systems are from Venus -- in reference to the fundamental differences in principles and design assumptions underlying each.

Traditional Enterprise Systems Are from Mars
Within the confines of an enterprise, traditional applications generally lead us to operate under what are known as closed-world assumptions (CWA). This implies that all decisions and business rules can be applied to data or facts that are known to, and managed by, the enterprise as a closed world. In a CWA environment, we operate today's enterprise resource planning (ERP), accounting, and payroll systems typically upon an engineered relational data base management system (RDBMS), which is normalized to achieve a balance of flexibility, extensibility, and performance. Rest assured that the relational data on which decisions are made is complete, accurate, and under our control. As such, we can confidently infer meaning from facts or, alternatively, from the absence or converse of facts, which exist as transactions in the RDMS.

The characteristics of traditional enterprise systems are well known, and the methodologies for developing them are mature.

Semantic Web Systems Are from Venus
The technologies, applications, and data of the Semantic Web live in what is known as open-world assumptions (OWA). This means simply that data or facts are assumed to be incomplete and will generally never be fully known. In OWA, applications issue SPARQL queries across massive RDF "triple-stores"; navigating OWL-based ontologies spanning a wide variety of public and/or private information domains. We can infer meaning through the collective information store, but are often not able to infer absolute meaning from an absence of a fact or even from the converse of a known fact.

The point is that today's realization of semantically aware application technologies are likely not directly applicable to such traditional applications as ERP, accounting, and payroll systems; however, it is likely in the very near future that we will find beneficial applications of Semantic Web 3.0-based technologies to specific business problem domains, where traditional enterprise systems have fallen short. These applications may include, but are not limited to:

• Business Intelligence (BI)
• Data Mining (across structured and unstructured data stores)
• E-Discovery (across centralized and distributed data stores)
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems leveraging social networking extensions
• Dynamic Business Rules (Inference Engine) optimization
• Ontology based security/trust credentialing, private social networks, and public referral/viral product marketing using FOAF (Friend of a Friend) and other maturing ontologies.
• Extraction, Transformation, Loading (ETL) services and (RDF-izers), which automatically transform and publish enterprise data into private and/or public ontological stores.

The September 2009 Cutter IT Journal invites useful debate and analyses on future applications of Semantic Web 3.0-based technologies within the enterprise including the viability and benefits of applying these technologies to the enterprise problem domain. We encourage those from around the globe to tell us their stories.

TOPICS OF INTEREST MAY INCLUDE (but are certainly not limited to) a combination of the following:

• How does your company, or customer, employ Semantic Web 3.0-based technologies for applications within the enterprise today?
• What are some of the enterprise applications you see having compelling business value and arising within the Semantic Enterprise?
• What are the challenges or barriers hindering the Semantic Enterprise?
• How will our eventual embrace of Semantic Web 3.0-based technologies in the Semantic Enterprise change our approach to Enterprise Architecture (including but not limited to business, data/information, application, and technology architectures)?
• In the Semantic Enterprise, can massive "fact stores" (expressed in RDF within OWL-based ontologies), navigated by inference engines and fueled by expert systems or neural networks, someday replace our traditional Decision Support Systems which are today based on static logic and rigid business rule engines?
• How will our approach to traditional relational or object data modeling, Master Data Management (MDM), and overall information architectures evolve in the Semantic Enterprise?
• Identify unique considerations and challenges related to security, privacy, and data ownership/governance resulting from the Semantic Enterprise.
• What specific initiatives or measures should forward-thinking CIOs be taking today to take advantage of the opportunities the Semantic Enterprise presents?

Finally, we are very interested in hearing different perspectives on the issue, from those in academia to industry and government. All are encouraged to submit articles for consideration.

TO SUBMIT AN ARTICLE IDEA

Please respond to Mitchell Ummel, mitchell@ummelgroup.com, with a copy to itjournal@cutter.com, no later than 1 June 2009 and include an extended abstract and a short article outline showing major discussion points.

ARTICLE DEADLINE

Articles are due on 10 July 2009.

EDITORIAL GUIDELINES

Most Cutter IT Journal articles are approximately 2,500-3,500 words long, plus whatever graphics are appropriate. If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact CITJ's Group Publisher, Christine Generali at cgenerali[at]cutter[dot]com or the Guest Editor, Mitchell Ummel at mitchell[at]ummelgroup[dot]com. Editorial guidelines are available at http://www.cutter.com/content-and-analysis/journals-and-reports/cut ter-it-journal/edguide.html .

AUDIENCE

Typical readers of Cutter IT Journal range from CIOs and vice presidents of software organizations to IT managers, directors, project leaders, and very senior technical staff. Most work in fairly large organizations: Fortune 500 IT shops, large computer vendors (IBM, HP, etc.), and government agencies. 48% of our readership is outside of the US (15% from Canada, 14% Europe, 5% Australia/NZ, 14% elsewhere). Please avoid introductory-level, tutorial coverage of a topic. Assume you're writing for someone who has been in the industry for 10 to 20 years, is very busy, and very impatient. Assume he or she will be asking, "What's the point? What do I do with this information?" Apply the "So what?" test to everything you write.

PROMOTIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

We are pleased to offer Journal authors a year's complimentary subscription and 10 copies of the issue in which they are published. In addition, we occasionally pull excerpts, along with the author's bio, to include in our weekly Cutter Edge e-mail bulletin, which reaches another 8,000 readers. We'd also be pleased to quote you, or passages from your article, in Cutter press releases. If you plan to be speaking at industry conferences, we can arrange to make copies of your article or the entire issue available for attendees of those speaking engagements -- furthering your own promotional efforts.

ABOUT CUTTER IT JOURNAL

No other journal brings together so many cutting-edge thinkers, and lets them speak so bluntly and frankly. We strive to maintain the Journal's reputation as the "Harvard Business Review of IT." Our goal is to present well-grounded opinion (based on real, accountable experiences), research, and animated debate about each topic the Journal explores.

FEEL FREE TO FORWARD THIS CALL FOR PAPERS TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT HAVE AN APPROPRIATE SUBMISSION.

The Rise of the Semantic Enterprise: Embracing Web 3.0-based Technologies Inside the Firewall

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