What is the Semantic Web? Technology Voice recently interviewed some leading Semantic Web researchers with both academic and industrial experience to find out what it is, why it is needed, and what are the exciting applications of semantic technologies.

The results of these interviews are captured in our exclusive 44-minute video, “Deciphering the Semantic Web“.

We speak to Professor Stefan Decker of the INSIGHT Data Analytics Centre at NUI Galway. Established ten years ago on what was effectively a greenfield site in terms of Semantic Web research, the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) at NUI Galway created a Semantic Web powerhouse with research linkages to multinational corporations and SMEs in the Galway area. Now part of the new national INSIGHT Data Analytics Centre funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), this Semantic Web research group at NUI Galway continues to tackle challenging problems around networked knowledge and linked data.

Also with a base in Galway, Avaya has collaborated with DERI on Semantic Web research co-funded by SFI to examine the future of business telecommunications. We speak to Dr Ronan Fox, now Software Engineering Manager at Avaya, about how third parties can gain an understanding of what the Semantic Web can do for them.

Seevl is one of the spin-out companies from DERI, providing music recommendations on YouTube and Deezer using linked music data. We interview Dr Alexandre Passant, CEO and co-founder of Seevl, to find out about some of the practical uses of the Semantic Web.

We also interview Professor Axel Polleres from the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Vien) about standardisation and the importance of common agreement between organisations.

Finally, we speak to Dr Michael Hausenblas, Chief Data Engineer EMEA with big data platform solutions company MapR Technologies, to find out about linked data and the possibilities it can enable.

If you are a teacher and are interested in using this video in your class, please contact us at editor@technologyvoice.com.