tonic
The place where good lives - good news, good style, and good deeds... more about us
Positively good.

news / projects

us / world / business / social responsibility/ technology / science / entertainment / life & style / travel

Semantic Web Connects Families in War-torn Colombia

By Steve Tanner | Saturday, September 12, 2009 12:55 PM ET

Print Email
Share:

Comments (5)

The evolving intelligence of the World Wide Web is experiencing a quantum leap in the form of so-called "Semantic Web" technology. The Semantic Web gives meaning to Web-based data, previously only relevant in its association with search terms or within its own database, "making it possible for the Web to understand and satisfy the requests of people and machines to use the Web content," in the words of Internet pioneer Tim Berners-Lee.

It likely will bring about brave new applications for Web 2.0 platforms like Facebook, but an international team of researchers has found a truly important use for the Semantic Web -- reuniting Colombians (capital city Bogota pictured above) displaced by years of civil war. An estimated 4.3 million Colombians, or 10 percent of the population, went missing by the end of 2008, according to an article about the project by BBC News.

The problem computer scientist Juan Sequeda and his team hope to remedy is the disconnect between several incompatible databases, akin to the impossible task of sharing information among a room full of people all speaking a different language.

Various organizations, including the International Red Cross, set up databases with the names and relevant information of individuals missing from the South American country's civil conflict. But very few of these databases can communicate with one another. Using what is called a "semantic knowledge layer," information such as name, date of birth and last known address will be linked among these otherwise incompatible data sets.

"It's all about how you integrate data," Sequeda told the BBC.

It could prove wildly successful, but its efforts will be well worth it if only one family is able to reconnect in the wake of such devastation.

Photo courtesy of Matthew Riche, via Wikipedia

Steve Tanner is a freelance writer based in the Santa Cruz Mountains who got his start covering the meteoric rise and subsequent crash-landing of Silicon Valley’s dot-com experiment.

Print Email
Share:

Comments (5)

Comments (1)

Juan Sequeda

70 days ago

Hi Steve,

Thanks for writing about this! I really appreciate the exposure on our project. We are still at an early stage and hoping to get more support.

Report this

Sign up now for the Daily Tonic! We ship a dose of goodness right to your inbox every day.

connect with tonic

RSS

Twitter

Facebook

YouTube

good you've done

  • Helped Project Angel Food prepare and deliver nutritious meals to men, women and children affected by HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.
    Donated one year of Tonic Mailstopper to Project Angel Food for fundraising auction.
  • You helped Tonic plant 1,498 trees in North America, Central America, Africa and Asia.
    Tonic contributed to Sustainable Harvest International, American Forests and Trees for the Future.
  • Sent musical instruments to the U.S. Gulf Coast
    Donated $425 to Music Rising

...more good things