Putting a Semantic Wiki to work

The buzz is gradually getting louder: Terms like Web3.0, Semantic Web/Wiki and Linked Data are picked up more frequently every day. Discussions are shifting from the definition of terms to the application of them in the field. But where do we stand? Can we get this “Semantic Prophecy” into action today? The answer is surprisingly simple: Yes we can. And it’s quite easy too!

Why the need for a wiki?
The architecture department of my client needs an information structure. Some of the requirements are: instantly accessible for all roles in the development process, able to trace system properties back to their roots and able to expand to other areas in the development process (which prevents construction of an ivory tower).

After reviewing a number of architecture tools, none of them seemed to fit the bill: They specialize only in the field of architecture and/or does not have instantly accessible data.

Then I started to look at other options to answer our question: How can we structure our information in a flexible and accessible manner? After a bit of googling, I found that “Semantics” could help us out in form of a Semantic Wiki: Structured, Accessible, Adaptable.

Wikidsmart (zAgile)
There are increasingly more options for a Semantic Wiki. Semantic MediaWiki, Wikidsmart, OntoWiki, with more popping up every week. However, there was not much debate on which one to use. Confluence Wiki and Jira are already being used in the development process here. And since Wikidsmart is the only tool that integrates with both of them. It was not much of a choice.

Install, Use … and the ontology
Now all I had to do was install it on a test machine and prove that it works. And that’s all I did, really! No long story about failing a install, complex manuals, etc... It just works. With no prior knowlegde of Confluence, Wikidsmart, Ontologies, templates, etc... Within a week I had confluence running, with Wikismart with my own ontology on it.

Oh, yeah, the ontology. I almost forgot. It took about three weeks to create the ontology (the meta-model that structures the semantic wiki) with the architecture department. And we’re still working on it: It is the hardest part of it all. Get this wrong and the information you generate has neither head nor tail. It’s quite easy to get it wrong, too. If you get it right, however, you’ll be able to generate templates, pages, queries and views in no-time. Put them to work and your users can generate, modify and read the information they really need.

Nothing new, you say? The big plus here is that the relations between the pieces of information take the information itself (and the possibilities for using it) to a new level: Questions like “Which stakeholders are involved with system property X?” are answered by one single query. Glorious!

Conclusion
After reading this you’d probably say I’ve seen the light. And in a way I have: Semantic Wiki’s are one form in which our use of information will evolve.

But are we there yet? We’re very, very close. We are nearing the breakthrough of Semantic Wiki Tooling. Before year’s end, the first steps are taken in making Semantic Wikis a standard corporate tool. It is able to integrate information from the entire development process into one wiki. And we’re going to love using it. :-)