Abstract: There are currently several different approaches to semantics, semantic technologies, and the Semantic Web floating around. While the uptake of these technologies is going well, there is still confusion about what sort of technology fits where and how it works. The confusion is made worse because the term "ontology" is used in a number of different ways. In this talk, I will describe how different sorts of models can be used to link data in different ways. I will particularly explore different kinds of Web applications, from Enterprise Data Integration to Web 3.0 startups, the different needs of Web 2.0 and 3.0, and the different kinds of techniques needed for these different approaches.

Biography: James Hendler is the Tetherless World Professor of Computer and Cognitive Science, and the Assistant Dean for Information Technology, at Rensselaer. He is also a faculty affiliate of the Experimental Multimedia Performing Arts Center (EMPAC), serves as a Director of the international Web Science Research Initiative, and is a visiting Professor at the Institute of Creative Technology at DeMontfort University in Leicester, UK. One of the inventors of the “Semantic Web,” Hendler was the recipient of a 1995 Fulbright Foundation Fellowship, is a member of the US Air Force Science Advisory Board, and is a Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence and the British Computer Society. He is also the former Chief Scientist of the Information Systems Office at the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and was awarded a US Air Force Exceptional Civilian Service Medal in 2002. He is the Editor-in-Chief emeritus of IEEE Intelligent Systems and is the first computer scientist to serve on the Board of Reviewing Editors for Science.