Semantics is one of the unfortunate words that has been hijacked by everyday IT jargon. The link between the Semantic Web and semantic modelling is comparable to the link between C++ and object orientation. Just as C++ is the result of incorporating object oriented concepts into an existing programming language, the Semantic Web is the result of incorporating semantic concepts into the web technology platform that is defined by W3C standards, which include HTML, URI, HTTP etc. And likewise, just as C++ is not the nirvana of object orientation, public domain ontologies and Semantic Web tools do not cover all aspects of semantic modelling.
This week Sofismo presented the Gmodel platform for semantic modelling & language engineering at the first Workshop on Model-Driven Interoperability at the MoDELS conference in Oslo. An introductory article on Gmodel can be downloaded as part of the workshop proceedings, and corresponding slides are included below.
