OpenLAB

Figure 1

The above figure shows different research lines followed during my academic career.  I began to research since 2005 year about beneficts provided by emerging Semantic Web technologies focused on learning objects repositories, using the knowledge acquired both my web development experience as well as artificial intelligence studies. The results of this work has given rise one Thesis supported by  several international publications; its title is:

"Semantic mechanisms oriented to flexibility of learning object metadata repositories"

The results proves that it is possible to develop a repository [SLOR] to leave room for different learning object conceptualizations (based on McGreal study). On the other hand, the research describes the posibility to create search functions more complex including useful and accuracy semantic metainformation process.

Convinced with the results, metadata semantic repositories enable new scenarios to execute semantic queries supported by some inference process. As an example (see figure 2) it is posible executes queries on a GIS semantic metadata repository, such as: "retrieve all religious buildings stored" or "get all buildings that contains all pictures painted by Diego Polo"

Figure 2

These types of repositories are fed from big amount of information provided by several data sources;  most of them inserted by users that access to repository via Internet using a multitude of different devices (PDA's , Tablet PC, mobiles). Therefore I have investigated the benefits provided by these types of repositories working on a service oriented architecture, creating a new room that should provided a new semantic search service on any type of software component (CORBA, DCOM, Web Service, etc..) as well as it feeds existing information provided by other sources.

Following this trend I have pointed out three different directions of work:

1. Creation of one Service Engine (SE) to ontology process over an Enterprise Service Bus (similar to an SQL connector, in figure 3 called GORCON - General Ontology Reasoning Connector).
2. Creation of one Binding Component (BC) to achieve the OpenCyc knowledge base integration on an Enterprise Service Bus.
3. Test and proof of semantic metadata repository integration, which is connected to an ESB via a HTTP-SOAP binding component (display as a Web Service) and uses the aforementioned services.

Figure 3