SWAP - Semantic Web and Peer-to-Peer

SWAP combines two highly successful technologies, viz. Semantic Web and Peer-to-peer computing. SWAP will develop the technology that is necessary to allow users their individual views on knowledge AND let them share knowledge effectively. In order to allow for individual views, every user’s PC is treated as a peer and every user may ask queries to the network of peers. In order to actually find the right piece of knowledge, SWAP employs Semantic Web technology. Current peer-to-peer technology only allows for keyword search and lacks the semantics that is necessary for effective, precise knowledge sharing. Current knowledge repositories lack the capability to provide really individual views in a decentralized framework with low administration overhead. SWAP will produce both.
The combination of Semantic Web and Peer-to-peer is highly innovative with prospective benefits to the individualization of work views as well as to the facilitation of knowledge sharing between peers. SWAP will tackle the semantic challenges brought up by this novel combination such that knowledge finding and sharing is effectively possible. The basic infrastructure will build on already available Open Source peer-to-peer solutions. In particular: 1. SWAP will offer a Conceptual Analysis of the problem. The analysis comprises the use of semantic web technology in peer-to-peer computing, but it will also consider how emergent semantics may be constructed by overlapping knowledge structures of different peers (e.g. common categorizations of knowledge, common bookmark names of web pages). 2. SWAP will explore the conceptual architectures made possible by this combination. They constitute the foundations for the subsequent integration task as well as for further exploitation. 3. SWAP will investigate new methods to realize a Semantic Web based peer-to-peer system. 4. The methods will be implemented in a set of tools. 5. The tools will be integrated based on the foundations from the conceptual architectures in a demonstrator that can be tested in case studies. 6. The tool environment will be evaluated in two case studies about Knowledge Management for investment analysts and about Knowledge Sharing between SMEs (virtual enterprises).