Getting Ready for the Semantic Web

NEXT CLASSES:
East Coast: June 23 - 26, 2008, Wash., DC.

West Coast: June 9 - 12, 2008, Mountain View, CA area.

Now in its 5th Year, TopQuadrant in collaboration with Jim Hendler is offering a program of Public and On-Site Seminars and Workshops on Semantic Technologies and the Semantic Web.

Content Covered

In the last 4 years over 500 people have experienced these trainings. The well established curriculum is being continuously updated to reflect new developments in the technology and industry.

In 2007, this flexible program of classes will be offered in the Washington, DC and Mountain View, CA on an approximate bi-annual basis. The next dates are given in the table below.

For other locations (US and international) and for groups wanting to take advantage of on-site education, tailored to their specific needs, we continue to offer private trainings. Please see our On-site Programs and Price List.

Upcoming classes

A four day course in three progressive modules

* Group Discounts are available.
** Day 1 only (Executive Briefing) is available on limited basis for $500 per person. Contact trainings@topquadrant.com
1 Wash DC trainings are held at: 1800 Diagonal Road, Alexandria, VA 22314
2 California trainings are held at: NASA Research Park, Moffett Field, CA 94035

The program focuses on the use of semantic technology to enable the next generation of Enterprise Solutions for business and government. By popular demand, the program is designed to mentor executives, managers and 'change agents' with an overview of the expected impact and value propositions for semantic web applications (Module I) as well as to provide detail hands-on training for architects, application developers and ontology modelers (Modules II and III) covering a range of leading commercial and open source software components and tools.

These in-depth classes cover topical semantic and knowledge technology areas. Each offering in this series is jointly designed and delivered with Jim Hendler to feature the latest content in this important, emerging field, including:

• case studies and success stories
• standards and strategic direction
• products and vendors
• state-of-the-art knowledge and experience

The curriculum emphasizes interactive participation, exploration and evaluation.

Contact us at (703) 299-9330 or trainings@topquadrant.com for questions or requests.

Content Details

Module 1: Overview of Semantic Technologies and the Semantic Web

• Semantic Technology Introduction: Background and Level Set
• Uses and value of semantic web technology: review of illustrative semantic capabilities
• Overview of semantic models, languages and standards
• Contrasting Semantic with Conventional Technologies
• Tools for working with semantic models
• Potential of semantic web solutions and challenges of adoption
• sample content

Module 2: Using Semantic Standards, Languages and Tools

• XML Fundamentals: URIs and Namespaces
• RDF Model and Syntax
• RDFS Vocabularies
• OWL Syntax
• Building a Semantic Web Application
• OWL Reasoners: Lite / DL / Full
• Sample Content

Module 3: Understanding Ontologies and their Role in Semantic Solutions

• Using Ontology Modeling Tools: TopBraid Composer&tm; and SWOOP
• Ontology Lifecycle Methods - competency and capability questions
• Ontology Solution Case Studies - Interoperability and Federation of Models
• Ontology Engineering Issues: Mapping Ontologies, Connecting to Legacy Data and Schemas
• Policy and Trust in the Semantic Web
• Ontology Modeling Patterns and Best Practices

Venue Information

East Coast - Washington DC area
1800 Diagonal Road, Suite 600
Alexandria, VA 22314 
(across the street from the King Street metro (Yellow or Blue line) and the train station)

Hotel Accommodations closest to this venue
Embassy Suites - Old Town
1900 Diagonal Road,
Alexandria, VA
703/684-5900
800/Embassy
www.embassysuitesdcmetro.com

Hampton Inn-King Street Metro
1616 King St.
Alexandria, VA
703/299-9900
www.hamptoninn.com

Hilton Alexandria Old Town
1767 King St.
Alexandria, VA
703/837-0440
www.hilton.com

Holiday Inn Select Old Town
480 King St.
Alexandria
703/549-6080
800/368-5047
www.oldtownhis.com

Morrison House (A Relais & Chateaux property)
116 S. Alfred St.
Alexandria, VA
703/838-8000
800/367-0800
www.morrisonhouse.com
www.relaischateaux.fr/preindex.htm   

Residence Inn by Marriott
1456 Duke St.
Alexandria, VA
703/684-6843
800/331-3131
www.marriott.com

West Coast - Silicon Valley
NASA Research Park
Building 19
Moffett Field, California 94035
Directions 

About the Series, Designers and Instructors

Representing a unique combination of seminal researchers, thought leaders and experienced practitioners in this emerging field, TopQuadrant personnel together with Jim Hendler and his MINDLab researchers are well-qualified to educate about and enable the promise of semantic solutions.

Jim Hendler is a Professor at the University of Maryland and the Director of Semantic Web and Agent Technology at the Maryland Information and Network Dynamics Laboratory. He holds joint appointments in the Department of Computer Science, the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies and the Institute for Systems Research, and he is also an affiliate of the Electrical Engineering Department. He has authored close to 150 technical papers in the areas of artificial intelligence, robotics, agent-based computing and high performance processing. 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. As Chief Scientist and Program Manager at DARPA for the DAML program, he has been one of the major drivers in the creation of the Semantic Web, and continues to be a prominent player in the W3C’s Semantic Web Activity.

TopQuadrant provides a range of semantic web solution services ,expertise and tools to support customer needs throughout the Semantic Solution Lifecycle - from concept to deployment. Our Federal Solutions practice has in depth experience with the Federal Enterprise Architecture and develops solutions based on the FEA and DoDAF ontologies. We maintain a constant watch on semantic technology products, vendors and standards to support our semantic technology projects with practical evaluations of the current state of practice combined with a strategic view of the role and value of these technologies. In addition to our semantic services and trainings, other activities and offerings include application discovery and requirements services using Solution Envisioning with Capability Cases.

Some of the companies attending past workshops

What attendees are saying

Nancy Adam Turner, MLIS, Senior Reference Librarian/ Knowledge Specialist, Head Start Information and Publication Center
"The Semantic Web seminar program offered by Top Quadrant is both very informative as well as interesting covering cutting edge aspects of one the newest Internet Applications namely RDF/OWL- With the dynamic leadership of Prof. James Hendler, University of Maryland; Mindswap.org and Dean Allemang, TopQuadrant. The training offered a high quality peer group learning environment and the interactive sessions allowing participants from all types of IT/ KM /Librarianship and Computer Engineering field to benefit from each others professional experience. I would definitely recommend this program to anyone in the Library/ Information/ Knowledge management arena as a valuable tool in the ever changing technology."

Ed Luczak, Sr. Consulting Engineer, CSC
"I attended the 4-day tutorial series on Semantic Technologies conducted by TopQuadrant and Jim Hendler in November and December 2003, and found it to be top-notch. Hendler is a leading researcher in the semantic web field, and the TopQuadrant instructors are experienced practitioners in semantic technologies. The tutorial provided valuable insights into how semantic web technologies will be applied, and some solid hands-on exercises using the new RDF and OWL language specifications."

Sue Marshall, Associate, Booz-Allen & Hamilton (April, 2006 training)
"I loved the class, it was excellent,  Dean Allemang is a superb teacher." 

Christopher Bunk, Knowledge Systems Engineer, ARES Corporation (February, 2006 training)
"Your class was excellent!  I learned a tremendous amount about both practical applications of semantic technologies and the potential and future vision of the semantic web." 

Harold Frisch, Senior Systems Engineer, NASA
"The two-day executive overview was well worth the time and effort"

Skills and Knowledge gained

• Understand Semantic Capabilities: Application Areas, Business Value and Success Stories
• Know the status of W3C's semantic layers - languages standards and technology roadmap
• Write simple RDF and OWL statements in XML
• Validate RDF statements with an RDF Validation tool
• Explore differences between semantic technology vs. relational DB and object technologies
• Understand how inferred statements are generated by reasoners
• Learn how to use RDF to collaborate on shared information spaces
• Explore and contrast different kinds of semantic web products and tools
• Create an OWL ontology using popular development tools (e.g., TopBraid™ and SWOOP)
• Write and execute queries in the W3C standard query language SPARQL
• Appreciate ontology lifecycle issues and the role ontologies play in semantic solutions
• Understand ontology modeling patterns and best practices
• Examine approaches for merging and integrating ontologies
• Learn about upcoming standards from W3C: OWL-S (Semantic Web Services) and SWRL (Rules)