In recent years we see trends and use cases that clearly strengthen the need for semantic information and the need for machine readable “meaningful” data. There is on the one hand the rise of AI and specifically Explainable AI, which is dramatically changing the interaction between humans and machines. In general, we see a further rise of digitization of the world we live in and technology enablers that require background knowledge to do their jobs. Finally, the rise of Corona was accelerating remote collaboration and technology usage in general, again strengthening the role of computers as mediators in complex environments.
In my view, this leads to a “semantification” of the entire organization, based on digitally available information and knowledge. People need to become knowledge workers to accommodate to the huge challenges ahead of us all.
It is very apparent that the horrific war in the Ukraine is an example for an additional accelerating factor triggering rebuilding global supply chains, which can only work with a minimum of impact when being based on even more sufficient and reliable and structured data.
SEMANTiCS will give us all a first glimpse on these fundamental challenges. Based on the well-known use cases mentioned above being presented in the sessions, the informal talks during the conference will certainly shed some light on how different businesses within Europe and beyond are planning to accommodate to the new situation. This makes an active participation at the conference even more important and rewarding in 2022 than it probably did ever in the long history of SEMANTiCS conference.
About the author: Christian Dirschl
