Thetus Knowledge Services
Service oriented architectures (SOA) have become the foundation for the next generation of enterprise applications. The SOA approach lowers integration overhead by establishing standards and interoperability for the data and application services that form the basis for composite web applications. For enterprises, the proliferation of SOA, when paired with newly established enterprise-class semantic technologies, opens the door to new levels of knowledge acquisition and information sharing, offering business much greater access to critical knowledge — and insight into the value and relevance of that knowledge — than was before possible.
A key motive for enterprises that adopt SOA is to ensure that composite applications can respond rapidly to changes in the information and data landscape and to changes in end user needs, without protracted and costly development and integration efforts. With this goal in mind, the initial wave of SOA implementation has focused on establishing service exposure to data sources and to the data service layer in the enterprise. However, it is this exposure, and the inherent limitations in the practical application of data it reveals, that has underscored the need for semantic technology to provide contextualization and to guide service discovery, selection and mediation.
Thetus Knowledge Services Used in Concert with Application and Data Services
Enterprise-class semantic technologies add an essential layer of capabilities to what SOA has traditionally offered by providing a context management framework. Semantic models determine the appropriate ‘fit’ or ‘match’ between users, applications, services and data. Contextualization holds particular value for environments where information evolves rapidly and business needs change frequently. By applying a semantic context management framework across the architecture, enterprises can assure the delivery of services and data that are relevant to a given situation while enabling the flexibility to accommodate the addition of new and/or massive data sources in real-time.
Thetus Knowledge Services provide a streamlined service interface that makes adding high-impact capabilities to existing applications easy. Using Thetus Knowledge Services, developers can address critical enterprise challenges such as how to report information lineage, capture tacit knowledge, assess the correct fit for information and perform knowledge abstraction. The Knowledge Services portfolio currently includes lineage, annotation, and abstraction and will be extended to include perspective, confidence, relevance, and ambiguity.
- Lineage is a mechanism used to capture the history of information as persistent and navigable metadata. Lineage can be used for trust/governance, search (i.e. to seek information changed by a given user), and reporting. Lineage is crucial for understanding the derivation of information and its condition at various points in time; it helps analysts discern the fit of information products in their analysis.
- Annotations are comments in the form of visible metadata that connect to information assets, tools, processes and provide connections to other assets and concepts. These comments add essential insight and perspective to information, extend analyst understanding, and provide a mechanism for discerning both information fit and evolving perception of a changing situation.
- Abstraction is the characterization of information into high-level conceptual groupings. It allows analysts to see a broad picture–an overall lay of the land–and navigate quickly to an area of interest. Often, understanding can be gleaned quickly without regard for specific details. Most analysts are accustomed to abstraction through the use of maps. At a global view, very little detail is present, while at a local view, far more detailed information is provided. Navigation between various levels of detail while retaining context enables rapid understanding.