The midterm is due at the BEGINNING of class on Tues, Nov. 12. That is, we will collect the hard copy of your answer at 5:00 sharp.
The first section of the Scientific American article on the Semantic Web
describes an everyday scenario in a world with a fully realized Semantic Web. In later parts of the article, there are more details of the adventures of Pete and Lucy as well as fairly abstract descriptions of the kinds of technologies and infrastructure that would be needed to make the scenario a reality.
The W3C is planning a "The Semantic Web: Two Years After SciAm Took Notice" presentation at WWW 2003. To this end, they want to try to bring the Pete and Lucy scenario to life, preferably using as much off the shelf and actually deployed components as they can. They would also like the demo to be as real as possible: So while the system might not be ready for shrinkwrap, it should use existing Semantic Web technology as it is intended. (No canned demos! It’s meant to showcase the technology, not the scenario.) You are bidding to build this demo. To that end, you must supply a 2 -4 page proposal detailing how you would build it in six months (bid acceptance is announced Dec. 1st, and WWW2003 is in May). Your proposal should explain which components you would use (e.g., Jess vs. TRIPLE), how that component will be used in the demo, and how that component illustrates the compelling advantage of that Semantic Web technology.
At the end, you should note where off the shelf tech is insufficient, and explain what you need to do (and can do) to bridge that gap, or how to adjust the scenario around current limitations.
You must cover all parts of the scenario (even if your coverage is "It can't be done", you must clearly and forcefully explain why it can't be done and how you propose to patch up the scenario so it still has the same scope and impact). "The scenario" consists of all and only the description comprising the first five paragraphs of the article (everything before the "Expressing Meaning" heading).
Your answer should be typewritten with your university ID number appearing in the upper left hand corner of each page, and no other identifying features.