Overview
Most organisations are accustomed to creating and sharing information as part of their day-to-day business processes.
The information which is shared forms a valuable asset of the organisation. If these base information assets can be enhanced to specify where and when the information can be used in a business process, then the organisation has created an even more valuable asset - knowledge!
Information can be transformed into knowledge by adding metadata (information about the information), ontology (classification schemes that organise the concepts in a vocabulary of terms that are used to populate the values of metadata) and processes (a representation of the business processes and procedures that are performed in an organisation).
XML is an ideal technology for representing information (content) and for providing the necessary tools to turn content into knowledge.
Learning Objectives
After taking this course you will understand:
- The value that can be unlocked by representing content and knowledge as XML
- How to present the business case for XML
- The organisation and governance required to maximise return on investment
- The levels of planning and control needed to run the knowledge-management process
- Which tools and technologies make the content supply chain most efficient
- How to turn information assets into more valuable knowledge bases
- New XML standards for creating and delivering executable knowledge
Who should Attend
This course is aimed both at leaders, managers and strategists who want to understand the potential of XML to deliver real value to their organisation, as well as technologists who want to gain a broader picture of how XML can be applied to content and knowledge applications.
Faculty
This course is prepared and delivered by a world-renowned faculty, including:
- Peter Flynn (Chair)
- Peter Brown
- John Chelsom
- Debbie Lapeyre
- Steve Harris
- Norman Walsh
- Paul Prescod
- Kal Ahmed
Curriculum
Module 1 - Managing and Delivering XML Content - the Value Proposition
1.1 Information as a Corporate Asset
Speaker: Peter Brown
How to elevate information (and knowledge) to the status of a valuable corporate asset by developing a management strategy, processes, governance and ownership. How information can be made more valuable by capturing semantics and treating data/information models as IT assets.
- XML as a lingua franca for anyone talking about information management
- XML as a vehicle for developing business ontologies
- Developing a management strategy, processes, governance and ownership;
- Using metaphors and similar devices to communicate XML's value to non-technical community and business leaders
- Cooperation, collaboration, and defending your information territory
You will learn how to formulate and drive the 'XML Manifesto' - the blueprint for adopting XML - and how to sell it up, down and across your organisation.
1.2 Managing XML Assets in a Developing Environment
Speaker: Norman Walsh
Having the technology available is all very well, but how much of it do you apply, and when, and where? As both the business requirements and the nature of the information changes, how do you provide for enough flexibility as well as for control over the processes?
- Fitting a structure to unstructured information: part of turning information into knowledge
- Adapting to changing business demands
- Shared structures: one size fits all or custom optimisations?
- Maintaining control of information asset value over time
- Representation of information identity: how fine-grained do you need to be?
- Back-load or front-load the process: is it the markup or the processing which takes the strain?
You will gain an insight into the planning considerations and management decisions needed to take control of the developing information-to-knowledge processes.
1.3 Requirements for Managing and Delivering Information as XML
Speaker: Debbie Lapeyre
XML may seem an ideal technology solution, but as with any other technology, its choice as the technical basis for a solution should be driven by the business needs and detailed requirements
- Identifying business needs for managing and delivering information in XML
- Consideration of typical Use Cases
- Which XML technologies are ready for use now
- The distinction between management and delivery
- Requirements for managing information, and how XML addresses them
- Requirements for delivering information, and how XML addresses them
- Where does the leading edge lie and what are the risks and benefits?
You will learn how XML meets business needs for managing information as a corporate asset, and how to adopt a requirements driven, rather than a technology driven perspective.
1.4 Productivity Tools for XML
Speaker - Peter Flynn
XML is now a mature technology, which means that technical complexity can be hidden below layers of tooling which harness the power of the base technology, whilst making it easy and cost effective to gain the benefits of XML. Here we cover the productivity tools that can maximise the efficiency of the content supply chain, with consideration of enterprise needs including change management, training and resource utilisation.
- How to create an effective XML content supply chain
- Commercial and open source productivity tools
- Aggregating XML content from multiple sources
- Creating XML in purpose-built editing tools
- Using standard office suite applications to create XML
- Managing XML content
- Delivering XML content through multiple channels and devices
Based on an understanding on the benefits of the core XML technologies, you will learn about the tools that will delivery end solutions quickly and efficiently in an enterprise environment.
Module 2 - From Content to Knowledge
2.1 XML Standards for Metadata and Ontology
Speaker: Steve Harris
XML content can be turned into knowledge assets by adding metadata, ontology and business process context. Standards have emerged over the last few years that allow these key components of a knowledge base to be created in a consistent way in any organisation, with the benefits of standard tooling, knowledge sharing and aggregation.
- Metadata and more with RDF
- Topic Maps
- Web Ontology Language (OWL)
- The Web 2.0 technology suite
- Representing business processes in XML
- Towards standards for executable knowledge and reasoning engines
Learn which standards are the most important, how they fit together, what their status is and where the standards world is moving.
2.2 Methods for Organising Information and Representing User Knowledge
Speaker: Kal Ahmed
Content TBC
2.3 Turning XML Content into Executable Knowledge Bases
Speaker: John Chelsom
Information can be transformed into knowledge by adding metadata (information about the information), ontology (classification schemes that organise the concepts in a vocabulary of terms that are used to populate the values of metadata). Such knowledge bases can be made 'executable', by using them as the fuel to drive knowledge engines, delivering knowledge at the right point of the decision-making process.
- The use and abuse of metadata
- What are ontologies and how can we harness their power?
- Requirements for engineering and managing knowledge
- How can we 'discover' knowledge
- Representing business processes and context in XML
- Delivering executable knowledge
Recognise the difference between content and knowledge and how XML can provide the representation language for all the key components.
2.4 Socializing XML
Speaker: Paul Prescod
After the session, shall we head out to the pub for a drink and a chat? Beer is, after all, an ancient form of social networking technology and human beings are inherently social beings.Increasingly, people who cannot meet at the local pub or church choose to socialize online instead. In the long run, this Web of People is more important (and probably more profitable) than the webs of pages and data.
This talk will discuss how XML technologies enable the PeopleWeb to be described, browsed, searched, reused, traversed and monetized to enable structured conversations, machine-visible human relationships and (where appropriate) profits. Relevant technologies include:
- Ad hoc Web services protocols like Facebook's API and Google's OpenSocial API
- Content portability and reuse technologies like APML
- Identity and authorization technologies like OpenID and OpenAuth
- Friend of a Friend, an ontology for persons, their activities and their relations to other people and objects
- Atom, for syndicating news about people
- Jabber/XMPP for enabling real-time conversations and information
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