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Introduction to GS1 Digital and
the Semantic Web
November 13, 2014
Introduction to GS1
Digital and the
Semantic Web
What is the Semantic Web?
• World Wide Web
• a global network of linked documents (web pages), primarily intended
for human consumption (reading, understanding)
• information-rich but almost no machine-readable meaning of content
• HTML originally focused on presentation of information content for
display within web browsers
• Relies on human beings to read and understand, then follow links or
search
• Semantic Web / Linked Data
– builds on web technologies to achieve a global network of linked
data at web scale
– enables unified federated queries of data across multiple distributed
data sources
– can ease data integration across different types of databases
– enables automated logical deductions using this data
– supports the use of multiple distributed datasets and
multiple ontologies (data dictionaries + logic) within queries
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Linked Data Essentials
• Identify all kinds of things (resources) - not only web pages
but also places, people, products, companies, also relationships
using Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs)
• Transform a web of documents to a web of 'facts‘.
Publish data 'facts' about things identified by URIs
Fact-level hyperlinking using Resource Description Framework
(RDF)
• Combine data 'facts' from multiple sources to enrich our
understanding of the data we have - and find what we're really
looking for using a query language for RDF data (SPARQLSPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language)
© 2014 GS1
Core Semantic Web Technologies
• Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) used to identify not only
documents but also concepts (people, places, things,
abstract/intangible concepts) and properties / data relationships
• Resource Description Framework (RDF) provides a W3C standard
way to write simple logical statements about relationships.
• Ontologies are like data dictionaries with additional logical
annotations (to say how properties and resources are related)
Multiple ontologies (for different domains) can co-exist and be used
in parallel. It's also easy to cross-reference between them.
• SPARQL query language enables a query to
combine machine-readable data from multiple sources and also
allows new data relationships to be constructed (inferred) from
existing data.
© 2014 GS1
URIs as identifiers for everything
• Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) used to identify not only documents but
also concepts (people, places, things, abstract/intangible concepts) and
properties / data relationships
http://dbpedia.org/resource/Brussels
http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#hasGTIN-14
http://schema.org/gtin14
http://schema.org/weight
• GS1 standards already uses URIs
•
EPCs are canonically expressed as URIs
urn:epc:id:sscc:0614141.1234567890
•
EPCIS Core Business Vocabulary uses URIs for values of: businessStep,
disposition, readPoint, businessLocation, transaction type and identifiers.
urn:epcglobal:cbv:bizstep:shipping
•
The GDD uses URIs to uniquely Identify attributes
urn:gs1:gdd:bie:AllowanceCharge
© 2014 GS1
Using HTTP URIs to write facts
© 2014 GS1
Resource Description Framework
(RDF)
• Provides a W3C standard way to write simple logical statements in a
'lowest common demoninator' format:
Subject
Product
Property
Object
hasGPCBrick
Gs1gpc:10000025
• RDF Schema (RDFS) introduces basic concepts such as:
classes and properties, subclasses and subproperties,
human-readable labels in various languages (more readable than
URIs) ranges (what can be inferred about the object's class) and
domains (what can be inferred about the subject's class)
www.w3.org/TR/rdf-schema
© 2014 GS1
RDFa vs HTML5 Microdata vs JSON-LD
• RDFa and HTML5 Microdata both use attributes within HTML
elements to include structured data facts inline, close to the visible
markup
• RDFa is easier to use with multiple vocabularies and also supports
explicit declarations of datatypes, e.g. xsd:datetime
• RDFa Lite 1.1 is functionally equivalent to HTML5 Microdata but is
also upwards-compatible to RDFa, for advanced features.
• JSON is a lightweight way of exchanging structured data
(alternative to XML). JSON-LD uses Linked Data principles (URIs
etc.) to avoid ambiguities and to ensure semantic mappings across
JSON datasets
• JSON-LD is not really intended for inline markup within HTML tags
but could be inserted as a block of structured data in the <head>
section of a web page.
© 2014 GS1
Ontologies
• Ontologies are data dictionaries with additional
annotations about how various properties (predicates)
and classes of resources are related to each other
• Ontologies exist for multiple domains of interest (e.g.
science, healthcare, commerce, publishing).
• Ontologies can be used together and also crossreferenced
– e.g. owl:sameAs , owl:equivalentClass, owl:equivalentProperty
• GS1 is creating its own ontology as part of GTIN+ On
the Web.
© 2014 GS1
Importance of Ontologies
• The Semantic web is about making
knowledge presentable and readable to the
machines.
• Ontologies/vocabularies
• classify the terms that can be used in a particular
application
• characterize possible relationships
• define possible constraints on using those terms.
(W3C)
• Help data integration by reducing ambiguity
between terms used in the different data
sets and help in the discovery of new
relationships between data.
© 2014 GS1
Some Existing Ontologies
Ontology
Focus
Contains vocabulary for products, offerings,
actions, ratings and actions (eg. Check in,
Endorse).
Contains vocabulary for business entities,
offerings, price specifications, products and
services.
FOAF
Describes persons, their activities and their
relations to other people and objects.
Describes web resources (video, images, web
pages, etc.), as well as physical resources
such as books or CDs, and objects like
artworks.
© 2014 GS1
Example using GoodRelations ontology
gr:hasGlobalLocationNumber
gr:BusinessEntity
xsd:string
gr:offers
gr:seeks
gr:Offering
gr:includes
xsd:string
gr:hasGTIN-14
gr:hasPriceSpecification
gr:ProductOrService
gr:PriceSpecification
gr:weight
gr:width
gr:height
gr:depth
gr:hasValue
rdfs:Literal
gr:QuantitativeValue
gr:hasCurrency
gr:hasUnitOfMeasurement
xsd:string
gr:hasCurrencyValue
xsd:string
© 2014 GS1
xsd:float
gr: = http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#
Why is this important now?
• Web search engines are making use of semantic markup,
especially for helping consumers to find products and services
• Using semantic markup makes it easier for search engines to
index content accurately and websites that use semantic markup
are being rewarded with better search engine rankings as well as
more prominent enhanced presentation in web search results, e.g.
Google Rich Snippets
© 2014 GS1
Why is This Important to Manufacturers
and Retailers?
• Web search engine companies are actively encouraging website
owners to use semantic markup.
• Manufacturers and retailers have worked together within the GS1
community to develop standards and services for the B2B sharing of
product master data about organizations and their products
(GDSN, Align Trade Item Business Message Standard) as well as
B2C initiatives.
• B2C initiatives currently focus on scanning a barcode to find additional
trusted information about a product
• What about online product searches, before we have the physical
product in our hands? ... before we have even selected the product?
• Online tools can be developed to make it easy to export a subset of
the rich B2B master data in linked data format, to help brand owners
and retailers to improve their search engine rankings (particularly
attractive for SMEs with limited in-house IT capabilities / expertise)
© 2014 GS1
Product-centric Information & Services
© 2014 GS1
Why is This Important to Consumers?
• Consumers can more easily find the products and services that
match their needs and preferences:
•
Less time actively trawling the web for specifications, price comparison, ratings,
reviews, checking availability etc.
• Smarter search engines on the web / search agents in the cloud:
• Enter a keyword and it attempts to understand the context,
• Providing the user with (contextual) relevant ways of filtering their
search
GDSN
Master
Data
(Products)
© 2014 GS1
– Technical specifications (e.g. for consumer electronics products)
– Ingredients, nutritional information and potential allergens (food,
pharmaceuticals)
– Accreditation (Fair Trade, Marine Stewardship Council, Organic/Bio, Free
Range etc.)
– Measures of through-life environmental footprint (e.g. for electrical
appliances, food)
Beyond Compliance, Gain Benefits
http://id.example.com/gtin/05011476100885
GTIN+
on
the Web
Benefits!
Improved
search
results
Improved
visibility in
web /
apps
© 2014 GS1
Compliance
Some extra
effort
Enable
productcentric
services
GTIN+ on the Web:
Scope of Work
GTIN+ On the Web Scope of Work
• Propose a standard way for web applications and pages
to reference data associated with GS1 Keys, taking into
account the established GS1 identification and capture
standards.
• The GTIN+ on the Web project should make significant
use of technologies that allow for expansion and
consistency over time (Semantic Web technology), to
make it easier for mobile applications (‘apps’) on smart
phones and search engines to extract the intended
meaning of the information embedded within web pages.
© 2014 GS1
Proposed Outputs
• The Work Group should
•
standardize a structure and methodology for the consistent
representation of GS1 Keys, Attributes, and Attribute Values in
online environments by leveraging HTTP URIs and existing Web
Standards.
• develop an ontology framework/structure for the GS1 System
whose purpose is to facilitate ease of representation of GS1structured Product/Master Data in online environments. This
framework/structure should be complementary to existing
Product Data ontologies but allow for extensibility to the entire
GS1 System.
• The group should develop a guideline of best practices for
embedding GS1 Keys and markup in websites.
• The group should develop a Linked Data version of the Global
Product Classification (GPC) system that is published on the
open web for use as a data set to the public.
© 2014 GS1
Way to Develop GS1 Attributes for
Web
GDD
Industry
Requirements
for Structured
Data for the web
Determine
Product
Context for
Request
Review Product
Attributes in
GDD for
Product Context
Add Selected
Attributes to
GS1 Ontology
Determine Gaps
in GDD
Attributes to Add
to Ontology
Strategy will require a broader GS1 Item Data Model since not all Ontology
attributes may be GDSN attributes.
© 2014 GS1
Means to Add Attributes to Web
GS1+ oTW
Markup Guidelines
GS1 and other
Ontologies
Markup Syntax
Product Data
© 2014 GS1