Semantics in Dataspaces: Origin and Future Directions

ACM Web Conference (WWW), pp. 1504–1507

Abstract

The term dataspace was coined two decades ago [12] and has evolved since then. Definitions range from (i) an abstraction for data management in an identifiable scope [15] over (iii) a multi-sided data platform connecting participants in an ecosystem [21] to (iii) interlinking data towards loosely connected (global) information [17]. Many implementations and scientific notions follow different interpretations of the term dataspace, but agree on some use of semantic technologies. For example, dataspaces such as the European Open Science Cloud and the German National Research Data Infrastructure are committed to applying the FAIR principles [11, 16]. Dataspaces built on top of Gaia-X are using semantic methods for service Self-Descriptions [13]. This paper investigates ongoing dataspace efforts and aims to provide insights on the definition of the term dataspace, the usage of semantics and FAIR principles, and future directions for the role of semantics in dataspaces.

Authors 7

1. Johannes Lipp Aachen Germany and Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT

   RWTH Aachen University · Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen University, Germany and Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT, Germany

2. Max Kocher Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen University, Germany

3. Christoph Lange Aachen Germany and Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT

   RWTH Aachen University · Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen University, Germany and Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT, Germany

4. Stefan Decker Aachen Germany and Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT

   RWTH Aachen University · Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen University, Germany and Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT, Germany

5. Alexander Paulus

   University of Wuppertal

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Wuppertal, Germany

6. André Pomp

   University of Wuppertal

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Wuppertal, Germany

7. Edward Curry

   Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Galway, Ireland