Communications of the ACM
Adding Meaning to Millions of Numbers
With semantic technology,numbers would be tied to the information that explains what they mean.
Technology Review
True Engineering Technology has developed semantic technology that gives meaning to numerical data to prevent number-related mixups. The company has launched Numberspace, a Web site that allows users to upload pieces of numerical data and apply semantic tags and then pay to store that information on a private server.
To store a number in the system, creating what True Engineering Technology calls a truenumber, users type a short phrase describing the data into a form on the Web site. The company's software then interprets the phrase, extracts the numbers from the data, and creates key words and phrases. Users can add notes and comments to the truenumber, such as how it was calculated and whether there are questions over its accuracy. The system also can automatically perform conversions between units and flag any potential mismatches and errors.
True Engineering Technology CEO Allen Razdow says the technology will be useful to businesses and organizations that rely on accurate numbers for important decisions, such as engineering firms. For example, auto engineers may need to access and combine recent emissions figures stored in a variety of electronic documents. Storing that data as truenumbers would allow workers to search for them online and find the latest and most accurate data.
From Technology Review
View Full Article
Abstracts Copyright © 2009 Information Inc. 
, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
No entries found