A presentation I gave at the Talis Research Day held on 10th June 2008. This talk focussed on Open World Thinking in Higher Education

1. shared innovation™
Open World Thinking
Nadeem Shabir
Technical Lead
nadeem.shabir@talis.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98281207@N00/483983192

2. shared innovation™
Some questions for you
before we go any further,
I want to ask you guys a
few questions ... that
might help illustrate
some of the things im
going to talk about ...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/takomabibelot/2206414180/

3. shared innovation™
Some questions for you
What is the most referred to text in first year
undergraduate computer science courses in the UK?
before we go any further,
I want to ask you guys a
few questions ... that
might help illustrate
some of the things im
going to talk about ...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/takomabibelot/2206414180/

4. shared innovation™
Some questions for you
What is the most referred to text in first year
undergraduate computer science courses in the UK?
Based on pedagogical approaches, what are the
recommended resources required to teach an
emerging subject in a new department a University
somewhere?
before we go any further,
I want to ask you guys a
few questions ... that
might help illustrate
some of the things im
going to talk about ...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/takomabibelot/2206414180/

5. shared innovation™
Why can’t we answer these questions?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobloo17/188697388/

6. shared innovation™
Why can’t we answer these questions?
is it because the the
data doesn’t exist?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobloo17/188697388/

7. shared innovation™
if the data exists then its within individual institutions
data exists within institutions
across a myriad of internal
systems
sometimes even across
departments
http://www.flickr.com/photos/97534175@N00/2460602770/

8. shared innovation™
if the data exists then its within individual institutions
data exists within institutions
across a myriad of internal
systems
sometimes even across
departments
Higher Education Institutes are ....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/97534175@N00/2460602770/

9. shared innovation™
... silos ... and as long as institutions remain
silo’s we won’t ever be able to answer
the kinds of questions I presented
earlier.
There’s a real need to start to find
ways of linking data together across
these silo’s
Silos within silos .. departments
within institutions ...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eirikref/727551264/

10. shared innovation™
... silos ... and as long as institutions remain
silo’s we won’t ever be able to answer
the kinds of questions I presented
earlier.
There’s a real need to start to find
ways of linking data together across
these silo’s
Silos within silos .. departments
within institutions ...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eirikref/727551264/

11. shared innovation™
... silos ... and as long as institutions remain
silo’s we won’t ever be able to answer
the kinds of questions I presented
earlier.
There’s a real need to start to find
ways of linking data together across
these silo’s
Silos within silos .. departments
within institutions ...
... silos within silos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eirikref/727551264/

12. shared innovation™
Why have we ended up with silos?
product of close world thinking
closed world decisions, solve the
immediate problem for ourselves.
only interested in the data that
we have and control.
in a way we didn’t have any
choice ... it was a product of the
problems we were trying to solve
at the time
structure on the fly vs structure up
front
the world has changed and so too
has the problem...
Image Credit goes here

13. shared innovation™
Why have we ended up with silos?
product of close world thinking
closed world decisions, solve the
immediate problem for ourselves.
only interested in the data that
we have and control.
the problems we were trying to solve then are different to now
in a way we didn’t have any
choice ... it was a product of the
problems we were trying to solve
at the time
structure on the fly vs structure up
front
the world has changed and so too
has the problem...
Image Credit goes here

14. shared innovation™
Why have we ended up with silos?
product of close world thinking
closed world decisions, solve the
immediate problem for ourselves.
only interested in the data that
we have and control.
the problems we were trying to solve then are different to now
in a way we didn’t have any
choice ... it was a product of the
problems we were trying to solve
at the time
structure on the fly vs structure up
front
only really interested in the data that we have controlworld has changed and so too
the over
has the problem...
Image Credit goes here

15. shared innovation™
what is open world thinking ...
we’ve seen historically that
there is this ‘inexorable
movement’ away from
change the way you think
about building systems ... win is
that when you want to
integrate with them its so
much easier.
“Openness tends to be an
inexorable movement through time”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmmmmrob/496694726/

16. shared innovation™
open world thinking is
not about technology its
about a paradigm shift
in our understanding of
how we need to solve.
problems and mitigate
the ‘political’ risk
within institutions.
thinking about how to
ensure that the data we
design is valuable to
someone other than us
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65193799@N00/515399703/ and

17. shared innovation™
open world thinking is
not about technology its
about a paradigm shift
in our understanding of
how we need to solve.
problems and mitigate
the ‘political’ risk
within institutions.
thinking about how to
ensure that the data we
design is valuable to
someone other than us
it’s not about a
technology
change . . .
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65193799@N00/515399703/ and

18. shared innovation™
open world thinking is
not about technology its
about a paradigm shift
in our understanding of
it’s about a paradigm
how we need to solve. shift
problems and mitigate
the ‘political’ risk
within institutions.
thinking about how to
ensure that the data we
design is valuable to
someone other than us
it’s not about a
technology
change . . .
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65193799@N00/515399703/ and

19. shared innovation™
linked data movement is
publishing data in a agreed form
and through openness others can
now come along and build new
services and applications on that
use this data.
design for appropriation
( architecture of assembly ),
structure up front vs structure
on the fly
so design data at the right level of
granularity for reuse - too
complex and no one will
understand, too vague and you
can’t extract meaning from it.
“Linked Data is the Semantic Web done right and the Web done right.”
Sir Tim Berners-Lee

20. shared innovation™
Openness of Description
critical mass ... usage stats
across the nation in a
subject ...
you wouldn't have to do any
extra when you zoom out of
Having an agreed way of the institute to a consortia
describing certain kinds of or to national level ...
data is important.
It’s makes it easier to indeed as my friend Rob
relate things together pointed out so succinctly ...
with Open Descriptions and
Makes it easier to Deferencible URI’s you get
integrate interoperability for free
It makes it easier to share
It’s the only way to realise
the dream of the semantic
web.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11581801@N00/475843606/

21. shared innovation™
Openness of Description
critical mass ... usage stats
across the nation in a
subject ...
you wouldn't have to do any
agree on shared ways of describing things extra when you zoom out of
Having an agreed way of the institute to a consortia
describing certain kinds of or to national level ...
data is important.
It’s makes it easier to indeed as my friend Rob
relate things together pointed out so succinctly ...
with Open Descriptions and
Makes it easier to Deferencible URI’s you get
integrate interoperability for free
It makes it easier to share
It’s the only way to realise
the dream of the semantic
web.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11581801@N00/475843606/

22. shared innovation™
Openness of Description
critical mass ... usage stats
across the nation in a
subject ...
you wouldn't have to do any
agree on shared ways of describing things extra when you zoom out of
Having an agreed way of the institute to a consortia
describing certain kinds of or to national level ...
data is important.
It’s makes it easier to indeed as my friend Rob
relate things together pointed out so succinctly ...
with Open Descriptions and
Makes it easier to Deferencible URI’s you get
integrate Share interoperability for free
It makes it easier to share
It’s the only way to realise
the dream of the semantic
web.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11581801@N00/475843606/

23. shared innovation™
Openness of Description
critical mass ... usage stats
across the nation in a
subject ...
you wouldn't have to do any
agree on shared ways of describing things extra when you zoom out of
Having an agreed way of the institute to a consortia
describing certain kinds of or to national level ...
data is important.
It’s makes it easier to indeed as my friend Rob
relate things together pointed out so succinctly ...
with Open Descriptions and
Makes it easier to Deferencible URI’s you get
integrate Share interoperability for free
It makes it easier to share
It’s the only way to realise
the dream of the semantic
web. Relate
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11581801@N00/475843606/

24. shared innovation™
Openness of Description
critical mass ... usage stats
across the nation in a
subject ...
you wouldn't have to do any
agree on shared ways of describing things extra when you zoom out of
Having an agreed way of the institute to a consortia
describing certain kinds of or to national level ...
data is important.
It’s makes it easier to indeed as my friend Rob
relate things together pointed out so succinctly ...
with Open Descriptions and
Makes it easier to Deferencible URI’s you get
integrate Share interoperability for free
It makes it easier to share
It’s the only way to realise
the dream of the semantic
web. Integrate Relate
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11581801@N00/475843606/

25. shared innovation™
Openness of Description
critical mass ... usage stats
across the nation in a
subject ...
you wouldn't have to do any
agree on shared ways of describing things extra when you zoom out of
Having an agreed way of the institute to a consortia
describing certain kinds of or to national level ...
data is important.
It’s makes it easier to indeed as my friend Rob
relate things together pointed out so succinctly ...
with Open Descriptions and
Makes it easier to Deferencible URI’s you get
integrate Share interoperability for free
It makes it easier to share
It’s the only way to realise
the dream of the semantic
web. Integrate Relate
with Open Descriptions and Dereferencible
URI’s you get interoperability for free
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11581801@N00/475843606/

26. shared innovation™
Ontologies
“a formal representation of a set of concepts within a domain and the
relationships between those concepts.”
FOAF
SKOS
SIOC
Image Credit goes here

27. shared innovation™
picture of Alan Massen’s cards, and
Hybrid Learning Model explain that whats he’s really doing
is going around using an ontology to
capture information about
pedagogical approaches across
institutions.
If you knew what the learning
requirements for each course where
and the teaching styles that
information could be presented to
students through applications like
Zephyr.
You could also build up a lot of
information about the different
styles of teaching within an
institute, across departments. Or
further afield ... you could contrast
the different teaching styles for
Programming Courses across the UK.
Image Credit goes here

28. shared innovation™
picture of Alan Massen’s cards, and
Hybrid Learning Model explain that whats he’s really doing
is going around using an ontology to
capture information about
pedagogical approaches across
institutions.
If you knew what the learning
requirements for each course where
and the teaching styles that
information could be presented to
students through applications like
Zephyr.
You could also build up a lot of
... is an Ontology information about the different
styles of teaching within an
institute, across departments. Or
further afield ... you could contrast
the different teaching styles for
Programming Courses across the UK.
Image Credit goes here

29. shared innovation™
picture of Alan Massen’s cards, and
Hybrid Learning Model explain that whats he’s really doing
is going around using an ontology to
capture information about
pedagogical approaches across
institutions.
If you knew what the learning
requirements for each course where
and the teaching styles that
information could be presented to
students through applications like
Zephyr.
You could also build up a lot of
... is an Ontology information about the different
styles of teaching within an
institute, across departments. Or
further afield ... you could contrast
the different teaching styles for
Programming Courses across the UK.
would it be useful if we could use an ontology like
this to capture teaching styles and learning goals
for every course in the Uk?
Image Credit goes here

30. shared innovation™
Ontologies published by Talis
Image Credit goes here

31. shared innovation™
Ontologies published by Talis
Academic Institutions Internal Structures Ontology
Image Credit goes here

32. shared innovation™
Ontologies published by Talis
Academic Institutions Internal Structures Ontology
Generic Lifecycle (workflow) Ontology
Image Credit goes here

33. shared innovation™
Ontologies published by Talis
Academic Institutions Internal Structures Ontology
Generic Lifecycle (workflow) Ontology
Resource List Ontology ( sioc, bibo, foaf )
Image Credit goes here

34. shared innovation™
Ontologies published by Talis
Academic Institutions Internal Structures Ontology
Generic Lifecycle (workflow) Ontology
Resource List Ontology ( sioc, bibo, foaf )
www.vocab.org
Image Credit goes here

35. shared innovation™
Ontologies published by Talis
Academic Institutions Internal Structures Ontology
Generic Lifecycle (workflow) Ontology
Resource List Ontology ( sioc, bibo, foaf )
www.vocab.org
... all of which are used to underpin Xiphos
Image Credit goes here

36. shared innovation™
Openness of Access
Openness of description homogenises
how we agree to represent certain
concepts.
It’s becoming increasingly important
to be able to allow users to consume
content in ways and at times that
suit them.
This is necessary to create more
personalised learning experiences.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38795936@N00/140517332/

37. shared innovation™
Openness of Access
Openness of description homogenises
how we agree to represent certain
concepts.
anywhere It’s becoming increasingly important
to be able to allow users to consume
content in ways and at times that
suit them.
This is necessary to create more
personalised learning experiences.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38795936@N00/140517332/

38. shared innovation™
Openness of Access
Openness of description homogenises
how we agree to represent certain
concepts.
anywhere It’s becoming increasingly important
to be able to allow users to consume
content in ways and at times that
suit them.
This is necessary to create more
personalised learning experiences.
anytime
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38795936@N00/140517332/

39. shared innovation™
Openness of Access
Openness of description homogenises
how we agree to represent certain
concepts.
anywhere It’s becoming increasingly important
to be able to allow users to consume
content in ways and at times that
suit them.
This is necessary to create more
personalised learning experiences.
anytime
anyhow
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38795936@N00/140517332/

40. shared innovation™
Openness of Access
Openness of description homogenises
how we agree to represent certain
concepts.
anywhere It’s becoming increasingly important
to be able to allow users to consume
content in ways and at times that
suit them.
This is necessary to create more
personalised learning experiences.
anytime
anyhow
key to personalised learning
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38795936@N00/140517332/

41. shared innovation™
Contextualised Perspectives
Web of Scholarly Data
allows us to create
contexts on the fly that
are relevant for a the
task your doing at the
time your doing it ...
thats the grand vision.
multiple views
multiple contexts
context is closure
structure on the fly vs
structure up front
Image Credit goes here

42. shared innovation™
Contextualised Perspectives
Web of Scholarly Data
allows us to create
contexts on the fly that
are relevant for a the
task your doing at the
time your doing it ...
thats the grand vision.
multiple views
multiple contexts
context is closure
structure on the fly vs
structure up front
Image Credit goes here

43. shared innovation™
Contextualised Perspectives
Web of Scholarly Data
allows us to create
contexts on the fly that
are relevant for a the
task your doing at the
time your doing it ...
thats the grand vision.
multiple views
multiple contexts
context is closure
structure on the fly vs
structure up front
Image Credit goes here

44. shared innovation™
Contextualised Perspectives
Web of Scholarly Data
allows us to create
contexts on the fly that
are relevant for a the
task your doing at the
time your doing it ...
thats the grand vision.
multiple views
multiple contexts
context is closure
structure on the fly vs
structure up front
Image Credit goes here

45. shared innovation™
Contextualised Perspectives
Web of Scholarly Data
allows us to create
contexts on the fly that
are relevant for a the
task your doing at the
time your doing it ...
thats the grand vision.
multiple views
multiple contexts
context is closure
structure on the fly vs
structure up front
Image Credit goes here

46. shared innovation™
Contextualised Perspectives
Web of Scholarly Data
allows us to create
contexts on the fly that
are relevant for a the
task your doing at the
time your doing it ...
thats the grand vision.
multiple views
multiple contexts
context is closure
structure on the fly vs
structure up front
Image Credit goes here

47. shared innovation™
Summary
Image Credit goes here

48. shared innovation™
Summary
It’s only by being more open that we can answer
the kinds of questions I posed earlier.
Image Credit goes here

49. shared innovation™
Summary
It’s only by being more open that we can answer
the kinds of questions I posed earlier.
Openness is key to being able to rip, mix and burn
across institutional and national boundaries
Image Credit goes here

50. shared innovation™
Summary
It’s only by being more open that we can answer
the kinds of questions I posed earlier.
Openness is key to being able to rip, mix and burn
across institutional and national boundaries
Project Xiphos is being engineered from the outset
to embrace this ethos . . . to enrich the Web of
Scholarly Data
Image Credit goes here

51. shared innovation™
http://www.talis.com/nodalities

53. shared innovation
TM