News

Making a date with the Semantic Web

• By Rich Seeley
• March 17, 2004

Chris Sukornyk has an answer to the question "Is there any practical application for the W3C Semantic Web concept?"

Semaview Inc., Sukornyk's Toronto-based start-up, is offering a Semantic Web-based event calendaring application called eventSherpa. It is designed to give individuals and businesses a shareable calendar with the semantic search capabilities envisioned by the W3C.

Available as a no-charge download at eventSherpa.com, the calendar allows users to set up business meetings via the Web; it can also search and add everything from sports events to concerts to personal calendars, Sukornyk told XML Report. eventSherpa can also be used to promote business and cultural events by making them more easily searchable.

Sukornyk said he has been excited about the possibilities of the Semantic Web since he first heard of it in the original concept stage; he founded his company as a means of taking the concept from theory to practice.

On his company Web site, Semaview.com, Sukornyk has set up resources for developers seeking to incorporate eventSherpa into applications. For those not totally familiar with the Semantic Web, he offers documentation, including explanations of the W3C Resource Description Framework (RDF), ontology languages, and links to find and use key Semantic Web components such as ontology engines. He also has links to open-source resources. A Sherpa developer toolkit is also available as a no-charge download.

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