The Semantic web is being used to reconnect Colombians displaced in the country’s civil conflict
“Semantic web technology” is being used to reconnect Colombians displaced in the country’s civil conflict.
“The displaced population in Colombia is the most vulnerable because their fundamental rights are massively violated,” Juan Sequeda, who works on the project, told the BBC World Service’s Digital Planet programme.
“Their [physical] social networks are weakened.”
The international team aim to use smart technology to allow people to search currently incompatible databases of missing persons. Often families are split up in the process. When this happens, they are told to register their details on a national database - known as the unique registry of displaced persons - set up by the Colombian government.
However, other registries have been set up by NGO groups - such as the Red Cross - meaning the displaced millions are spread over several databases.
Frustratingly for those who have lost connection with their families, these databases don’t “talk” to each other or share information.
Researchers aim to solve this problem by creating a “semantic knowledge layer”, which will link crucial information (such as names, addresses, age, etc.) across all the databases.
Semantic technology is seen by some as the next step for the world wide web, as it allows a much richer understanding of huge data sets.
In Colombia, this should mean that searching for specific people will be more effective and allow people to ask complex queries such as “how many cousins do I have in Bogota?”.
“It’s all about how you integrate data,” said Mr Sequeda.
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