A network that finds knowledge for you
Peer-to-peer (P2P) applications, such as file sharing, have revolutionised the way the internet works, but they have been rarely for information management up to now. In a multi-user environment, there is often difficulty determining where exactly the crucial piece of information may be found. This problem may be overcome by combining P2P with the other emerging networking trend of recent years, the semantic web. The SWAP consortium has created a model, in which the different nodes in a peer-to-peer network keep each other informed about their 'expertise'. Based on this information, the system creates a semantic topology, or map of where expertise in particular topics can be found. On receiving a user query, the peer uses the semantic topology to determine to which peer each search request should be forwarded, rather than broadcasting it or forwarding it randomly. The peer makes a measure of semantic similarity between the query and the expertise of other peers and selects the appropriate peer for the query accordingly. In testing, the system has been be applied in academic environments for sharing bibliographic information, in a network of financial analysts within a bank and for knowledge sharing between SMEs on the Balearic Islands.
