A Discourse on Semantic IT Infrastructure and SMILA, An Open Source Solution

Welcome to a discourse on how an international standard of information logistics is possible through an open source solution. This blog is dedicated to deriving a semantic, intelligent information management standard, in conjunction with utilizing the open source umbrella of Eclipse. At brox IT-Solutions GmbH, a global corporation based in Germany dedicated to information excellence in the enterprise, I see there is a commitment to making all enterprise-level data, structured and unstructured, understandable and accessible for day-to-day decision-making. The unsolved issue of managing unstructured data is a future concern for all enterprises. This means the conversation about information logistics has to be expanded to new levels, so that all departments and constituents of any organization have actionable knowledge NOW. This is not just a conversation about just having key departments in the enterprise run proprietary software for data output that other departments cannot see or find or, if they can find it, no one can interpret it for any real knowledge. The lack of semantic meta data is a real concern in today's workplaces. And, those interested in a semantic standard are not just pushing out what is already known—that countless hours of expensive, consultative integration for all departments is possible, but has no end in sight. Information logistics of value comes from capabilities that include a strong emphasis managing unstructured data, data quality, data analysis, and enterprise search solutions. An international standard for information logistics will come from putting a priority on the open source framework for this to happen. I contend that the revolution began in the month of January 2008.

This is when brox partnered with Empolis, to create the SMILA project under the Eclipse Foundation, which is the premier universal toolset for development, mostly provided in Java. While little known in certain parts of the globe, the fact remains that Eclipse is at the heart of more than 70 percent of the world's code running information technology solutions. You need a Java runtime environment (JRE) to use Eclipse (Java 5 JRE recommended). I'm told that the first SMILA Version .5 code for academic researchers, IT consultants, and enterprise-level IT developers involved in text analytics, data mining, semantic technologies, and case-based reasoning will be available in late October. At brox, the company is building commercial-grade architecture and applications for the enterprise under the eccenca Foundation, based on the SMILA codebase. eccenca products will reflect internal expertise of existing customer requests, including those of startups in Theseus, Volkswagen, and others.

So what is SMILA? SMILA stands for SeMantic Information Logistics Architecture and it was unveiled as an Eclipse project in January 2008. Its mission has been to provide the best condition for seeding an emerging international standard for information logistics. The SMILA project through brox gained notoriety at the Open Source Meets Business event on Jan. 22, 2008 hosted by Heise, in Nuremberg, Germany where brox received a European Open Source Business Award. Get involved! If you are a developer in the enterprise, contact info@brox.de to explore ready-to-go business applications under brox's eccenca product line with roots in the SMILA open source research. Corporate and OEM users of software, no matter how it is being created, require indemnification, warranties, maintenance, support, certification, training and a full stack of professional services. brox is offering a select number of these services of SMILA software under eccenca, a commercial grade software platform approach.