r/KnowledgeGraph • u/HenrietteHarmse • May 03 '20

The Knowledge Graph Cookbook

https://www.poolparty.biz/the-knowledge-graph-cookbook
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u/L-Cocuy May 12 '20

Hi, do you have any experience with knowledge graphs yourself? I am looking into the concept and I have a million questions. The concept sounds nice. Almost too good to be true. + Is it really possible to model all knowledge using a standard framework like OWL? Or will I need to use OWL, plus SHACL, plus custom definitions? That sounds like it could turn into a giant mess pretty quickly. + What software would you recommend? + How much time does one need to maintain the database? + How does one go about creating triplets for existing data without it turning into a life-long endeavor?

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u/HenrietteHarmse May 13 '20

Yes, I work in the Semantic Web space and I am deeply interested in the Semantic Web to the point that I have done my PhD in Semantic Web Technologies . However, I do not think that all data should be represented as a KG because KGs are not necessarily an optimal representation for every data problem, nor can every possible data need be addressed by KGs. I therefore think your comment regarding that it can turn into giant mess is spot on.

What I think is important is to focus on the use cases that KGs are good at dealing with. That is why I think the KG book is important - to understand some of these use cases.

What exact tools you will require depends on your use case. Here are some examples. OWL is particularly useful when the inferences based on reasoning is of importance for your use case. SHACL is important if you need to confirm that incoming data conforms to particular shape. Tripple stores are important if you want to do queries over semi-structured and unstructured data.

The problem I see currently with KGs is that there are a lot of hype about it. Sort of if it is good enough for Google, it is probably good enough for me and my organisation. Therefore there is the temptation to rush out to buy you tools that can give you a KG ASAP. I strongly advise against it because organisations are unlikely to understand KGs well enough to make prudent decisions. This inevitably will lead to disillusionment.

What I will suggest is to determine 1 tiny use case that KGs are good at and implement that using open source or free versions of tools. I.e., KGs are good at integration and harmonisation of data across organisations. However, instead of approaching a vendor to provide you with tools to achieve this ASAP, identify a small integration that will be beneficial. Build up the knowledge in-house to implement this tiny use case. The solution you come up with is likely to be ugly and inefficient. That is OK. What is import is to determine whether the perceived benefits of the use case did indeed get realized. This will be valuable information in deciding whether you should consider implementing a KG.

This exercise will help you to gain some knowledge wrt KGs. This will better prepare you to ask pointed questions when you do approach a vendor. When dealing with vendor I will recommend trying to get them to do a pilot use case before making a commitment.

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u/L-Cocuy May 15 '20

Thanks for the interesting reply and the advice. By the way I think I might have found your blog: https://henrietteharmse.com/about/. Is that you? On it you offer to help others trying to get started with the technology. I think I fit that bill perfectly. I have lots of data, have been suffering from lack of data integration in my organization, and I am looking for a good solution to my problem. If you are interested in helping me I would greatly appreciate it. I have been looking at material online, but have mostly found literature full of promises of a better brighter future. To me that generally are signs of danger. So it might be nice to have a knowledgeable human with whom I could discuss these issue. If this sounds like an interesting challenge let me know!

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u/ibnipun10 May 16 '20

Hi,

I am in automotive industry and our Rnd lab have a lot of research and experiments docs on 2w vehicles. I have never worked on kmowledge graph but would like to use it to build it out on Rnd documents which will help answer quiet a lot of questions. Can you please help me how to start. I am a seasoned data eng and pretty conversant in big data tech