What will the Semantic Web Look Like 10 Years From Now?

The Semantic Web, as a field, is undergoing a major shift. After 10 years of mainly foundations-driven research, we now see strong indicators that Semantic Web methods are entering mainstream technology, in a number of forms. The consequent rise in commercial interest will likely have a fundamental impact on the field. Some established research results will make it into mainstream applications. Others will become obsolete. Radically new ideas will emerge. It is thus the right time for the community to contemplate the way ahead. In this workshop, we will provide an exciting forum for the discussion of the future of the Semantic Web. Researchers and practitioners from all corners of the field are invited to provide their insights and projections. The event will focus on discussions and the exchange of ideas, and will use a mix of different styles of interaction between the participants.

It is always good to try to look ahead and anticipate the development of a field. For the Semantic Web, it is now particularly important because recent developments indicate that Semantic Web technologies are entering the industrial mainstream. Schema.org and the Facebook Open Graph Protocol are bringing metadata to bear on the Web large-scale. IBM's Watson and Apple's Siri incorporate Semantic Technologies. Google is revamping its search approach and is going more semantic in implementing their knowledge graph. And these are just a few of the prominent examples.

The commercial uptake will be a game-changer for the field. It seems that only a fraction of the research results of the past ten years are currently being picked up. It seems that shallow semantics brings added value in many, but not all, application areas. In others it seems that there are roadblocks for which deep semantics is required for added value - but current approaches are still limited. Linked Data and Big Data are popular buzzwords right now, but could they be hitting a peak on the expectation curve? If so, what is going to happen in the subsequent dive? If not, how will those areas affect the field's future? In this workshop, we intend to bring together researchers from all corners of the broader Semantic Web community, to share and discuss projections of the way ahead in Semantic Web technologies and knowledge engineering in general.