This post was written by Liz Brady
Microsoft Inc. has purchased the first semantic search engine, Powerset. The purchase offers an interesting insight into how Microsoft plans to grow its search business. Powerset is currently testing a semantic search engine, in part using technology licensed from Xerox’s PARC subsidiary. That technology creates a semantic representation of Web pages by parsing each sentence and extracting its meaning.
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Microsoft Inc. has announced the acquisition of Zoomix, an Israeli company that does database data cleansing. Zoomix combines linguistic analysis with machine learning to classify, match and standardize complex corporate data, which is the application of “semantic” technology being applied to SQL Server. Technologies such as the self-matching intelligence engine by Zoomix could help Microsoft better understand linguistic search.
A collaborative research team led from the Centre for Applied Research in Educational Technologies (CARET) at the University of Cambridge has received a £1.5 million grant for an ESRC/EPSRC Technology-Enhanced Learning to explore new ways of using the World Wide Web to enhance teaching and learning. The team will examine the potential benefits to teachers, learners and researchers of using emerging ‘Semantic Web’ or ‘Web 3.0′ technologies.