Semantic data: It cannot be simpler

The concept of metadata has now reached the strategic position it deserves. Indeed, it is impossible to achieve much without metadata. Still, metadata can frighten developers and system integrators and there may be good reasons for metadata’s bad reputation. Nevertheless, a number of ‘new’ solutions should help change that perception. What if took almost no time and no advanced IT knowledge to set up a simple metadata framework? What if it took minimum effort and skill to generate the first data? What if storing and searching data required only a very smooth and easy learning curve? What if scalability/extensibility offered obvious inherent benefits? What if custom data were no longer a burden? What if this were your first major foray into artificial intelligence, linked data and reasoning, enriched data from automatic extraction, aggregating data silos and deep learning? This represents a basic but powerful implementation of semantic data. This paper walks the reader through the setup of a simple semantic repository to spark interest in this technology and stimulate wider adoption. This approach has been successfully tested with a group of developers (with no prior knowledge of semantics) working on a demonstration at the National Association of Broadcasters show using Amazon Web Services. The final step of the workflow consisted of uploading media-related descriptive and technical metadata to a semantic repository in the cloud.