NET2 · A Network for Enabling Networked Knowledge

The Web has enabled information creation and dissemination, but has also opened the information floodgates. The enormous amount of information available has made it increasingly difficult to find, access, present and maintain the information required. As a consequence, we are drowning in information and starving for knowledge. New methods are required to manage and provide access to the world’s knowledge, for individual as well as collective problem solving. The right methods and tools for interconnecting people and accessing knowledge will contribute to solving these problems by making businesses more effective, scientists more productive and bringing governments closer to their citizens. Fortunately, current developments are helping us to achieve these goals. Originating from the Semantic Web effort, more and more interlinked information sources are becoming available online, leading to islands of networked knowledge resources and follow-up industrial interest. In addition, the Semantic Web infrastructure also has the potential to enable collective, collaborative production of knowledge, complementing existing islands. Our main objective for the next three years is to create the foundations for the creation of knowledge networks and collaboration infrastructure in a worldwide research network, which will support human capabilities and enable human-centric access to services and knowledge on a global scale