Watch out world! Eric Callmann, a vet of data governance, recently joined the Semantic Arts team as a consultant. We like his fresh and unique perspective on how to use semantic technology to help manage the mass amounts of data that could potentially drive us all mad. 
We did a little Q&A with Eric to find out more about him and his take on #SemTech2013.
SA: What’s your background and how did we find you?
Eric Callmann: My background is in developing information quality programs at large information services companies. I found my way to Semantic Arts by way of a
n Information Governance Council where I met Dave McComb.
SA: What made you want to take the leap into semantics?
EC: The arena of semantics and ontologies is at the forefront of emerging, next generation tools to help us manage the larger and larger amounts of data that are being produced. Also the development of data governance programs had me thinking that as the realm of semantics grows, there is a greater need to govern and ensure high quality triples created within ontologies. I shared this with Dave and he felt the same way. As a result, I joined Semantic Arts in May and have been drinking from the semantic fire hose ever since.
SA: So we sent you to SemTech in June, what was your experience?
EC: I was fortunate to be able to attend SemTech2013. For someone who is not a diehard techie (e.g. I don’t build apps, manage databases, install hardware, etc.), rather a business person who knows how to leverage technology, the event was a way to see into the future.
SA: What do you mean by ‘seeing into the future’?
EC: What I mean by being able to see into the future is that semantic technologies is and will continue to make all of our lives on the internet and within enterprises easier to find the things we need. For example, Walmart presented their use of Semantics to improve the search experience on Walmart.com. They are leveraging publicly available information, such as Wikipedia, to help the search engine understand the context of what one is searching for. Throughout the conference there were numerous presentations about using this technology in new ways to improve analytics and develop new services. To say the least, the amount of innovation and entrepreneurship that is happening in this space is astounding. There are already new services that are being offered that use this technology such as Whisk.com that allows you to find a recipe and have your grocery list created automatically at your favorite grocery store (Note: This is only available in the UK…lucky Londoners). If Walmart is doing it, it is pretty obvious that Google and Yahoo! are leveraging this great technology in really cool ways too. More from Eric’s perspective in the future. We are excited to have Eric on board! If you have any questions for Eric, make sure to shoot him an email: [email protected]
