Semantic Wikis: Finding Answers Quickly During Disasters

In this XML.com article, Soenke Ziesche proposes using wikis to “share information faster and more easily during emergencies” by enhancing them semantically. Ziesche recommends the use of the Semantic MediaWiki a WikiProject designed to develop a single solution for semantic annotation that allows for simple, machine-based processing of Wiki content without compromising usability and performance.

“Access to timely information is critical for relief operations in emergency situations,” Ziesche writes. “Over the last years social-networking web systems, such as wikis, have become more and more sophisticated and can also be applied fruitfully in humanitarian information management. However, a major drawback of the Web currently is that its content is not machine-readable, a shortcoming that is addressed by the Semantic Web approach.”

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