webinar: how ontologies drive digital transformation

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SETH EARLEYFOUNDER & CEO, EIS

JASON HEINDIRECTOR OF DELIVERY, EIS

WEBINAR:

How Ontologies Drive Digital Transformation

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About Us

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Seth EarleyJason Hein

• Director - Delivery• B2B Content Strategist• Launched Amazon B2B• PIM Practice Lead

• Founder & CEO• Author, Speaker, Educator• Knowledge Strategy,

Information & Data Architecture, Enterprise Search

Available for pre-order on Amazon now

https://www.amazon.com/AI-Powered-Enterprise-Ontologies-Business-Profitable/dp/1928055508/

“A great resource to separate the

hype from the reality and a

practical guide to achieve real

business outcomes using AI

technology.”

—Peter N Johnson, MetLife Fellow, SVP, MetLife


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Today’s Objective

1. Explain what ontologies are. 2. Show why any company

embarking on any kind of digital transformation (with or without “AI”) MUST have one.

What is your experience with ontologies?a. No experience at all b. High level understanding c. Have used in pilots or limited

deployment d. We use ontologies in production

applications

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Take The Poll!


The Applied Materials Story


For a multi billion dollar fabrication plant, downtime is expensive.

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40% of field tech’s time was spent searching for information.


No laptops allowed in some locations

Techs hedged bets – put lots of parts in trucks

Unique constraints


• 30 years of legacy content• Diverse and

heterogeneous information sources

• Complex information security requirements

• Protecting Product IP• Preserving Services IP

Three prior efforts failed over a five year period due to complexity of integration and architectural challenges


What is an ontology?

AND WHY SHOULD WE CARE?

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The branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being.


Ontology

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A collection of taxonomies that are bound together by

relationships.


Taxonomies allow for a single perspective

System for organizing concepts and categorizing content

• Hierarchical relationships (parent/child)• Tree-like structure, categories that branch

out to reveal sub-categories and terms• Dictionary of preferred terminology

Key observation: taxonomy is not the same as navigation.

Products

Games

Card games

Action figures

Board games

Brand

Milton Bradley

Scrabble

Disney

Battleship

Internal perspectives may be different from what is important to external audiences.

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Taxonomy Development

Taxonomies for:

• Entities

- Customers

- Products

• Conditions

- Environments

- Industries

• Activities

- Tasks

- Processes

DEPARTMENTSCOMPETITORS

• Grainger• Wolseley• Fastenal• …

ENVIRONMENTS

• Marine• Underground• Confined Space• …

PROCESSES

• Rough Cut• Finish Cut• Polishing• Coating• ...

TASKS

• Extraction• Fabrication• Joining• Separating• …

PRODUCTS

• Abrasives• Clamping• Fasteners• …

INDUSTRIES

• Mining • Food Processing• Healthcare• …

CUSTOMERS

• Procurement Mgr.• Engineer• Maintenance Mgr.• …

INTERESTS

• Prototyping• MRO• Replenishment• …

• Tech Support• Merchandising• Sales• …

…

…• …• …• …

Industrial Equipment Taxonomies

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Types of Relationships

Synonyms• Insular

• Within the entity

Cross-Domain• Multidirectional

• Across domains

• Contextual

Parent/Child • Unidimensional

• Within a taxonomy

EQUIVALENCE HIERARCHICAL ASSOCIATIVE

Increasing complexity

Entity

Synonym

Entity(Parent)

Entity(Child)

ProductEntity

CustomerEntity

ApplicationEntity

RegionEntity

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Examples of Relationships

• Misspellings

• Jargon/trade names

• Abbreviations

• Internal names

• See also

• Related products

• Language spoken

• Target markets

• Region availability

• Risks in region

• Domain • Master category• Parent

categories• Subcategories• Terminal

categories

EQUIVALENCE HIERARCHICAL ASSOCIATIVE

Increasing complexity

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Ontology Development

RELATIONSHIPS:

• Products for Processes

• Tasks for Customer types

• Environments for Processes

• Environments in Industries

• Interests for Customer types

DEPARTMENTSCOMPETITORS

• Grainger• Wolseley• Fastenal• …

ENVIRONMENTS

• Marine• Underground• Confined Space• …

PROCESSES

• Rough Cut• Finish Cut• Polishing• Coating• ...

TASKS

• Extraction• Fabrication• Joining• Separating• …

PRODUCTS

• Abrasives• Clamping• Fasteners• …

INDUSTRIES

• Mining • Food Processing• Healthcare• …

CUSTOMERS

• Procurement Mgr.• Engineer• Maintenance Mgr.• …

INTERESTS

• Prototyping• MRO• Replenishment• …

• Tech Support• Merchandising• Sales• …

…

…• …• …• …

Industrial Equipment Ontology


Forget this nonsense -just get Google…

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Revenues• Consulting• Product sales• Training

Cost of Services Provided• Direct Labor Expenses• Net Reimbursable Expenses

Expenses by Category• Indirect Labor Expenses• Commissions• Professional Fees• Marketing• Travel & Entertainment• Computer Expenses• Overhead Expenses

Operating Profit• Interest/Other Expense• Total Interest/(Other Expenses)

Knowledge base• Consulting methodologies• Product documentation • Training materials

Policies • Employee manual• Travel policies • Expense reimbursement

Marketing Activities • Conferences and Trade Shows• Sponsorships• Email Marketing• Search Engine Optimization• Outbound sales

Financial chart of accounts (taxonomy)

Knowledge chart of accounts (taxonomy)

Purpose: organize, track and manage intellectual resources

Purpose: organize, track and manage financial resources

CFO: “Why do we need this? Why don’t we just get Google?”

Me: “Is there is a chart of accounts for your finance department?”

CFO: “Of course”

Me: “Why don’t you get rid of your chart of accounts and just get Google?”

CFO: “Don’t be ridiculous”

Me: “Well, a taxonomy is chart of accounts for knowledge”


With an ontology in place, machine learning (text analytics) is used to classify content - including identification of sensitive IP


Ontology enables contextualization of

information.

There is no magic


Results

Cut field tech time spent searching for information by half resulting in annual savings of

tens of millions of dollars.

Representation of manufacturing plant ontology


An Intelligent Agent

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• Componentized content became source of “training data”

• Leverages principles of user intent identification and information retrieval

• Contextualizes the user’s task, intent, objective

• Provides specific answers, not a list of documents

• Based on thousands of use cases and user scenarios

Improved Call Center Efficiency and Agent Productivity

A view of the ontology

Result: Double digit deflection of call center traffic


Physical Meets Virtual

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Cleveland Museum Using AI and IA to Optimize Guest Experience • Sensor data was inherently noisy, required

contextualization with reference ontology• Exhibits were classified using an ontology and

tracked (opting in) throughout their visit and exhibit interaction

Other applications:• Optimize retail flows• Improve traffic patterns in factories• Improve building energy efficiency • Interpret machine wear and failure signals• Provide knowledge at point of need (e.g.

machine self diagnosing and providing recommended procedure for maintenance engineer*)

*Through integration with knowledge architecture Example Courtesy of Pandata


Medical Insurance Claims Processing• Reduced call handling time for

complex claims issues by 20%• Increased accuracy of responses as

measured by call sampling• Improved content management and

update efficiency and reduced costs associated with updating content

Preceded use of AI, but set foundation for advanced technologies

Representations of Ontology and IA


How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time - small bites, chew fast, and have a plan


Ontology Development

Every journey starts with one step.

Begin by tackling problems with biggest business impact.

Test. Measure. Adjust.

Remember: “agile” does not mean skip the basics.


Pre-order “AI-Powered Enterprise”https://www.amazon.com/AI-Powered-Enterprise-Ontologies-Business-Profitable/dp/1928055508/

Forbes Magazine “Why 'Ontology' Will Be A Big Word In Your Company's Future”https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2018/07/20/why-ontology-will-be-a-big-word-in-your-companys-future/

For more on AI topics, check out our AI Resources pagehttps://www.earley.com/ai-resources

Further Reading

“If you're serious about harnessing the power of AI in your business — and you should be — this book will show you how to make it an operational reality.”

– Scott Brinker, VP Platform Ecosystem, HubSpot, Editor, chiefmartec.com


https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2018/07/20/why-ontology-will-be-a-big-word-in-your-companys-future/

https://www.earley.com/ai-resources


Q&A

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CONTACT US

SETH EARLEY: [email protected] @SETHEARLEY

JASON HEIN: [email protected]

WWW.EARLEY.COM

@EARLEYINFOSCI

THANK YOU!

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http://www.earley.com/

webinar: how ontologies drive digital transformation

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