The World Wide Web makes available enormous amounts of information. Frequently, however, valuable data that would allow for differentiation are lost by the user. The Europe-wide research group RENDER – Reflecting Knowledge Diversity – is dedicated to the totality: In the project coordinated by KIT, scientists develop methods, software, and data models to use the diversity of the web as a source of innovation and creativity. Among the project partners are Google and Wikipedia.
Thanks to the World Wide Web, information can be published and exchanged as never before, all over the world, on nearly any subject, and from various points of view. Frequently, however, the user misses to notice important points of view. “With the increasing flood of information on the internet, the number of mechanisms that filter the data according to their preferences increases as well,” explains Dr. Elena Simperl from the Institute of Applied Informatics and Formal Description Methods (AIFB) of KIT. Thus, valuable data are lost, by means of which the user might have obtained a more differentiated idea. Examples are daily political reports, blogs, and other knowledge media.
Together with Dr. Denny Vrandecic from AIFB, Elena Simperl has initiated the RENDER project to capture the plurality of views, which has often been inaccessible by the user so far. The project is aimed at making this diversity of views better usable. The EU-funded project started in October this year and has a duration of three years. Seven partners from six European countries are involved. The project is managed by Elena Simperl. The consortium has a total budget of EUR 4.4 million. Among the partners are Google and Wikipedia. RENDER deals with possibilities of acquiring large amounts of data and users and with methods, software, and data models to describe, understand, and evaluate the numerous diverse views in the web.
Apart from the coordination of the project, KIT will be responsible for the development of Open Source software. It is planned to extend collaborative web 2.0 applications such as popular services like Wikipedia, the WordPress blog software, and known social networks. “We plan to implement tools and features reflecting the diversity of a topic and to make them usable for online collaboration and test them for their benefit,” explains Denny Vrandecic. In three case studies under the direction of Wikimedia Germany, Google Ireland Ltd., and Telefonica I+D, the scientists will apply the newly developed methods to verify the scalability and use of their research results.
Further information can be found at www.render-project.eu.
The RENDER project is funded under the 7th research framework programme of the EU.
Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 10,000 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,800 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.