I was surprised to learn the W3C is recycling RDF and SPARQL for graph analytics:
RDF and SPARQL (both standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium) [were developed] as the industry standard[s] for graph analytics.
It doesn’t hurt to repurpose those standards, assuming they are appropriate for graph analytics.
Or rather, assuming they are appropriate for your graph analytic needs.
BTW, there is a contest to promote recycling of RDF and SPARQL with a $70,000 first prize:
YarcData Announces $100,000 Big Data Graph Analytics Challenge
From the post:
At the 2012 Semantic Technology & Business Conference in San Francisco, YarcData, a Cray company, has announced the planned launch of a “Big Data” contest featuring $100,000 in prizes. The YarcData Graph Analytics Challenge will recognize the best submissions for solutions of un-partitionable, Big Data graph problems.
YarcData is holding the contest to showcase the increasing applicability and adoption of graph analytics in solving Big Data problems. The contest also is intended to promote the use and development of RDF and SPARQL (both standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium) as the industry standard for graph analytics.
“Graph databases have a significant role to play in analytic environments, and they can solve problems like relationship discovery that other traditional technologies do not handle easily,” said Philip Howard, Research Director, Bloor Research. “YarcData driving thought leadership in this area will be positive for the overall graph database market, and this contest could help expand the use of RDF and SPARQL as valuable tools for solving Big Data problems.”
The grand prize for the first place winner is $70,000. The second place winner will receive $10,000, and the third place winner will receive $5,000. There also will be additional prizes for the other finalists. Contest judges, which will include a combination of Big Data industry analysts, experts from academia and semantic web, and YarcData customers, will review the submissions and select the 10 best contestants.
The YarcData Graph Analytics Challenge will officially begin on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, and winners will be announced during a live Web event on December 4, 2012. Full contest details, including specific criteria and the contest judges, will be announced on June 26. To pre-register for a contest information packet, please visit the YarcData website at www.yarcdata.com. Information packets will be sent out June 26. The contest will be open only to those individuals who are eligible to participate under U.S. and other applicable laws and regulations.
Full details to follow on June 26, 2012.