Semantic Software for Search, 7-9-2008
Expert System Helps the Italian Ministry of Culture and Heritage Understand the True Meaning of Visitors’ Search Terms and Provide Quick, Accurate Responses.
Semantic Search and Analysis Allows Organization to Inform Visitors of Italy’s Artistic and Cultural Events by Accurately Responding to Online Questions
NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire – July 8, 2008) – Expert System, leading provider of semantic software that discovers, classifies and interprets text information, today announces that the Italian Ministry of Culture and Heritage has chosen COGITO Semantic Search to improve and simplify the search of its online content and provide accurate, multi-lingual search results.
The mission of the Italian Ministry of Culture and Heritage is to preserve the artistic and cultural heritage of Italy through art, theatre, nature conservation and athletics. Millions of users consult the organization’s online portal to find information about events and museum exhibits. The Ministry was using standard keyword search engines within its portal, but found the results were often inaccurate and too numerous to sort through. The organization sought to improve general usability for external and internal users, as well as develop multilingual wireless systems so visitors could receive information regarding cultural events via text messaging.
By implementing COGITO Semantic Search, the Ministry is now able to support requests online in natural language (e.g. “What hours will the Van Gogh exhibition be open today?”), recognizing and interpreting the meaning of the sentence entered by the user. The semantic search portal also retrieves information and concepts by understanding the goal of the search (e.g. a search for “abstract art” will also turn up results with the word “abstractionism”).
Expert System also developed a multilingual information system via Short Message Service (SMS), so the Ministry can answer text-messaged requests regarding culture and tourism in either English or Italian. Users can text their questions in everyday language and count on rapid and efficient responses on their mobile phones.
“There is a wealth of information to be shared about Italy’s art, culture and history,” said J. Brooke Aker, CEO of Expert System’s U.S. subsidiary. “Using standard keyword search, that information remains buried, but Expert System’s semantic search and retrieval can understand the concept of a user’s question — in colloquial and jargon format — and deliver relevant information from the data bank to the user in multiple languages.”
