Semantic Systems. In the Era of Knowledge Graphs: 16th International Conference on Semantic Systems, SEMANTiCS 2020, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, September 7–10, 2020, Proceedings

Where Semantic Systems Meet the Age of Knowledge Graphs

Knowledge graphs have moved from academic curiosity to industrial backbone, powering everything from enterprise search to intelligent assistants. This volume captures a pivotal moment in that evolution, gathering rigorous research from SEMANTiCS 2020, the 16th International Conference on Semantic Systems.

Although the pandemic forced the conference online, the quality of the scientific program remained high. From 36 submissions, 8 papers were accepted after a single-blind review process involving over 130 program committee members. The result is a focused collection that reflects the conference theme: The Power of AI and Knowledge Graphs.

Research That Bridges Theory and Practice

The selected papers address core challenges in making semantic technologies usable, scalable, and trustworthy:

• Web Semantics & Linked Data – extending the principles of the Semantic Web to new domains and real-world constraints.
• Enterprise Knowledge Graphs & Graph Data Management – designing graph-based systems that support complex organizational knowledge.
• Machine Learning & Deep Learning – integrating learning approaches with symbolic knowledge representation.
• Natural Language Processing – building bridges between unstructured text and formal semantic structures.
• Data Quality & Trust – ensuring that knowledge graphs contain reliable, provenance-aware information.
• Reasoning, Rules & Policies – enabling intelligent inference over distributed and heterogeneous data.

Because the book is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, every chapter is freely accessible and reusable. Researchers can read, share, and build upon the work without subscription barriers, making it an unusually open resource in the academic publishing landscape.

For Researchers, Practitioners, and Curious Technologists

This proceedings volume is particularly relevant for readers working in knowledge representation, data integration, semantic web standards, applied AI, or information systems. It offers a snapshot of international research directions and demonstrates how semantic methods are being adapted to meet the demands of modern data ecosystems.

Whether you are tracking the evolution of knowledge graphs, looking for methods to connect heterogeneous data sources, or exploring the theoretical underpinnings of semantic technologies, these papers provide a concise entry point into the current state of the field.