Build and Testing Processes Are the Third Leg of Cognonto’s Capabilities
Knowledge is inherently dynamic and constantly changing. We learn new things; make connections between things that were previously hidden; revise our understandings in light of new discoveries; and embrace new domain relationships and facts. In the case of Cognonto‘s knowledge graph, KBpedia, and its six major contributing knowledge bases (KBs) and mappings to a further 20 ontologies, this dynamism takes place at warp speed. This dynamism is evident by simply noting the thousands of changes daily in each of Wikipedia and Wikidata, two of KBpedia’s major KBs.
Cognonto’s services are based on three capabilities. The first is KBpedia, which we have 
discussed elsewhere. The second is the Cognonto Platform, the means for accessing and using KBpedia in conjunction with enterprise or domain information. And the third are building and testing routines, scripts, logs and processes. It is the latter by which we keep KBpedia current, and is an essential infrastructure to our entire suite of services.
Cognonto’s CTO, Frédérick Giasson, has today published on LinkedIn an overview article on the principal components within this build and testing infrastructure. This is significant, but largely hidden, work. We have honed this infrastructure over a period of years, and are continuously adding to our roster of scripts and procedures.
What is remarkable about this infrastructure is the speed with which we can completely rebuild KBpedia from scratch (less than two hours) and the shortness of the entire cycle of producing a new major version of the system (less than two weeks). This infrastructure is all the more impressive when one considers that KBpedia has and maps to hundreds of thousands of concepts, millions of entities, and billions of assertions. Yet, despite this complexity, each new build of KBpedia is logically consistent, satisfiable, and coherent. Our build and testing scripts are what help ensure this quality.
Fred’s article explains this infrastructure in greater detail. Our build and testing infrastructure brings essential stability to Cognonto’s overall offerings. Great work, Fred!
