Are Australian organisations ready to take advantage of the semantic web and master data management? A recent survey shows that while many are on the right track, there is a need to better demonstrate the business value of taxonomies and metadata.

The Taxonomy Use & Skills Survey of 125 Australian information professionals was conducted online by consultants Innotecture and Straits Knowledge in late 2010. The respondents included IT managers, information architects, knowledge managers, records officers and librarians in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.

Of those surveyed, nearly three quarters are using some form of taxonomy to manage their
information, although only 13% were happy with their use of taxonomies and related tools.

Many respondents stated that they lacked the resources to do so effectively. In particular, information professionals struggle to present a compelling business case to decision makers.

Matt Moore, Director, Innotecture, said, “Organisations who wish to make their documents and data accessible externally or internally need to use consistent metadata standards and vocabularies. Taxonomies form a critical part of this information governance process.