The Tower of Babel of Data — and how we’re starting to solve it

In our daily lives, we’re used to communicating in different languages: Spanish, English, Chinese… To understand each other, we rely on shared reference languages — often English — or even real-time translation tools.

But what if I told you that data has the same problem?

In the 21st century, data is the fuel for technologies like AI, smart industry, connected cities, and beyond. Yet today, data is trapped in countless “languages”: proprietary models, project-specific ontologies, domain-bound structures, and so on. Each speaks a different dialect, and most can’t understand each other.

This is the challenge of semantic interoperability, and it’s slowing technological progress across industries.

🧠 One of Mario’s key research lines focuses on tackling this problem. I’m proud to share that our latest work — “SISS: Semantic Interoperability Support System for the Internet of Things” — has just been published in the prestigious IEEE Internet of Things Journal.

In this paper, we present SISS, a system capable of semi-automating the process of aligning (or “translating”) between heterogeneous data models. Much like a real-time language translator, SISS bridges the gap between different IoT vocabularies, reducing manual effort and unlocking data reusability. This is only the beginning — but it’s a solid step toward a future where platforms, systems, and innovations can truly understand each other. A world where innovation doesn’t stop at the borders of incompatible data.

🔍 Interested in semantic interoperability? IoT? Data Science? I’d love to connect and exchange ideas.

Let’s build an interoperable future.

Related links

📖 SISS: Semantic Interoperability Support System for the Internet of Things