Graph based user modeling

An overload in service applications and websites induced by ubiquitous connectivity has brought the need for personalization, as a way to cope with it. However, the need for providing every service with a user model calls for interoperable user models, since user details are scattered in many different systems (e.g., online services such as mail/banking/healthcare/ecommerce sites/social networks), each storing the user's details, preferences and history in different representations and data formats. Various approaches for user modeling interoperability were studied from different perspectives (general ontologies, personalized ontologies, mediation), but so far the challenges are yet to be met. This paper proposes a new way for representing user models, an abstracted graph based one, which will support both interoperability and advanced user modeling features.