Finding a recommended restaurant took up a large part of my lunchtime today, even though I was told its name and general location.  This common irritation could be a thing of the past if Okkam takes off in the next few years.

We have previously mentioned rivals to Google's domination of the online search, just as we've touched on the importance that such a powerful tool has on our ability to retrieve relevant information from the ever-expanding web.

Okkam - an academic initiative from Trento University - is finding a better way to publish, link and find information using a “web of entities”.   It will put information into context, making it possible to identify 'Paris' as an annoying, talentless celebrity, as opposed to the capital of France, for example.

Still in the early stages, it appears that the success of the project will depend largely upon how widely it is taken up in the first two years.  The target for 2008 is to get a million 'entities' on board, with use by application developers crucial to its long term success.

Already big in Portugal, it will be interesting to see how long it will take for Okkam to join Google in the British vernacular.