Semantic Web

Background

The semantic web is a component of Web 3.0, the next "version" of the web. While Web 2.0 has been driven more by social changes and people's networking capabilities, Web 3.0's advances are through technology. Traditionally, the relationship between the content of data on the web and its meaning required a user to interpret. The goal of the semantic web involves the web itself creating meaning from the data available.

As one site put it, "The computers themselves really can't make sense of all this information. They can't read, see relationships or make decisions like you can. The Semantic Web proposes to help computers "read" and use the Web. The big idea is pretty simple -- metadata added to Web pages can make the existing World Wide Web machine readable." [1]

How It Works

The semantic web uses technologies like RDF (Resource Description Framework), RDFS (Resource Description Framework Schema), and OWL (Web Ontology Language), which essentially classify the data on the web based on its properties and relationships with other data.

Why Is It Useful?

By having the computer understand and interpret information, it requires less work for the user. Users can spend more time utilizing the information rather than searching for, compiling, and making sense of it themselves.

The following clip provides a simple, funny(ish) general idea of how the organization of information using the semantic web differs from Web 2.0:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3sbwnFbm_s

Example Application

This clip depicts a search using the semantic web. You can see how using this new version allows a user to obtain more relevant information than current search options:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6WcpG5EEeI&feature=related

Media

The following two links provide more detailed explanations about the semantic web and how it works:

http://www.altova.com/semantic_web.html

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/semantic-web.htm

Question:

Do you think the semantic web has useful applications for the future? What kind of applications do you think would benefit from this technology?

Sources:

http://www.altova.com/semantic_web.html

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/semantic-web.htm

http://www.labnol.org/internet/web-3-concepts-explained/8908/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_Web

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2102852,00.asp

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/10_semantic_apps_to_watch.php