Understanding Semantic Web !!

Semantic web is the group of methods and technologies allowing machines to understand the meaning of information available on World Wide Web platform. The concept of Semantic Web was initially termed by the World Wide Web consortium director Tim Burners-Lee. Semantic web is known as “a web of data that can be processed directly and indirectly by machines”. There are various software and technologies working which enable semantic web to read your data and perform the requisite task over it. The data itself becomes the part of web in semantic web and is available for fully processing independent of application, platform or domain. This is entirely different from World Wide Web which has virtually unlimited data in the form of documents.

Computers are also used for searching documents, but these documents are still required to be read and interpreted so that we can fetch out all relevant information. As we know computer is a machine, it lacks aptitude and it cannot read the documents and interpret any thing of sorts. Semantic web methods or technologies can easily process, transform and interpret the data in more useful manner.

Just to illustrate the concept with an example, suppose you are a software engineer having work with a big client who is based in New York. Due to an emergency, the client needs your assistance at his place in New York for two weeks and you are required to reach there in time.

If you have a hand held device having semantic web agent activated on it, you can just instruct your device to book an air ticket to New York. You instruct semantic web agent to book an aisle seat. The agent will automatically make the payment using your debit/credit card and assigns the charges to your client’s account in your accounting application.

Your semantic web agent will inform you about your doctor’s appointment and as you are flying to New York, you surely will miss it. It will always keep you reminding about it and prompts you to reschedule it. Also your cab booking back to hotel will be easily managed and scheduled by the semantic web agent. Even, it will book a hotel room for you at most reasonable prices and will automatically update your and your manager’s calendar and will send your trip information to him and print your confirmation document back to your office.

So the semantic web technologies helped you to book your trip to New York, book your cab to the hotel and also booked a room in hotel for you. This example presents before you the long term applications and potential of semantic web.