Semantic Web and Web 2.0

Abstract

In this final chapter, we provide the reader with a peek at the two main directions the Web has been heading in recent years: the Semantic Web and Web 2.0. The Semantic Web: So far, the Web has mainly been used as a communication medium of content and services for human consumers. Since the first emergence of the idea of the Semantic Web, there has been a trend toward accompanying content with machine-interpretable metadata to allow computers to “understand” the meaning of that content and, thus, to facilitate the access, retrieval, and exchange of whatever data that is on the Web. Huge funding and effort have been invested in this research area, and we will illustrate the principles, technologies, and main applications of the Semantic Web. Web 2.0: Since its first usage of the Web as a mere one-way communication medium, where there was a clear distinction between content providers and content consumers, things have radically changed. Currently, we see a clear trend of users acting not only as content consumers, but also as content providers. Social networks, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies, equipped with newer and more powerful technologies like AJAX, Flash, or RSS, represent what is commonly called Web 2.0. In addition, while the potential and possibilities of Web 2.0 are far from exhausted, the term Web 3.0 has already been coined. We will attempt to clarify the concepts behind these terms, and give the reader a view of what they are all about.