The potential business impacts of Semantic Web for system integration

Abstract

This thesis presents research about the potential business impacts of the Semantic Web. The concept of the Semantic Web is an expansion of the Web for computers, enabling them to comprehend the meaning of information. In addition, Semantic Web Services (SWS), the emerging convergence of Web Services with the Semantic Web, is the next major generation of the Web (and of the Internet), in which e-services and business communication become more knowledge-based and agent-based. The study arose out of a technology review of the Semantic Web and its current adoption. Following further analysis and research into business cases involving Semantic Web applications, the author focused specifically on the system integration business in an effort to understand the potential business impacts of the Semantic Web for system integration. In the system integration field, there are various trends for companies thinking about adopting the Semantic Web into the real business world. In this thesis, I offer answers to two questions: Why do system integrators need the Semantic Web, and how they should go about adopting it?