The Semantic Web is a young discipline, even if only in comparison to other areas of computer science. Nonetheless, it already exhibits an interesting history and evolution. This book is a reflection on this evolution, aiming to take a snapshot of where we are at this specific point in time, and also showing what might be the focus of future research. This book provides both a conceptual and practical view of this evolution, especially targeted at readers who are starting research in this area and as support material for their supervisors. From a conceptual point of view, it highlights and discusses key questions that have animated the research community: what does it mean to be a Semantic Web system and how is it different from other types of systems, such as knowledge systems or web-based information systems? From a more practical point of view, the core of the book introduces a simple conceptual framework which characterizes Intelligent Semantic Web Systems. We describe this framework, the components it includes, and give pointers to some of the approaches and technologies that might be used to implement them. We also look in detail at concrete systems falling under the category of Intelligent Semantic Web Systems, according to the proposed framework, allowing us to compare them, analyze their strengths and weaknesses, and identify the key fundamental challenges still open for researchers to tackle.

Autorentext

Mathieu d'Aquin is a Senior Research Fellow at the Knowledge Media Institute of The Open University. He obtained his Ph.D. in 2005 from the University of Nancy, France, where he worked on concrete applications of semantic technologies in the medical domain. He is now leading research around concrete solutions for the realization of intelligent systems producing and consuming knowledge from the semantic web, with applications in education, personal data management, and smart cities. Mathieu has authored more than 120 publications in leading journals and conferences in the field, and has led the development of some of the most innovative systems and services in the semantic web area, including the semantic web search engine Watson, the worldwide first linked data platform of a university, and the MK Data Hub, a smart city infrastructure for data curation, integration, and analysis. In 2011, he was recognized as one of the ten most promising young researchers in artificial intelligence, through the "AI 10 to watch" award from the prestigious magazine IEEE Intelligent Systems, and has won numerous other awards especially related to innovative applications of semantic technologies. Prof. Enrico Motta has a Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence from The Open University in the UK, where he is currently a professor in Knowledge Technologies. In the course of his academic career he has authored over 300 refereed publications and his h-index is 58, an impact indicator that puts him among the top computer scientists in the world. His research focuses on large-scale data integration and analysis to support decision making in complex scenarios. He currently leads the MK:Smart project, a GBP 16M initiative which aims to tackle key barriers to economic growth in Milton Keynes through the deployment of innovative data-intensive solutions in a number of sectors. He is also currently working on a novel environment for exploring and making sense of scholarly data, Rexplore, which leveragesinnovative techniques in large-scale data mining, semantic technologies, and visual analytics. Prof. Motta is also Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies and over the years has advised strategic research boards and governments in several countries, including the UK, the U.S., The Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Finland, and Estonia.