The Semantic Web as a Catalyst for Enterprise/Industrial Interoperability

Abstract

The modern enterprise has to operate in quite a challenging environment that is characterized by competition on a global scale. The need for increased enterprise competitiveness is the driving force behind enterprise interoperability. Starting from B2B applications and relevant technologies, and taking advantage of the technological advancements of the Semantic Web, enterprise interoperability includes both intra-enterprise interoperability of different units/systems of an enterprise and inter-enterprise interoperability of collaborating and at the same time competing enterprises. Enterprise modeling and Semantic Web technologies result in the formal description of the enterprise environment and the exposal of its functionalities as services. Such services represent a major mechanism of the Internet of the future enabling a more innovation driven economy.