Abstract
While the term Web 2.0 is used to describe the current trend in the use of Web technologies, the term Web 3.0 is used to describe the next generation Web, which will combine Semantic Web technologies, Web 2.0 principles, and artificial intelligence. Towards this perspective, in this work we introduce a 3-tier architecture for Web applications that will fit into the Web 3.0 definition. We present the fundamental features of this architecture, its components, and their interaction, as well as the current technological limitations. Furthermore, some indicative application scenarios are outlined in order to illustrate the features of the proposed architecture. The aim of this architecture is to be a step towards supporting the development of intelligent Semantic Web applications of the near future, as well as supporting the user collaboration and community-driven evolution of these applications.
TopBackground
As Semantic Web and Web 2.0 were firstly introduced separately by groups with completely contrary beliefs on the evolution of World Wide Web, and even targeting different audiences, there has been a common perception that both are competing approaches for organizing and emerging the Web.
The Semantic Web, outlined by Berners-Lee (2001), becomes a revolutionary technological approach for organizing and exchanging information in a cross-application dimension. Strongly supported by World Wide Web Consortium and powered by heavy academic and enterprise research, Semantic Web can demonstrate standardized and well-defined approaches in language description, such as RDF (Manola, 2004), RDF(S) (Brickley, 2004) and Web Ontology Language OWL (Smith, 2004), as well as research background in ontology engineering and modeling tools, from SHOE (Heflin, 1998) to Protégé (Knublauch, 2004).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Web 2.0: Web 2.0 is a term describing the trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users.
Semantic Web: The Semantic Web is an evolving extension of the World Wide Web in which the semantics of information and services on the web is defined, making it possible for the web to understand and satisfy the requests of people and machines to use the web content. It derives from W3C director Tim Berners-Lee's vision of the Web as a universal medium for data, information, and knowledge exchange.
Ontology: An ontology is a formal representation of a set of concepts within a domain and the relationships between those concepts. It is used to reason about the properties of that domain, and may be used to define the domain. Ontologies are used as a form of knowledge representation about the world or some part of it.
Knowledge System: A knowledge system (a.k.a. knowledge-based system) is a program for extending and/or querying a knowledge base. A knowledge base is a collection of knowledge expressed using some formal knowledge representation language.
Web 3.0: Web 3.0 is a term used to describe the future of the World Wide Web. Following the introduction of the phrase “Web 2.0” as a description of the recent evolution of the Web, many technologists, journalists, and industry leaders have used the term “Web 3.0” to hypothesize about a future wave of Internet innovation.
3-Tier Architecture: 3-tier architecture is a client-server architecture in which the user interface, functional process logic (“business rules”), computer data storage and data access are developed and maintained as independent modules, most often on separate platforms.
Mash-up: A mash-up is a web application that combines data from more than one source into a single integrated tool.