Laying the foundation for the next-generation Web

Ontologies provide the lifeblood of the Semantic Web by defining shared and common domain theories, and allowing people and machines to communicate more effectively. They also play a crucial role in enabling content-based access, interoperability and communication across the Web.

In the three years since the WonderWeb IST project began, it has managed to meet – and in some cases exceed – all of its key objectives. These achievements include standardisation of the OWL ontology language, the development of the KAON ontology-engineering environment, the development of the WonderWeb ontology library and the development of an ontology modularisation framework.

Significant results above and beyond the stated objectives of the project have also been achieved, according to project coordinator Professor Ian Horrocks. These include the development of techniques for the semi-automatic annotation of dynamic websites and the investigation of alternative reasoning techniques. (Via PhysOrg)