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Module V — Web 3.0 / Semantic Web

20247m

Define the Semantic Web. How does it differ from the current web, and what technologies support it?

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The Semantic Web

The Semantic Web (proposed by Tim Berners-Lee, often called Web 3.0 in its original sense) is an extension of the current web in which information is given well-defined meaning, so that machines can understand, interpret, and process it, not just display it. Data is published in a structured, linked form that software agents can reason over.

Example: on today's web, "Paris" on a page is just text. In the Semantic Web it is marked as a City that is the capital of France, so a program can answer "Which capitals are in Europe?"

How it differs from the current web

Basis Current web (Web 1.0/2.0) Semantic Web
Content is for Humans to read Humans and machines
Data form Unstructured text and HTML markup Structured, machine-readable data with metadata
Meaning Not understood by computers Explicit semantics through ontologies
Search Keyword matching Concept-based, context-aware answers
Links Link documents to documents Link data and concepts (Linked Data)
Integration Hard to combine data from different sites Easy data sharing and integration across sources
Automation Limited Intelligent agents can reason and act

Supporting technologies (the Semantic Web stack)

  1. URI/IRI: unique identifiers for every resource.
  2. XML: syntax for structured documents; XML Namespaces avoid name clashes.
  3. RDF (Resource Description Framework): the core data model, expressing facts as subject–predicate–object triples.
    <Paris> <isCapitalOf> <France> .
    Serialisations: RDF/XML, Turtle, JSON-LD.
  4. RDFS (RDF Schema): vocabulary for classes and properties.
  5. OWL (Web Ontology Language): describes richer ontologies, relationships, and constraints, enabling reasoning.
  6. SPARQL: the query language for RDF data.
  7. Ontologies and vocabularies: shared definitions (e.g. FOAF, Dublin Core, schema.org).
  8. Rules and logic (SWRL, RIF) and proof and trust layers, with digital signatures.
  9. Microdata, RDFa, and JSON-LD: embed semantic markup directly in HTML pages.

Applications: knowledge graphs (Google Knowledge Graph, Wikidata), smarter search, healthcare and library data linking, and recommendation and virtual assistants.

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