The Semantic Web combines the descriptive languages RDF (Resource Description Framework) and OWL (Web Ontology Language), with the data-centric, customizable XML (eXtensible Mark-up Language) to provide descriptions of the content of Web documents. These machine-interpretable descriptions allow more intelligent software systems to be written, automating the analysis and exploitation of web-based information.

Software agents will be able to create "automatically" new services from already published services, with potentially huge implications for models of e-Business.

"Semantic Web...

Learn all about the major trends and future advancements in ICT

ICT Futures provides an insightful introduction to the major technology trends in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), and to the economic, commercial and societal environment which is shaping them.

The experienced author-team, consisting of experts from both industry and academia, addresses:

• The interaction between people and technology - how ICT affects every day social practices; the rise of social computing; how the way we interact with information and the devices we...

In this first comprehensive analysis of 'uptalk', Paul Warren examines the phenomenon's historical origins, geographical spread and social influences.