Making semantics real
Achieving semantic description of computing is a stepwise process.
It started with the Semantic Web, took the next step with Semantic Web
Services, and it is currently in a transition period towards
Semantically Enabled Service-oriented Architectures (SESA).
Semantically Enabled Service-Oriented Architectures
Computer science is entering a new paradigm. The previous paradigm
was based on abstracting from hardware. The emerging one comes from
abstracting from software and sees all resources as services in a
Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). "A Service-Oriented Architecture
is essentially a collection of services. These services communicate
with each other. The communication can involve either simple data
passing or it could involve two or more services coordinating some
activity. Some means of connecting services to each other is needed."
In a world of services, users are concerned only about the services and
not about any software or hardware components that implement the
service. Service-Oriented Computing is rapidly becoming the dominant
computing paradigm.
A service-oriented world will have billions of services. Computation
will involve services searching for services based on functional and
non-functional requirements and interoperating with those that they
select. However, services will not be able to interact automatically
and SOAs will not scale without signification mechanization of service
discovery, negotiation, adaptation, composition, invocation, and
monitoring. Additionally service interaction will require further data,
protocol, and process mediation. Hence, machine processable semantics
are critical for the next generation of computing - SOAs - to reach its
full potential. Only with semantics can critical subtasks can be
automated leaving people to focus on problem solving.
The goal of Semantically Enabled Service-Oriented Architectures
(SESA) is to place semantics at the core of computer science in order
to realize the potential of the next generation of computing. What has
started as semantic annotation of data and semantic service endpoint
specification will be transformed into a next generation operating
system that provides seamless and transparent integration of billions
of services on a global scale. Semantic descriptions will enable
computing to become a utility, just as electricity is today.
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