Achieving Efficient Access to Large Integrated Sets of Semantic Data in Web Applications

Web-based systems can exploit Semantic Web-based approaches to link data and thus create applications that make the most out of the combination and integration of different sources and background knowledge. While a lot of attention is paid to the opportunities that this linking of data on the Web provides, the reality of implementing such solutions with currently available semantic technologies creates a serious engineering challenge. In developing such applications in a commercial setting, we have been confronted with requirements and conditions that show the limitations of current technologies for this type of Web applications. Using our experience from iFanzy, we illustrate in this paper the issues and steps in turning the concept of access to semantically integrated content into solutions that use available technology.