Ontology-based Application Integration

Heiko Paulheim's work tackles application integration at the user interface layer, an area where earlier semantic technology efforts have been sparse. Integration of IT systems has long relied on ontologies at the database and business logic levels, but the interface level remains comparatively unexplored, and the book examines the difficulties that ontologies could help resolve there.

The author proposes a new way of using ontologies in system integration. Central to the work is a software framework built around a detailed ontology describing user interfaces and the interactions they support. Throughout, a continuing case study of an integrated emergency management system grounds the discussion in a practical setting.

Beyond developers, the text considers how end users can gain from semantic technologies. Its final section looks at features that could be layered onto the framework to make future integrated information systems easier to use.

The book is aimed at practitioners and researchers who already work with semantic web technologies applied to software engineering. It can also serve as a supplementary text for advanced computer science students.