Preparing for a Linked Data Enterprise

Abstract

The cost of building a business application in the early 1990’s that was both resilient and could handle additional data sources, let alone third party content, was many times the cost of building a simple application. The use of Web tools and techniques has changed that. The use of Web architecture within enterprises started in the mid-1990’s and continues today. The introduction ofWeb architecture within the enterprise has had many benefits which include shortened development cycles, improved product innovation and increased product and service quality. The Semantic Web, a concept introduced in 2000, introduced the concept of machineunderstandable content. The benefit of having computers (or computer programs) understand content is to retrieve and present more relevant information to people. LinkedData, a concept introduced in 2006, is the next evolution and uses the Semantic Web to link related but previously unconnected content in new and meaningful ways. Later chapters in this book discuss both early and current efforts to showcase enterprise data and drive new value and insights.