Semantic interoperability in global information systems

Internet, Web and distributed computing infrastructures continue to gain in popularity as a means of communication for organizations, groups and individuals alike. In such an environment, characterized by large distributed, autonomous, diverse, and dynamic information sources, access to relevant and accurate information is becoming increasingly complex. This complexity is exacerbated by the evolving system, semantic and structural heterogeneity of these potentially global, cross-disciplinary, multicultural and rich-media technologies. Clearly, solutions to these challenges require addressing directly a variety of interoperability issues.