An Ontology-based Platform for Semantic Interoperability

In this chapter the main issues of an Ontology-based platform for semantic interoperability, with particular attention to the underlying methodology, are illustrated. The solutions presented here have been developed in the context of Harmonise, an IST project aimed at developing an interoperability platform for SMEs in the tourism sector. The illustrated platform is an advanced software solution, based on the use of computational ontologies, aiming at the reconciliation of conceptual, structural, and formatting differences that hamper information exchange. The proposed approach relies on the availability of a domain ontology, used as a semantic reference for cooperating systems. Then we elaborate on semantic clashes, arising when a conceptual local schema is contrasted with the ontology. Semantic clashes are taken into account when the elements of a conceptual local schema are semantically annotated. Semantic annotation is requested to reconcile existing differences of cooperating information systems. Having illustrated the underlying approach, we briefly report on the main phases required to an information system to enter in the Harmonise space (i.e., to acquire interoperability capability) and, finally, on the overall Harmonise platform.