Towards a conceptual framework for semantic interoperability in service oriented architectures

The application of Semantic Web technologies to service-oriented architectures (SOA) has promised to mitigate the problem of achieving semantic interoperability as the formal definition of semantics paves the way for higher automation in the mediation process between heterogeneous services. Recently, many ontology-based approaches for semantic interoperability have been developed. However, it remains difficult to compare the various approaches because only domain-specific conceptual frameworks for semantic interoperability exist. Moreover, in SOA practice ontology-based approaches are not widely adopted but still XML-based solutions are dominant. This paper targets to fill this gap and presents ongoing work towards a general conceptual framework for semantic interoperability in SOA as a foundation for comparative reflection. Based on the framework selected approaches both academic and industry-driven are compared. Furthermore, an inherent trade-off between efficiency an d effectiveness in achieving semantic interoperability is identified and a potential alleviation based on semantic mediation on domain level is outlined.