Loosely coupled information models for business process integration: Incorporating rule-based semantic bridges into BPEL

This chapter discusses an approach that aims at transferring the principle of loose coupling to the semantic interoperability problem given in cross-organizational business process integration. It describes how semantic bridges realized by means of rule-based ontology mappings can be incorporated into BPEL processes which span heterogeneous services using different conceptualized information models. The approach is explained based on a semantic system integration scenario in the eBusiness domain defined as the âpurchase order mediationâ scenario in the context of the Semantic Web Service Challenge and discusses experiences and lessons learned. The presented approach strongly relies on existing Web standards and is based on widely adopted open source software components.