New prospects in territorial resource management: The semantic web GIS

Abstract

Traditional GIS and Web GIS solutions are showing considerable limitations in terms of IT technologies and knowledge management as well as in the ability to reconcile flexibility and interoperability. The Geospatial Semantic Web is a novel, fast-evolving territorial resource management application that uses advanced geographical data processing technologies based on semantic rules and specific geo-ontologies to overcome the rigid relational structures of traditional geographical databases. The work proposes a methodological reflection on the applicative potential of Semantic Web GIS (SWGIS) in territorial resource management and provides examples. A collaborative project between the SeMedia/3mediaLabs and SAIFET-Agrur research groups of the Polytechnic University of Marches (Italy) was devised to design a tool using a data management multiplatform desktop system based on Semantic Web initiative-defined standards in different scale test areas in the Como Lake area, Italy. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.