The semantic web is envisioned as the next step in the WWW where data is presented in such a way as to allow it to be read -- and thus acted upon -- by computers.
For example, although there a millions upon millions of pages on the web, most are in html format. The html format was written for human eyes to read, not for computers to process.
Tim Berners-Lee describes it thusly: The Semantic Web is an extension of the current web in which information is given well-defined meaning, better enabling computers and people to work in cooperation. (Berners-Lee, Tim, James Hendler, and Ora Lassila. The Semantic Web, Scientific American, May 17, 2001.)
The protocols, standards, and documents that make up the semantic web (e.g., XML, RDF, URI) place data in "marked up" forms and allow the date to be repurposed beyond its original intended usage.
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