Earthtimes.org reveals how semantic technologies will drive product and service opportunities in the next stage of the Internet.

The broad sweep of the Internet is called the semantic wave, which embraces the four stages of Internet growth (web 4.0 will come later). Web 3.0 is starting now, and is about representing meanings, connecting knowledge, and putting these to work in ways that make our experience of the Internet more relevant, useful and enjoyable.

2008 proved to a very successful year for technology despite worldwide financial uncertainty. Big advances were achieved by manufacturers of network computers, cloud computing service providers and social networking, all of which moved into mainstream acceptance by business as well as individuals.

As we start the new year, IT-Zone has a list of technology predictions for 2009. Among them is the emergence of the semantic web, also known as web 3.0.

Semantic technology can help take businesses into a new era of the internet, according to Marta Strickland, at her BMF Sticky Blogspot.

Semantic refers to the meaning behind data. At the moment computers are good at sending data back and forth but not great at discerning the meaning of that data. The semantic web aims to change that.

The semantic web refers to all web data, and the meaning of that data, which could be read by machines. The semantic web has been enjoying a commercial revival thanks to marketing companies like us at Eclipse, and is referred to by the new buzzword “Web 3.0”, as it is the third decade of the web (2010 to 2020).