Using Semantic Web Tools for Context Interchange

The COntext INterchange Strategy (COIN) is an approach to solving the problem of interoperability of semantically heterogeneous data sources through context mediation. The existing implementation of COIN uses its own notation and syntax for representing ontologies. More recently, the OWL Web Ontology Language is becoming established as theW3C recommended ontology language. A bridge is needed between these two areas and an explanation on how each of the two approaches can learn from each other. We propose the use of the COIN strategy to solve context disparity and ontology interoperability problems in the emerging Semantic Web both at the ontology level and at the data level. In this work we showcase how the problems that arise from context-dependant representation of facts can be mitigated by Semantic Web techniques, as tools of the conceptual framework developed over 15 years of COIN research.