Improving entity linking with ontology alignment for semantic microservices composition

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to propose a method based on Linked Data and Semantic Web principles for composing microservices through data integration. Two frameworks that provide support for the proposed composition method are also described in this paper: Linkedator, which is responsible for connecting entities managed by microservices, and Alignator, which aligns semantic concepts defined by heterogeneous ontologies. Design/methodology/approach The proposed method is based on entity linking principles and uses individual matching techniques considering a formal notion of identity. This method imposes two major constraints that must be taken into account by its implementation: architectural constraints and resource design constraints. Findings Experiments were performed in a real-world scenario, using public government data. The obtained results show the effectiveness of the proposed method and that, it leverages the independence of development and composability of microservices. Thereby, the data provided by microservices that adopt heterogeneous ontologies can now be linked together. Research limitations/implications This work only considers microservices designed as data providers. Microservices designed to execute functionalities in a given application domain are out of the scope of this work. Originality/value The proposed composition method exploits the potential data intersection observed in resource-oriented microservice descriptions, providing a navigable view of data provided by a set of interrelated microservices. Furthermore, this study explores the applicability of ontology alignments for composing microservices.