Semantic interoperability of distributed geo-services

The last two decades have shown a major shift from stand-alone software systems to networked ones. As with all information system domains, Geographic Information Systems (GISs) have been influenced to a large extent by recent internet developments, resulting in an increasing availability of client/server applications using distributed geo-(web-)services, such as interactive maps, route planners and gazetteers. There is an increasing need for organisations to perform on demand geo-processing tasks by integrating and reusing geo-information and geo-services from within and outside the organisation. These activities are typically performed in the context of so called Geo-information Infrastructures (GIIs).