The Semantic Web is one of the fastest developing fields and, as such, under constant examination by scientists and IT professionals. In this article, the authors attempt to provide an assessment of the maturity and adoption level of currently available Semantic Web tools and technologies and to determine how researchers and practitioners use them. To achieve this, they provide an overview of the current state of the art in Semantic Web research in the EU, analyzing the functionalities and features of innovative Semantic Web solutions and discussing the extent of adoption of such technologies in practice. Their overall analysis has shown that Semantic Web technologies are finding their way to real-world applications, and that, rather than being merely a fashionable research issue, the Semantic Web is slowly but surely becoming our reality. © 2006 IEEE.
