Really great to see that you’ve picked up on the linkage between “Linked Data” and Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)

Linked Data simply injects HTTP into the act of Data Source Naming, and results in the following:

1. Naming scoped to database records as opposed to Database, Table, Views, Procedures levels of ODBC (so you have additional granularity)
2. Direct Access to Named Records across Intranets, Extranets, and the Internet via the use of HTTP (since it’s part of the naming scheme)
3. Network partitioning (public vs. private) due to the incorporation of hosts and domains withing HTTP

1-3 simply express the fact that documents (hard copy and electronic) are becoming less important than the things they are about. Just as computers have become less important than the HTTP accessible documents that they host.

My keynote presentation is available at:
http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/presentations/Creating_Deploying_Exploiting_Linked_Data2/Creating_Deploying_Exploiting_Linked_Data2.html

Kingsley