This charter is written in accordance with section 6.2.6 of the W3C Process.
The Semantic Web Services BOF at the 2003 W3C Technical Plenary and the subsequent discussion on the www-ws mailing list have demonstrated the growing interest in exploring new capabilities of Web services.
The Semantic Web Services Interest Group is an Interest Group belonging to the Web Services Activity as defined by the W3C Process. The purpose of the Semantic Web Services Interest Group is to provide an open forum for W3C Members and non-Members to discuss Web Services topics essentially oriented towards integration of Semantic Web technology into the ongoing Web Services work at W3C. In particular, it is a forum for everyone interested in investigating future ways of using Web Services with Semantics. It will actively explore new fields and issues for the future.
An important function of the Interest Group is information sharing within and between application communities. Conference announcements and post-conference reviews to the Interest Group mailing list help advise W3C Team where the W3C might most effectively allocate resources.
The goals of the Semantic Web Services Interest Group include the following:
As an Interest Group, the Semantic Web Services Interest Group does not develop specifications or code, and, as a body, it does not have a specific set of deliverables. The Interest Group may be asked to review Last Call Working Drafts and Proposed Recommendations. The Interest Group may also make proposals to other W3C Groups through the W3C Team contact when there is evidence of sufficient Member interest in a work item.
The Group will maintain contacts with many other Groups within W3C. Some of the most important work includes the following:
The Semantic Web Services Interest Group will explore future development of Web services (e.g. combination of Web services technologies with Semantic Web ones), and may explore areas that are out of scope for the Web Services Architecture Working Group (e.g. too specific or detailed) and other W3C Working Groups.
The Group will also liaise with relevant outside groups when appropriate.
The Chair of the Semantic Web Services Interest Group will maintain a home page containing all essential information, such as this charter, instructions on how to use the mailing list(s), event schedules, links to interesting documents, etc.
The Interest Group will function primarily through an open email distribution list, <public-sws-ig@w3.org>, with a publicly accessible archive.
The Semantic Web Services Interest Group list may be used by any participant to post announcements of Web services-related workshops and meetings, and post followup summary reports of those meetings. Semantic Web Services Interest Group participants are encouraged to post periodic reviews of Web services-related issues, activities and events.
The Semantic Web Services Interest Group exists mainly as an email forum; it does not conduct regular distributed or face-to-face meetings, although occasional workshops and meetings (teleconferences, IRC meetings or face-to-face meetings) may be arranged as needed. The Interest Group may hold meetings (e.g. "Birds-Of-a-Feather" sessions) at conferences, at the discretion of the Chair and W3C team contact.
Membership of the Semantic Web Services Interest Group is open to the public. Any person interested in the issues and applications of Web services is eligible to participate in this Interest Group; W3C Membership is not a prerequisite.
Membership is signified by subscribing to the mailing list, public-sws-ig@w3.org. One can subscribe to the mailing lists by sending an email to public-sws-ig-request@w3.org with 'subscribe' in the Subject header. There is no expectation regarding the time commitment for participation to this Interest Group.
The chair of the Interest Group is Carine Bournez (W3C).
The W3C Team contact is Yves Lafon.
The Group will exist for two years, from October 2003 to the end of September 2005. We expect to conduct a review of the effectiveness of the Semantic Web Services Interest Group at that time and submit a plan for any followup activity to the W3C Members.
The SWSIG provides a forum to share perspectives on Web services. W3C invites participants to share information on Web services but advises that information shared in SWSIG mailing list and meetings is publicly visible. W3C reminds participants to disclose, where known, the IPR status of information that they share in SWSIG meetings and materials, in accordance with Section 4.2, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy, of the W3C Process Document.
Please note that the W3C Patent Practice document, 20 May 2003 version, focuses on W3C working groups which develop specifications, and therefore does not address the IPR situation in W3C interest groups. If in the future the W3C patent policy does address this, this charter will be revised following the recommendations of the Patent Policy Working Group in a manner consistent with the IPR goals of the current charter. Should technology discussed in the Interest Group lead to development of a W3C Technical Report under this or another W3C group, then the PP and relevant section(s) of the W3C Process Document would apply to that work.