The XML Query Working Group and the XSL Working Group have jointly published an update to the Candidate Recommendation of XQuery and XPath Full Text 1.0, and to the companion Use Cases. The former defines the syntax and formal semantics of XQuery and XPath Full Text 1.0 which is a language that extends XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 with full-text search capabilities. Learn more about the XML Activity.

The Mobile Web Initiative Test Suites Working Group has published the First Public Working Group Note of A Method for Writing Testable Conformance Requirements. This document presents a method for writing, marking-up, and analyzing conformance requirements in technical specifications that can help other Working Groups develop better specifications more quickly. Learn more about testing-related work in W3C.

W3C has published a report and full minutes of the Workshop on Access Control Application Scenarios, held in Luxembourg in November 2009. Participants from 17 organizations examined the current limitations of access control, privacy enhancement, distributed handling of access control, and other challenging use cases. eXtensible Access Control Markup Language (XACML) was a focus of the Workshop, though not the exclusive topic of conversation. The report summarizes the major "takeaways" from the Workshop, related to XACML semantics, "sticky" policies, and credentials-based access control. The OASIS XACML Technical Committee is expected to take up these topics. W3C's Policy Languages Interest Group (PLING) is expected to discuss data handling policies and the matching and triggering of events in the privacy context.

The SPARQL Working Group has published a First Public Working Draft of SPARQL 1.1 Property Paths, which defines a more succinct way to write parts of basic graph patterns and also extend matching of triple pattern to arbitrary length paths. The group also published six updates, listed below. The group seeks feedback on open issues in particular. Learn more about the Semantic Web.

• SPARQL 1.1 Query adds support for aggregates, subqueries, projected expressions, and negation to the SPARQL query language.
• SPARQL 1.1 Update defines an update language for RDF graphs.
• SPARQL 1.1 Protocol for RDF defines an abstract interface and HTTP bindings for a protocol to issue SPARQL Query and SPARQL Update statements against a SPARQL endpoint.
• SPARQL 1.1 Service Description defines a vocabulary and discovery mechanism for describing the capabilities of a SPARQL endpoint.
• SPARQL 1.1 Uniform HTTP Protocol for Managing RDF Graphs describes the use of the HTTP protocol for managing named RDF graphs on an HTTP server.
• SPARQL 1.1 Entailment Regimes defines conditions under which SPARQL queries can be used with entailment regimes such as RDF, RDF Schema, OWL, or RIF.

The UK Government has unveiled its open data website, data.gov.uk, developed with the help of Tim Berners-Lee (W3C Director) and John Sheridan (Linked Data Lead for data.gov.uk and co-Chair of the W3C eGovernment Interest Group). Like data.gov in the United States, the UK site reflects a growing awareness inside and outside of government that standards-based open data is a key enabler of government services and a building block for new information services across government and industry. Additionally, this new site showcases Semantic Web and Linked Data technologies. Learn more about Publishing Open Government Data and eGovernment at W3C.

The Web Applications Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Uniform Messaging Policy, Level One. The Uniform Messaging Policy (UMP) enables cross-site messaging that avoids Cross-Site-Request-Forgery and similar attacks that abuse HTTP cookies and other credentials. For example, content from customer.example.org can safely specify requests to resources determined by service.example.com. Rather than restricting information retrieval to a single origin, as the Same Origin Policy almost does, the Uniform Messaging Policy supports origin independent messaging. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.