NOTE: This group has closed. Please see the Semantic Web Interest Group.
The RDF Interest Group is a forum for W3C Members and non-Members to discuss innovative metadata applications. The interest group will focus primarily on applications of the Resource Description Framework, potential future work items related to RDF, and the relationship of that work to other activities of W3C and to the broader social and legal context in which the Web is situated.
The RDF Interest Group will address both architectural/systems issues as well as application (e.g. T&S) interests; it is a forum for everyone interested in storing, exchanging, searching, and using metadata. As such, the RDF Interest Group will also consider a number of areas addressed previously by the PICS initiative. Specifically, the Interest Group will explore the application of W3C metadata technology in the context of the social, legal, and technological issues surrounding Internet content selection, filtering, labelling, signing, quality assurance etc. Other topics in scope for the Interest Group include RDF query in the context of the Semantic Web roadmap, intellectual property rights, P3P, and electronic commerce. Work items from other fora may be brought to the attention of the RDF Interest Group for comment; in particular, the CC/PP vocabulary describing client capability and user preferences.
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 staff where the W3C might most effectively allocate resources.
As an Interest Group, the RDF Interest Group serves to facilitate discussion that may produce W3C process deliverables. The RDF 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 for architectural consistency with Semantic Web data models. The Interest Group may also make proposals for new Working Groups through the W3C staff contact when there is evidence of sufficient Member interest in a work item. Those proposals would then enter the W3C Process for Advisory Committee review. The Interest Group will function primarily through an open e-mail distribution list, <www-rdf-interest@w3.org>, with a publicly accessible archive.
Any person interested in the application of or extensions to the Resource Description Framework is eligible to participate in this Interest Group; W3C Membership is not a prerequisite.
The initial Chair of the RDF Interest Group is Dan Brickley (ILRT/W3C). The Chair sits on the W3C Semantic Web Coordination Group.
The RDF Interest Group exists primarily as an email forum; it does not typically conduct phone conferences or face-to-face meetings. The Interest Group may sponsor "Birds-Of-a-Feather" sessions at conferences, at the discretion of the Chair and W3C staff contact.
The RDF Interest Group is a public forum. The mailing list and archive are publicly accessible.
The RDF Interest Group is part of the W3C Semantic Web Activity. The Metadata Activity is presently chartered until 2003/02. We expect to conduct a review of the effectiveness of the RDF Interest Group at that time and submit a plan for any followup activity to the W3C Members.