The Interest Group follows the rules and requirements of the latest operative version of the World Wide Web Consortium Process Document. In the event of a conflict between this document and the W3C Process Document, the W3C Process Document shall take precedence.
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 semantics into the ongoing Web Services work at W3C. In particular, it is a forum for everyone interested in investigating ways of using semantics to achieve particular functionalities in Web Services. 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:
Note that this scope is narrower than in the first years of existence of this Interest Group. This is reflecting the evolution in the domain of semantics for Web services, in particular discussions held in June 2005 at the Workshop for Semantics in Web services (see the workshop report).
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, Candidate Recommendations 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 exist for two years, from March 2006 to the end of February 2008.
The Group will maintain contacts with many other Groups within W3C. Some of the most important work includes the following:
The Group will also liaise with relevant outside groups when appropriate.
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 Bijan Parsia, University of Maryland.
The W3C Team contact is Carine Bournez.
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.
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 proceedings of this Interest Group are public.
The Semantic Web Services Interest Group provides an opportunity to share perspectives on Semantic Web Services. W3C reminds Interest Group participants of their obligation to comply with patent disclosure obligations as set out in Section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy. While the Interest Group does not produce Recommendation-track documents, when Interest Group participants review Recommendation-track specifications from Working Groups, the patent disclosure obligations do apply.
Please note that the proceedings of this Interest Group (mailing list archives, minutes, etc.) are publicly visible.