{"id":9,"date":"2026-01-05T16:49:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T16:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/community\/facade-x\/?p=9"},"modified":"2026-01-05T18:38:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T18:38:48","slug":"first-steps-of-the-data-facades-community-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/community\/facade-x\/2026\/01\/05\/first-steps-of-the-data-facades-community-group\/","title":{"rendered":"First steps of the Data Fa\u00e7ades Community Group"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>We are thrilled to report on the successful initial two meetings of the <strong>Data Fa\u00e7ades Community Group<\/strong>. Launched in September 2025, this initiative aims to revolutionise how RDF technologies interact with diverse data sources on the web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Our Mission: Beyond SPARQL Anything<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The primary objective of this group is to foster <strong>long-term stability and broader adoption<\/strong> of the data fa\u00e7ades approach. By decoupling the Fa\u00e7ade-X method from its original implementation in the <a href=\"http:\/\/sparql-anything.cc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">SPARQL Anything<\/a> project, we are developing a <strong>vendor-neutral, interoperable technology<\/strong>. Our goal is to provide a solution that can be implemented by a wide range of developers and organisations, including graph database vendors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To achieve this, the group is focused on several key activities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Developing the Fa\u00e7ade-X Method:<\/strong> Defining core principles and specifications to create a <em>homogeneous view over heterogeneous data sources<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Standard Mappings and Profiles:<\/strong> Creating standard mappings for various data formats and establishing a transparent process for adding new formats over time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>SPARQL Dialect Specification:<\/strong> Standardising conventions used by SPARQL Anything, such as SERVICE IRIs and magic properties, into the core technology.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>W3C Collaboration:<\/strong> Ensuring consistency by building connections with the RDF &amp; SPARQL and Data Shapes Working Groups.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A Look Back at Our Initial Meetings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since our inception, the community has held two pivotal sessions to lay the groundwork for our future technical specifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 <strong>Inaugural Meeting (27 October 2025):<\/strong> This session focused on <strong>launching the group<\/strong> and introducing the background of Fa\u00e7ade-X, which originated from the <a href=\"http:\/\/spice-h2020.eu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">EU SPICE project<\/a>. The members established that the <strong>priority<\/strong> is to develop a <strong>Facade-X specification<\/strong> and meta-model, choosing <strong>GitHub<\/strong> as the primary collaboration platform for technical work. In addition, the group agreed on a monthly meeting format that includes member case study presentations and discussions of evolving specifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 <strong>Second Meeting (1 December 2025):<\/strong> The group reviewed a case study on <strong>teaching SPARQL<\/strong> and Facade-X to library science students, presented by Prof. Ryan Shaw (University of Carolina). Technical discussions centred on whether to create a single RDF vocabulary or a two-part specification. The group decided to focus on the RDF vocabulary first, while agreeing to explore RML (RDF Mapping Language) to represent meta-model mappings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently, the group is led by <strong>Enrico Daga<\/strong> and <strong>Luigi Asprino<\/strong> as Chairs and supported by a growing community of 21 participants. We would like to acknowledge the founding support from Ryan Shaw, Julian Rojas, Ivo Velitchkov, Andy Seaborne, and Mathias Vanden Auweele.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Get Involved and Stay Connected<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We invite developers, businesses, and data enthusiasts to join us in shaping the future of web data fa\u00e7ades. You do not need to be a W3C member to participate\u2014anyone is welcome to join.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Mailing List:<\/strong> Join the conversation and receive updates via the <a href=\"mailto:public-facade-x@w3.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">public-facade-x@w3.org<\/a> mailing list.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>GitHub Repository:<\/strong> Track our progress, view meeting minutes, and contribute to the technical specifications in the <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/w3c-facade-x\/meetings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">w3c-facade-x\/meetings<\/a> repository.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>YouTube Channel<\/strong>: If you missed a meeting but want to stay updated, visit our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCBgzQPRKpf-qcYU05sFN-Vg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Official Group Page:<\/strong> Learn more about our charter and how to join on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/community\/facade-x\/\"> W3C Data Fa\u00e7ades Community Group homepage<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We are thrilled to report on the successful initial two meetings of the Data Fa\u00e7ades Community Group. Launched in September 2025, this initiative aims to revolutionise how RDF technologies interact with diverse data sources on the web. Our Mission: Beyond &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/community\/facade-x\/2026\/01\/05\/first-steps-of-the-data-facades-community-group\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8772,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-progress-update"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/community\/facade-x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/community\/facade-x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/community\/facade-x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/community\/facade-x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8772"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/community\/facade-x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/community\/facade-x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/community\/facade-x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9\/revisions\/11"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/community\/facade-x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/community\/facade-x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/community\/facade-x\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}