Call for Participation in Data Façades Community Group

The Data Façades Community Group has been launched:

The group’s primary goal is to foster the long-term stability and broader adoption of the approach for accessing heterogeneous web data using data façades, by decoupling it from its original implementation in the SPARQL Anything project. This would involve creating a vendor-neutral, interoperable technology that can be implemented by various developers and organisations, including graph database vendors.

The key activities of the Community Group include:

• Developing the Façade-X Method: Defining the core principles of the method and specifications of Façade-X as a “homogeneous view over heterogeneous data sources”
• Creating Standard Mappings (Profiles): Developing mappings for Façade-X to various data formats.
• Establishing a Process for New Formats: Creating a transparent and monitored process to add new data formats to the technology over time.
• Developing the SPARQL Dialect: Addressing the specific conventions and functions used by SPARQL Anything to make them part of the technology, including SERVICE IRIs, BGPs, and magic properties.
• Collaborating with Other W3C Groups: Building connections with other relevant W3C efforts, such as the RDF & SPARQL and Data Shapes WGs, to ensure consistency and integration within the broader web standards ecosystem.
• Fostering Community and Business Engagement: Encouraging collaboration among developers, businesses, and adopters to gather ideas, feedback, and support for the technology.
• Supporting the Development of Implementations: While SPARQL Anything could remain as a reference implementation, the group would encourage and support implementations for other platforms/vendors, and expand the web data façades approach to other languages (e.g. SHACL).

In order to join the group, you will need a W3C account. Please note, however, that W3C Membership is not required to join a Community Group.

This is a community initiative. This group was originally proposed on 2025-09-28 by Enrico Daga. The following people supported its creation: Enrico Daga, Julian Rojas, Ivo Velitchkov, Luigi Asprino and Mathias Vanden Auweele. W3C’s hosting of this group does not imply endorsement of the activities.

The group must now choose a chair. Read more about how to get started in a new group and good practice for running a group.

We invite you to share news of this new group on social media and other channels.

If you believe that there is an issue with this group that requires the attention of the W3C staff, please email us at site-comments@w3.org

Thank you,
W3C Community Development Team