RDFCoreWGCharter 12.5 KB
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    <h1>W3C RDF Core Working Group Charter</h1>

    <h2>1. Purpose and Scope</h2>

    <p>This is the charter for an <a href="RDFCore/">RDF Core
    Working Group</a>, managed under the <a href="/2001/sw/">W3C
    Semantic Web Activity</a>. Implementor feedback concerning the
    RDF <a
    href="http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-rdf-syntax-19990222/">Model
    and Syntax Recommendation</a> points to the need for a number
    of fixes, clarifications and improvements to the specification
    of RDF's abstract model and XML syntax. There is also
    considerable interest in the exploration of alternative XML
    serialization mechanisms for RDF data. The role of the RDF Core
    WG is to prepare the way for such work by stabilizing the core
    RDF specifications. The RDF Core WG is neither chartered to
    develop a new RDF syntax, nor to reformulate the RDF model.
    However, the group is expected to re-articulate the RDF model
    and syntax specification in such a way as to better facilitate
    future work on alternative XML encodings for RDF.</p>

    <p>The RDF Core WG is chartered to complete the work on RDF
    vocabulary description present in the <a
    href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/CR-rdf-schema-20000327/">RDF
    Schema Candidate Recommendation</a>. The Working Group will
    address questions and issues raised on the public comments
    feedback list and the RDF Interest Group list during the
    Candidate Recommendation period and will produce an updated W3C
    specification. The specific type of Technical Report to
    publish; whether Working Draft, updated Candidate
    Recommendation, or Proposed Recommendation will be decided by
    consensus of the Working Group according to the number and
    nature of any changes that are made to the previous
    version.</p>

    <p>Following the <a
    href="http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/NOTE-schema-arch-19991007">
    Cambridge Communique</a> meeting, feedback received on the RDF
    Schema Candidate Recommendation, and ongoing discussions in the
    XML and RDF developer community, the RDF Core WG must provide
    an account of the relationships between the basic components of
    RDF (Model, Syntax, Schema) and the larger XML family of
    recommendations.</p>

    <h2>2. Requirements</h2>

    <p>RDF provides a common framework for representing metadata
    across many applications. The semantics and structure of many
    varieties of metadata will be specified by independent
    communities. RDF provides an infrastructure that is
    sufficiently general and flexible to support these disparate
    applications.</p>

    <p>In order to support interoperability across these disparate
    applications, a clarification and re-articulation of the core
    RDF specifications is required. The RDF Core WG must address
    the issues raised on www-rdf-comments against the RDF Schema
    1.0 Candidate Recommendation and the RDF Model and Syntax
    Recommendation.</p>

    <h3>Deployment Considerations</h3>

    <p>Backwards compatibility with existing RDF applications is a
    priority for the RDF Core Working Group. Since the web is in
    continuous operation, it is the responsibility of this working
    group to ensure graceful deployment of corrections to the RDF
    specifications by carefully considering both the impact of new
    RDF documents on extant software, and the impact of revised
    software on extant documents.</p>

    <p>At the same time, since the web is growing rapidly, it is
    the responsibility of this group to not let near-term
    deployment considerations grossly increase the future costs (to
    implementors, authors, users, etc.) of new features.</p>

    <h3>RDF Model and Syntax Requirements</h3>

    <p>The RDF Core WG must address the issues listed in the <a
    href="http://www.w3.org/2000/03/rdf-tracking/">RDF Issue
    Tracking</a> document, liaising (via the Semantic Web
    Coordination Group) with other W3C groups where issues need to
    be addressed at a cross-WG level.</p>

    <p>The RDF Core group must take into account the various
    formalizations of RDF that have been proposed since the
    publication of the RDF Model and Syntax Recommendation. The
    group is encouraged to make use both of formal techniques and
    implementation-led test cases throughout their work.</p>

    <h3>RDF Schema Requirements</h3>

    <p>The goal of RDF Schema is to support an incrementally
    extensible approach to representing semantics in machine
    understandable form and to provide a simple base that can be
    extended by more powerful representational systems. The RDF
    schema system must provide an extensibility mechanism to allow
    future work (for example on Web Ontology and logic-based Rule
    languages) to provide richer facilities.</p>

    <p>RDF Schema must be expressed in terms of the RDF model, and
    must use W3C RDF syntax. RDF Schema must use and build upon XML
    Schema datatypes to the fullest extent that is practical and
    appropriate. Specifically, the RDF Core Working Group is not
    chartered to develop a separate data typing language that
    duplicates facilities provided by XML Schema data types.</p>

    <h2>3. Relationships and Dependencies</h2>

    <p>Coordination with other groups will be managed through the
    <a href="http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/CGcharter">Semantic Web
    Coordination Group</a>.</p>

    <p>The Topic Maps community have produced an XML-based Topic
    Map serialization syntax (XTM), and the W3C XML Protocol
    Working Group is already chartered to produce a similar
    mechanism. The XML Protocol Working Group Charter lists as a
    goal the creation of a <a
    href="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/XML-Protocol-Charter#representation">
    "mechanism for serializing data representing non-syntactic data
    models such as object graphs and directed labeled graphs, based
    on the datatypes of XML Schema"</a>. The RDF Core WG will need
    to liaise with the XML Protocol Working Group and XTM
    communities to ensure that the RDF Core specifications are
    produced with consideration for possible future work on
    alternate RDF syntaxes.</p>

    <h2>4. Deliverables</h2>

    <p>The RDF Core WG is expected to begin work upon announcement
    of the Semantic Web Activity, and to meet face to face between
    two and four times prior to completion of their work in January
    2002.</p>

    <h3>Deliverables</h3>

    <p>The deliverables of RDF Core WG are as follows.</p>

    <ul>
      <li>update and maintain the RDF <strong>Issue
      Tracking</strong> document</li>

      <li>publish a set of machine-processable <strong>test
      cases</strong> corresponding to technical issues addressed by
      the WG</li>

      <li>provide an update of the <strong>errata and status
      pages</strong> for the RDF specifications</li>

      <li>update the RDF <strong>Model and Syntax
      Specification</strong> (as one, two or more documents)
      clarifying the model and fixing issues with syntax</li>

      <li>complete work on <strong>RDF Schema</strong> 1.0
      Specification</li>

      <li>provide an account of the <strong>relationship between
      RDF and the XML family of technologies</strong> (particularly
      Schemas and Infoset/Query)</li>
    </ul>

    <h3>Schedule</h3>

    <p>The following schedule is planned. Revisions of this
    schedule must be agreed through the Semantic Web <a
    href="CGcharter">Coordination Group</a>.</p>

    <ul>
      <li>April 2001 - Working group formation</li>

      <li>May 2001 - Publish revised issue list; initial update
      M+S Errata page</li>

      <li>First face to face (June 2001)</li>

      <li>August 2001 - Public release of Schema and Model/Syntax
      documents</li>

      <li>Late September 2001, face to face meeting (Cambridge MA,
      USA)</li>

      <li>Late October 2001 - last call release for RDF Core WG
      documents</li>

      <li>Candidate Recommendations expected during December
      2001</li>

      <li>Proposed Recommendations expected for early February
      2002</li>
    </ul>

    <p>The group is expected to close down in early 2002.</p>

    <h2>5. Meetings and WG Membership</h2>

    <p>The Working Group will conduct its primary discussion via
    electronic mail. The mail archive will be publicly readable,
    however posting to the mailing list will be restricted to
    Working Group participants. Public input should be via the <a
    href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-rdf-comments/">
    www-rdf-comments</a> list, to which this Working Group will be
    expected to read and respond.</p>

    <p>Working Group members will need to be familiar with the RDF
    Model and Syntax Specification, RDF Schema 1.0 Specification,
    and other related XML specifications (particularly XML Schema),
    and will ideally have implementation experience with RDF-based
    applications.</p>

    <p>Teleconferences and face to face meetings will be scheduled
    as necessary to facilitate the work. Two to four face to face
    meetings are anticipated. Participants will be expected to
    typically devote a minimum of twelve hours per week, exclusive
    of face-to-face meetings, to this working group. Maintaining
    communication with the wider RDF developer community through <a
    href="/RDF/Interest/">RDF Interest Group</a> channels (<a
    href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-rdf-interest/">www-rdf-interest</a>,
    <a href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-rdf-logic/">
    www-rdf-logic</a>, <a
    href="http://www.w3.org/RDF/Interest/#irc">IRC chat</a>) will
    also be important aspects of the group's work.</p>

    <p>Participation in the Working Group is available to
    individuals nominated by their W3C Advisory Representatives.
    The Working Group chairs may grant <a
    href="/Consortium/Process/Process-19991111/organization.html#invited-expert">
    invited expert</a> status to other members of the Web community
    at their discretion.</p>

    <h2><a id="IPR" name="IPR">6. Intellectual Property</a></h2>

    <p>W3C promotes an open working environment. Whenever possible,
    technical decisions should be made unencumbered by intellectual
    property right (IPR) claims. W3C's policy for intellectual
    property is set out in <a
    href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process/#ipr">section 2.2 of
    the W3C Process Document</a>.</p>

    <p>Members participating in this Working Group are expected to
    disclose any intellectual property they have in this area. Any
    intellectual property essential to implement specifications
    produced by this Activity must be available on a
    <b>royalty-free</b> basis.  At the suggestion of the Working
    Group, and at the discretion of the W3C Director, possibly
    requiring overall review by the Advisory Committee, technologies
    may be accepted if they are licensed on reasonable,
    non-discriminatory terms.</p>

    <p>Members disclose patent and other IPR claims by sending email
    to an archived mailing list that is readable by Members and the
    W3C Team: <a
    href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Member/patent-issues/">
    http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Member/patent-issues/</a> (<a
    href="http://cgi.w3.org/MemberAccess/AccessRequest">Member-only</a>) . Members
    must disclose all IPR claims to this mailing list but they may
    also copy other recipients.  Patent disclosures considered
    relevant to the specification produced by the Working Group will
    be made public.</p>


    <h2>7. Contacts</h2>

    <p>The chairs of the group are <a
    href="mailto:brian_mcbride@hp.com">Brian McBride</a> (<a
    href="http://www.hpl.hp.com/">HP Labs</a>) and <a
    href="mailto:danbri@w3.org">Dan Brickley</a> (<a
    href="http://www.w3.org/">W3C</a>/<a
    href="http://ilrt.org/">ILRT</a>)</p>

    <p>The W3C staff contact is <a href="mailto:em@w3.org">
    Eric Miller</a>, Semantic Web Activity lead.</p>
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