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2008-04-08: The mission of the W3C Health Care and Life Sciences (HCLS) Interest Group is to show how to use Semantic Web technology to answer cross-disciplinary questions in life science that have, until now, been prohibitively difficult to research. Today the HCLS Interest Group published two Working Drafts. The first describes the construction and use of the knowledge base that was used as part of a demonstration of life sciences data integration at the the 2007 World Wide Web Conference in Banff, Canada. The second document explains the process of integrating data with an existing Semantic Web knowledge base. The success of the group continues to draw industry interest. W3C Members are currently reviewing a draft charter that would enable the renewed HCLS Interest Group to develop and support use cases that have clear scientific, business and/or technical value, using Semantic Web technologies in three areas: life science, translational medicine, and health care. We invite all W3C Members to review the draft charter (which is public during the review), and encourage those who are interested in using the Semantic Web to solve knowledge representation and integration on a large scale to join the Interest Group. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity. (Permalink)
2008-04-10: The XHTML2 Working Group has published the second Last Call Working Draft of XHTML Role Attribute Module. The XHTML Role Attribute defined in this specification allows the author to annotate XML Languages with machine-extractable semantic information about the purpose of an element. Use cases include accessibility, device adaptation, server-side processing, and complex data description. This attribute can be integrated into any markup language based upon XHTML Modularization. Comments are welcome through 10 May. Learn more about the HTML Activity. (Permalink)
2008-04-10: The Web API Working Group has published the Working Draft of Language Bindings for DOM Specifications. This specification defines an Interface Definition Language (IDL) to be used by other specifications that define a Document Object Model (DOM). The document also addresses how interfaces described with this IDL correspond to constructs within ECMAScript and Java execution environments Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity. (Permalink)
2008-04-09: The Math Working Group has published a Working Draft of Mathematical Markup Language (MathML) Version 3.0. This is the third draft of MathML, an XML application for describing mathematical notation and capturing both its structure and content. The goal of MathML is to enable mathematics to be served, received, and processed on the World Wide Web, just as HTML has enabled this functionality for text. Learn more about the Math Activity. (Permalink)
2008-04-09: W3C is pleased to announce the creation of the Rich Web Application Backplane Incubator Group, sponsored by W3C Members CWI, HP, IBM, and Xerox. The mission of the XG is to explore and refine the architecture of a "Rich Web Application Backplane" -- a set of common building blocks for Web applications. The XG charter states: "[B]enefits to end-user interaction of adopting such common infrastructure will include richer user interaction enabled through simplified approaches to mixing multiple interaction technologies in a single application. The ability to easily share data across multiple components, and to freely intermix AJAX and declarative components, should support a wider range of high function composable UIs." Like all XG's, this group's work is not standards-track. Read more about the Incubator Activity, an initiative to foster development of emerging Web-related technologies. (Permalink)
2008-04-08: The Mobile Web Initiative Device Description Working Group has published the First Public and Last Call Working Draft of Device Description Repository Simple API. Web content delivered to mobile devices usually benefits from being tailored to take into account a range of factors such as screen size, markup language support and image format support. Such information is stored in "Device Description Repositories" (DDRs). This document describes a simple API for access to DDRs, in order to ease and promote the development of Web content that adapts to its Delivery Context. Comments are welcome through 01 May. Learn more about the Mobile Web Initiative. (Permalink)
2008-04-07: Browse W3C presentations and events also available as an RSS channel. (Permalink)
Multiple presenters will be at W3C Track, The 17th International World Wide Web Conference (WWW2008) in Beijing, China.
2008-04-03: The XML Core Working Group has published the Last Call Working Draft of XML Linking Language (XLink) Version 1.1. This specification defines the XML Linking Language (XLink) Version 1.1, which allows elements to be inserted into XML documents in order to create and describe links between resources. It uses XML syntax to create structures that can describe links similar to the simple unidirectional hyperlinks of today's HTML, as well as more sophisticated links. Comments are welcome through 16 May. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity. (Permalink)
2008-04-03: The W3C SWS Testbed Incubator Group published their final report: SWS Challenge Testbed Incubator Methodology Report. This document describes the SWS Testbed XG's Final Report on the best practices for a methodology for evaluating the efficacy of various techniques for mediation, discovery, and composition of Web Services, such techniques including software engineering approaches as well as semantic annotations. These best practices are based upon two years of experience with five workshops and one year of discussion and meetings on this subject by the XG Participants. The publication is part of the Incubator Activity, a forum where W3C Members can innovate and experiment. (Permalink)
2008-04-03: The Web Security Context Working Group has published a Working Draft of Web Security Context: Experience, Indicators, and Trust. This specification deals with the trust decisions that users must make online, and with ways to support them in making safe and informed decisions where possible. In order to achieve that goal, this specification includes recommendations on the presentation of identity information by Web user agents; on handling errors in security protocols in a way that minimizes the trust decisions left to users, and induces them toward safe behavior where they have to make these decisions; and on data entry interactions that will make it easier for users to enter sensitive data into legitimate sites than to enter them into illegitimate sites. Learn more about the Security Activity. (Permalink)
2008-04-03: The XHTML2 Working Group has published a Working Draft of CURIE Syntax 1.0. The aim of this document is to outline a syntax for expressing URIs in a generic, abbreviated syntax. While it has been produced in conjunction with the XHTML 2 Working Group, it is not specifically targeted at use by XHTML Family Markup Languages. Note that the target audience for this document is Language designers, not the users of those Languages. Learn more about the HTML Activity. (Permalink)
2008-04-01: The Semantic Web Education and Outreach (SWEO) Interest Group has published an Interest Group Note Cool URIs for the Semantic Web. The Resource Description Framework (RDF) allows users to describe both Web documents and concepts from the real world people, organizations, topics, things in a computer-processable way. Publishing such descriptions on the Web creates the Semantic Web. URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers) are very important to the Semantic Web, providing both the core of the framework itself and the link between RDF and the Web. This document presents guidelines for the effective use of URIs in the context of the Semantic Web. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity. (Permalink)
2008-03-28: The XML Query Working Group has published two First Public Working Drafts: XQuery Scripting Extension 1.0 and XQuery Scripting Extension 1.0 Use Cases. The former defines an extension to XQuery 1.0 and XQuery Update Facility. Expressions can be evaluated in a specific order, with later expressions seeing the effects of the expressions that came before them. This specification introduces the concept of a block with local variable declarations, as well as several new kinds of expressions, including assignment, while, continue, break, and exit expressions. The latter specification includes the usage scenarios that motivate the changes in the former. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity. (Permalink)
2008-03-28: The XML Schema Patterns for Databinding Working Group has published two documents: the Last Call Working Draft of Basic XML Schema Patterns for Databinding Version 1.0 and an ordinary Working Draft of Advanced XML Schema Patterns for Databinding Version 1.0. The first specification provides a set of basic XML Schema 1.0 patterns known to be interoperable between state of the art databinding implementations.The patterns may be used to describe XML 1.0 representations of commonly used data structures. Last Call comments are welcome through 30 April. The second specification provides a set of commonly used XML Schema 1.0 patterns known to cause issues with some state of the art databinding implementations. Learn more about the Web Services Activity. (Permalink)
2008-03-27: Privacy assures autonomy of the individual, a necessary precondition for a democratic society. W3C is pleased to announce the launch of the PrimeLife research project. W3C Staff members Thomas Roessler and Rigo Wenning will participate in this three-year, 10 Million Euro multi-partner research effort. The goal of the project is to develop scalable tools to help people protect their privacy and manage their identities in new and emerging services and applications (such as virtual communities and collaborative applications). Read more about the W3C Policy Languages Interest Group. (Permalink)
2008-03-27: The Efficient XML Interchange Working Group has published a Working Draft of Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) Format 1.0. This document is the specification of the Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) format. EXI is a very compact representation for the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Information Set that is intended to simultaneously optimize performance and the utilization of computational resources. The EXI format uses a hybrid approach drawn from the information and formal language theories, plus practical techniques verified by measurements, for entropy encoding XML information. Using a relatively simple algorithm, which is amenable to fast and compact implementation, and a small set of data types, it reliably produces efficient encodings of XML event streams. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity. (Permalink)
2008-03-27: The XML Query Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of XML Query (XQuery) 1.1 Use Cases. This document specifies usage scenarios for XML Query (XQuery) 1.1, to illustrate important applications for the query language. Each use case is focused on a specific application area, and contains a Document Type Definition (DTD) and example input data. Each use case specifies a set of queries that might be applied to the input data, and the expected results for each query. See changes from the previous draft and learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity. (Permalink)
2008-03-26: W3C is pleased to announce the launch of the Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) Interest Group, chaired by Yves Savourel (ENLASO Corporation). The ITS IG is a forum to foster a community of users of the Internationalization Tag Set (ITS), by promoting its adoption, and gathering information on its further development. The ITS defines data categories that may be used with schemas to support the internationalization and localization of schemas and documents. Participation in the new ITS IG is open to W3C Members and the public. Read about the W3C Internationalization Activity. (Permalink)
2008-03-26: The XML Security Specifications Maintenance Working Group has published the Proposed Edited Recommendation of XML Signature Syntax and Processing (Second Edition). This document specifies XML digital signature processing rules and syntax. XML Signatures provide integrity, message authentication, and/or signer authentication services for data of any type, whether located within the XML that includes the signature or elsewhere. Read the list of changes and the implementation report. Comments are welcome through 30 April. Learn more about the Security Activity. (Permalink)
2008-03-26: The XSL Working Group has published the First Public Working Draft of Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) Requirements Version 2.0. This document enumerates the collected requirements for a 2.0 version of XSL Formatting Objects (XSL-FO), not for XSLT. XSL-FO is widely deployed in industry and academia where multiple output forms (typically print and online) are needed from single source XML. It is used in many diverse applications and countries on a large number of implementations to create technical documentation, reports and contracts, terms and conditions, invoices and other forms processing, such as driver's licenses and postal forms. The XSL Working Group invites people to help prioritize the feature set of XSL 2.0 by completing a survey until the end of September 2008. Learn more about the W3C XML Activity. (Permalink)
2008-03-26: The Protocol for Web Description Resources (POWDER) Working Group has published a Working Draft of Protocol for Web Description Resources (POWDER): Grouping of Resources. The purpose of the Protocol for Web Description Resources (POWDER) is to provide a means to describe a group of resources through the publication of machine-readable metadata, as motivated by the POWDER Use Cases. The current document sets out how Description Resources (DRs) can be created and published, whether individually or as bulk data, how to link to DRs from other online resources, and, crucially, how DRs may be authenticated and trusted. The aim is to provide a platform through which opinions, claims and assertions about online resources can be expressed by people and exchanged by machines. See the change log and learn more about the Semantic Web Activity. (Permalink)
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