You can not select more than 25 topics
Topics must start with a letter or number, can include dashes ('-') and can be up to 35 characters long.
306 lines
12 KiB
306 lines
12 KiB
<?xml version="1.0"?>
|
|
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
|
|
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
|
|
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
|
|
<head>
|
|
<meta name="generator" content="HTML Tidy, see www.w3.org" />
|
|
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html" />
|
|
<title>
|
|
SWAD-Europe: Project Fact Sheet -
|
|
http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/Europe/factsheet/
|
|
</title>
|
|
<link rel="StyleSheet" type="text/css"
|
|
href="/2001/sw/Europe/style/swad-europe.css" />
|
|
</head>
|
|
<body>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<a href="/" accesskey="W"><img src="/Icons/w3c_home"
|
|
width="72" height="48" align="right" alt="W3C" /></a> <a
|
|
href="http://www.cordis.lu/ist/"><img
|
|
src="/2001/sw/Europe/images/istlogo-thumb.gif" align="right"
|
|
alt="EU IST logo" /></a>
|
|
</p>
|
|
<h2 id="title" class="title">
|
|
SWAD-Europe: Project Fact Sheet
|
|
</h2>
|
|
<h3>
|
|
<a
|
|
href="http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/Europe/">http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/Europe/</a>
|
|
</h3>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<a href="http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/Europe/">SWAD-Europe</a>
|
|
project Fact Sheet version 1.0.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
(based on the original <a
|
|
href="../plan/proj_objectives.html">Project Objectives</a>
|
|
document)
|
|
</p>
|
|
<!--
|
|
Editorial TODO
|
|
|
|
The fact sheet needs to cover a number of things, some of
|
|
which are addressed by project overview doc, some aren't. A
|
|
rough editorial checklist...
|
|
|
|
project rationale
|
|
covered?
|
|
|
|
objectives
|
|
covered.
|
|
|
|
technical baseline
|
|
more detail needed? RDF, XML, Namespaces, WebOnt, rules,
|
|
query etc?
|
|
|
|
target groups
|
|
need more?
|
|
/2001/sw/Europe/plan/workpackages/live/esw-wp-2.html
|
|
|
|
application domains
|
|
todo (tricky, SW being so general?). emphasise 'scenario
|
|
led', Web...
|
|
|
|
intermediate / final outputs
|
|
final output is covered; more on intermediate, ie. what
|
|
people can expect to see before month 30
|
|
-->
|
|
<h4>
|
|
Project Rationale
|
|
</h4>
|
|
<p>
|
|
For the Web to reach its full potential, it must evolve into
|
|
a Semantic Web, providing a universally accessible platform
|
|
that allows data to be shared and processed by automated
|
|
tools as well as by people. The 'Semantic Web' is a recent
|
|
initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), with the
|
|
goal of extending the current Web to facilitate Web
|
|
automation, universally accessible content, and the 'Web of
|
|
Trust'.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The SWAD-Europe project aims to support W3C's Semantic Web
|
|
initiative in Europe, providing targeted research,
|
|
demonstrations and outreach to ensure Semantic Web
|
|
technologies move into the mainstream of networked computing.
|
|
The project aims to support the development and deployment of
|
|
W3C Semantic Web specifications through implementation,
|
|
research and testing activities. Semantic Web Advanced
|
|
Development for Europe (SWAD-Europe) aims to play a key role
|
|
in the evolution of the Semantic Web, through education and
|
|
outreach to developers, organisations and content creators;
|
|
through Open Source implementation and testing, and through
|
|
pre-consensus technology development to drive and inform the
|
|
creation of new Semantic Web standards.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The period 2002-2004 will see the first wave of mainstream
|
|
Semantic Web applications. SWAD-Europe's role will be to
|
|
ensure that the critical technology components required for
|
|
widespread Semantic Web adoption are readily accessible to
|
|
European industry, consumers, and developers. This involves
|
|
finding and maintaining a balance between "in-house" Open
|
|
Source tool development, community building, outreach and
|
|
evangelism, combined with more technologically advanced
|
|
research and analysis to support and field-test Semantic Web
|
|
standards.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<h4>
|
|
Objectives
|
|
</h4>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Implement scenario-led examples showing the integration of
|
|
multiple Semantic Web technologies drawing practical use
|
|
cases from industry, consumer, developer perspectives.
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Develop a Semantic Web technology integration strategy that
|
|
emphasises the utility of XML languages (such as SVG, HTML,
|
|
MathML, XLink) as complementary rather than competing
|
|
components of the Web.
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Ensure that the European developers, citizens and content
|
|
creators are kept aware of Semantic Web technology for
|
|
supporting universal accessibility, device independence and
|
|
internationalisation.
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Ensure that European Community is kept aware of
|
|
international best practice, and that best practice within
|
|
Europe is recognised internationally.
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Undertake targeted research and development in support of
|
|
these objectives, and in collaboration with the wider
|
|
European developer community, W3C Member organisations, and
|
|
related Open Source initiatives.
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<h4>
|
|
Expected Results
|
|
</h4>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Following a 30 month schedule, by completion the project will
|
|
have:
|
|
</p>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Delivered a series of research demonstrations showcasing
|
|
Semantic Web technology for consumer and industrial
|
|
applications
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Created a methodology demonstrating the integration of RDF
|
|
and Semantic Web tools with a range of XML and Web
|
|
standards
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Facilitated significant technology maturation, aiding the
|
|
deployment of Semantic Web-enhanced Web Services
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Deployed an Education and Outreach programme stimulating
|
|
and disseminating technical developments within the
|
|
European Semantic Web community
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<h4>
|
|
Application Domains: A Scenario-led Perspective
|
|
</h4>
|
|
<p>
|
|
RDF, XML, Ontologies and other Semantic Web languages provide
|
|
cross-domain technology to support the exchange and
|
|
exploitation of structured data using the Web. The project
|
|
will draw upon worked scenarios from a number of domains to
|
|
illustrate the use of these standards in the Web, with
|
|
particular emphasis on scenarios that integrate information
|
|
from several domains, technologies and topics.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The objectives of the project can best be understood in terms
|
|
of the kinds of user scenarios that will inform the project
|
|
throughout its lifecycle. As longstanding participants in the
|
|
Semantic Web, XML and Web developer communities, the project
|
|
team are familiar with a number of 'frequently asked
|
|
questions' that arise when considering Semantic Web
|
|
technology. These come from technical, consumer, content
|
|
creator and business perspectives, but a common theme recurs:
|
|
technology integration.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<em>Which standard should I use?"</em>
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<em>"How do use RDF with XML Schemas? "</em>
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<em>"...or Web Services with Web Ontologies? ...MathML with
|
|
RDF-rules?"</em>
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Such questions are often themselves a means to an end. The
|
|
goal is typically not to integrate two different W3C data
|
|
formats, but to complete some more specific task.
|
|
Technology-oriented questions often mask an
|
|
application-oriented need.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
We often hear questions such as:
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<em>"I am re-engineering our Intranet and want a
|
|
standards-based way of exchanging (amongst other things)
|
|
'organisational chart' information about departments and
|
|
groups. The XML Schema Specification seems relevant, since we
|
|
keep much of this data in relational databases, and tools
|
|
exist to export data using XML Schema. Everybody recommends
|
|
the use of XML, but there seem to be so many different ways
|
|
of using it. The XML specification provides DTDs; there is
|
|
also now an XML Namespaces specification, and a number of
|
|
alternative XML Schema languages."</em>
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<em>"Added to this, articles I read about the Semantic Web
|
|
suggest I should be using an `Ontology language' (instead?),
|
|
based on RDF Schema and(/or) DAML+OIL. Since the information
|
|
we are trying to represent is an organisational chart, we are
|
|
also considering the use of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) to
|
|
create, exchange and edit this information. It is not clear
|
|
which, if any, of these technologies are most appropriate to
|
|
use, nor what the relationship between them is."</em>
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
While exaggerated here for effect, these concerns are real,
|
|
current and addressable. To answer this, we need a
|
|
combination of advanced technology development and a
|
|
programme of documentation, demonstration, education and
|
|
outreach.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<h4>
|
|
Target Groups
|
|
</h4>
|
|
<p>
|
|
From the concerns of managers and technologists, content
|
|
creators and policy makers, we note this same need. Web
|
|
technology, and now Semantic Web technology in particular,
|
|
presents a daunting array of tools, specifications and
|
|
techniques. The full range of relevant technology, while in
|
|
principle extremely powerful, also risks stifling or delaying
|
|
innovation through providing too much to choose from.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The overarching aim of the project is thus to provide,
|
|
through all appropriate means, a body of answers to questions
|
|
that have to date gone unanswered, and to foster grassroots
|
|
communities within which such concerns are addressed. This
|
|
approach informs the project management and overall direction
|
|
of SWAD-Europe, as well as the content of each workpackage.
|
|
It is more important to offer clear answers to these
|
|
questions than it is for us to write software or complex
|
|
technical reports. Our technical research and advanced
|
|
development activities are a means to an end: facilitating
|
|
wide-scale Semantic Web deployment. The project will
|
|
therefore remain responsive to external developments (such as
|
|
the appearance of unanticipated third-party work, software
|
|
libraries etc.), refining the technical focus of the research
|
|
to track the current state of the art, and to respond to the
|
|
concerns of stakeholder communities.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<h4>
|
|
Project Partners
|
|
</h4>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
INRIA (<a href="http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/">W3C</a>), <a
|
|
href="http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/">http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/</a>
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
University of Bristol (<a
|
|
href="http://ilrt.org/discovery/">ILRT</a>), <a
|
|
href="http://ilrt.org/discovery/">http://ilrt.org/discovery/</a>
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a href="http://www.hpl.hp.com/semweb/">HP Labs</a>, <a
|
|
href="http://www.hpl.hp.com/semweb/">http://www.hpl.hp.com/semweb/</a>
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
CCLRC (<a href="http://www.bitd.clrc.ac.uk/">RAL BITD</a>),
|
|
<a
|
|
href="http://www.bitd.clrc.ac.uk/">http://www.bitd.clrc.ac.uk/</a>
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a href="http://www.stilo.com/">Stilo</a>, <a
|
|
href="http://www.stilo.com/">http://www.stilo.com/</a>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<hr />
|
|
<p>
|
|
Maintained by: <a href="http://www.w3.org/People/DanBri/">Dan
|
|
Brickley</a> (<a href="http://www.w3.org/">W3C</a>/<a
|
|
href="http://ilrt.org/discovery/">ILRT</a>)
|
|
</p>
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html>
|
|
|