Semantics for the Rest of Us: Variants of
Semantic Web Languages in the Real World

http://dig.csail.mit.edu/2009/SemRUs-ISWC09/

Workshop held in conjunction with the
Eighth International Semantic Web Conference
26 October 2009, Washington, DC

The Semantic Web is a broad vision of the future of personal computing,
emphasizing the use of sophisticated knowledge representation as the basis for
end-user applications' data modeling and management needs. Key to the
pervasive adoption of Semantic Web technologies is a good set of fundamental
"building blocks" - the most important of these are representation languages
themselves. W3C's standard languages for the Semantic Web, RDF and OWL, have
been around for several years. Instead of strict standards compliance, we see
"variants" of these languages emerge in applications, often tailored to a
particular application's needs. These variants are often either subsets of OWL
or supersets of RDF, typically with fragments OWL added. Extensions based on
rules, such as SWRL and N3 logic, have been developed as well as enhancements
to the SPARQL query language and protocol.

This workshop will explore the landscape of RDF, OWL and SPARQL variants,
specifically from the standpoint of "real-world semantics". Are there
commonalities in these variants that might suggest new standards or new
versions of the existing standards? We hope to identify common requirements
of applications consuming Semantic Web data and understand the pros and cons
of a strictly formal approach to modeling data versus a "scruffier" approach
where semantics are based on application requirements and implementation
restrictions.

The workshop will encourage active audience participation and
discussion and will include a keynote speaker as well as a panel.
Topics of interest include but are not limited to

- Real world applications that use (variants of) RDF, OWL, and SPARQL
- Use cases for different subsets/supersets of RDF, OWL, and SPARQL
- Extensions of SWRL and N3Logic
- RIF dialects
- How well do the current Semantic Web standards meet system requirements ?
- Real world ``semantic'' applications that use other
structured representations (XML, JSON)
- Alternatives to RDF, OWL or SPARQL
- Are ad hoc subsets of SW languages leading to problems?
- What level of expressive power does the Semantic Web need?
- Does the Semantic Web require languages based on formal methods ?
- How should standard Semantic Web languages be designed ?

SUBMISSION

We seek two kinds of submissions: full papers up to ten pages long and
position papers up to five pages long. Format papers according the ISWC 2009
instructions. Accepted papers will be presented at the workshop and be part of
the workshop proceedings. Submit via
http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=semrusiswc09

IMPORTANT DATES

Submission: 10 August 2009
Notification: 19 August 2009
Camera ready: 2 September 2009
Workshop: 26 October 2009

ORGANIZERS

Lalana Kagal, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ora Lassila, Nokia
Tim Finin, University of Maryland, Baltimore County