CFP ISWC09 Workshop: Semantics for the rest of us

     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 by  Sandro Hawke (http://www.w3.org/People/Sandro/ 
).

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 current Semantic Web standards meet system requirements?
- Real world `semantic' applications using other 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

KEYNOTE

Sandro Hawke is a Software Developer and Systems Architect at W3C and
a Research Scientist at MIT. He does software research and development
for the Semantic Web Activity and is the staff contact for OWL, and
RIF working groups.

ORGANIZERS

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

PROGRAM COMMITTEE

Ben Addida, CHIP, Harvard Medical School
Melliyal Annamalai, Oracle
Jie Bao, RPI
Kendall Clark, Clark & Parsia
Richard Cyganiak, DERI
Li Ding, RPI
Tim Finin, UMBC
Benjamin Grosof, Vulcan
Harry Halpin, University of Edinburgh
Anupam Joshi, UMBC
Lalana Kagal, MIT
Ora Lassila, Nokia
Thomas Lukasiewicz, Oxford University
Natasha Noy, Stanford
Bijan Parsia, University of Manchester
Axel Polleres, DERI National University of Ireland
Marwan Sabbouh, Mitre & Northeastern
Lynn Andrea Stein, Olin College of Engineering
Susie Stephens, Johnson & Johnson