Welcome to the official GitHub organisation for the Data Façades W3C Community Group. This initiative is dedicated to revolutionising how RDF technologies interact with diverse data sources on the web by creating a vendor-neutral, interoperable technology for accessing heterogeneous data.
The primary objective of this group is to foster long-term stability and broader adoption of the data façades approach. By decoupling the Façade-X method from its original implementation in the SPARQL Anything project, we aim to provide a standard solution that can be implemented by a wide range of developers and organisations, including graph database vendors.
To achieve our goals, the community group focuses on the following:
• Developing the Façade-X Method: Defining core principles and specifications to create a homogeneous view over heterogeneous data sources.
• Creating Standard Mappings (Profiles): Developing mappings for Façade-X to various data formats (e.g., CSV, JSON, XML) and establishing a transparent process for adding new formats over time.
• Developing the SPARQL Dialect: Standardising the specific conventions used for façade access, such as SERVICE IRIs and magic properties, to make them part of the core technology.
• W3C Collaboration: Building connections with the RDF & SPARQL and other Working Groups to ensure consistency within the broader web standards ecosystem.
• Supporting Implementations: Encouraging implementations for other platforms and expanding the approach to other languages like SHACL.
This organisation serves as the primary collaboration platform for our technical work.
• meetings: Contains meeting notes, agendas, and related materials.
• facade-x-spec: The repository for the Facade-X Metamodel Specification, scaffolded with ReSpec for W3C-style publishing.
The Community Group's work has just started. We welcome contributions from developers, businesses, and data enthusiasts. You do not need to be a W3C member to participate; anyone with a W3C account is welcome to join.
• Join the Group: Sign up via our Official W3C Group Page.
• Mailing List: Participate in discussions via public-facade-x@w3.org.
• YouTube: Recorded sessions are available on our YouTube channel.
The group is chaired by Enrico Daga and Luigi Asprino. We acknowledge the founding support of Julian Rojas, Ivo Velitchkov, Mathias Vanden Auweele, Ryan Shaw, and Andy Seaborne.
