November 22, 2004 (Computerworld) -- Tim Berners-Lee is the creator of the World Wide Web and founder and director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in Cambridge, Mass. Berners-Lee is currently working on the Semantic Web, a framework for making Web content understandable by machines as well as people. In an interview conducted via e-mail with Robert L. Mitchell, he discussed the W3C and the challenges of developing standards.
Why did the world need the W3C -- yet another standards group? There was not a group that was ready to focus on the layers of technology above the protocols layer that could draw upon the right communities of users. W3C appeared at a time when some of the most serious concerns had to do with fragmentation of the basic Web technologies, namely HTML, and we had to find a way to bring the actors to the table for the greater good.
Prior to founding the W3C, you first took HTML to the IETF. Why didn't it work out? I did start by taking HTML to the IETF, as I had been involved with the IETF for Internet protocols. That didn't work out largely because the people with markup experience were a different set: They joined the later W3C HTML Working Group when it was formed, which was very successful in bringing the fragmented HTML versions back to a single standard.
Why are there so many consortia and vendor groups promoting their own standards today? Recognizing that standards are now what customers demand, we see more of these marketing initiatives launched under the name of "standard." And of course, it makes sense that vendors might want to ensure that they can exert as much control as possible over the development of a standard -- they're going to have to make products that conform. If a vendor group can control both the technical development and the marketing, then it's more appealing to the vendor -- but not necessarily to the customer.
If you look at the rate of creation of new fora of the type which are formed by a few controlling founders, then in fact this is not new -- it has been happening for a long time. Many of these are being formed as a marketing exercise, to build up some brand recognition. I don't think there is anything wrong with that, per se, except when it gets labeled a standard.
Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the World Wide Web and founder and director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
How do you think the world has changed in terms of what it takes to create a standard? A lot is at stake in terms of applications, both commercial and noncommercial. We've seen what happens when people and organizations sacrifice interoperability for speed.
There are also more people who are interested in participating in the production of a standard and more interested in using the end result. There is the continued desire to ensure that what gets built today works with what was implemented some time ago.
Given the importance of projects such the Semantic Web, are you working with other standards organizations to get its elements more broadly supported? There has been relevant work done in the IEEE, though it doesn't come with the same connection to Web architecture -- it doesn't use [Uniform Resource Identifiers] to identify everything, for example. The work on conceptual graphs, which is closer to Semantic Web work, went from the IEEE to ISO. However, the core standards for the Semantic Web, a growing stack based on the Resource Description Framework [RDF] and the Web Ontology Language, were developed at W3C and are W3C recommendations.
I think the largest liaison may be in the area of core ontologies for specific applications, which could seed a lot of connectivity. Calendar events are standardized in iCalendar at the IETF, and the RDF community is figuring out what they mean for conversion to RDF and then integration with other data, and the same is happening with media metadata as well as financial information.
I think the challenge and opportunity for the future is to get new groups in the application areas, especially at other standards bodies, to initially think in a Semantic Web way, so their work will join together without having to be reverse-engineered. So in many ways, the Semantic Web technology has to connect very well to specialized communities.
Is Microsoft's Golden Age over? What are Gates' most memorable quotes? Find out in Computerworld's complete coverage of the end of the Bill Gates era at Microsoft.
(Source: Computerworld) It's the hot technology for most large companies, but business, technical and cultural issues must be addressed for a successful SOA implementation. Get the whole story, from the big picture to the how-to-do-it details, in this Executive Bulletin. Download this Executive Bulletin (a $49.95 value) for Free, compliments of Fujitsu.
Download this executive briefing
Long Tail Supplier Collaboration - What's In It For You?
Long Tail Supplier Collaboration - What's In It For You?
Download this webcast, free, compliments of Sterling Commerce
Go to the webcast
Driving Business Success Through Workgroup Choice and Flexibility
Download this white paper, free, compliments of Novell! (Source: Novell) The structure of your workgroup environment plays a vital role in enabling your knowledge workers to be productive and collaborate securely. And IT choice and flexibility can mean the difference between reactive spending and proactive investment. Boost your competitive advantage with a workgroup infrastructure that lets you deliver the tools and services that are right for you. Download this white paper to learn how Novell offers a variety of solutions that give you the flexibility to address critical business initiatives and workforce productivity.
Download this white paper
White Papers
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services.
Computerworld Technology Briefing: An open-source path to optimal virtualization Looking for a virtualization strategy that offers both the flexibility and reliability to meet the demands of mixed-source environments? Look no further than the fast-emerging open virtualization approach backed by some of the biggest names in enterprise computing. Together they are pointing the way toward higher data center performance without higher costs. Download this briefing
Are time constraints pressuring your development, QA, and support resources to cut corners on software quality? If so, your company's not alone. According to a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of BMC Software, "...problem resolution is a major time-sink for developers and a drain on the efficiency of application development and support."
Subscribe to
Computerworld 
or
Other Web Site Management Stories
Long Tail Supplier Collaboration - What's In It For You? 
Download this white paper, free, compliments of Novell!
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services.
Looking for a virtualization strategy that offers both the flexibility and reliability to meet the demands of mixed-source environments? Look no further than the fast-emerging open virtualization approach backed by some of the biggest names in enterprise computing. Together they are pointing the way toward higher data center performance without higher costs.
Computerworld