The Dataweb is an open source project started in 1995 to provide access to statistical data in the same way that the current world wide web provides access to documents. The data browser for the DataWeb is Data FERRETT (Federated Electronic Research Review Extraction Tablulation Tool) The url for this work can be found at http://www.thedataweb.org.

The Dataweb is a new approach to distributed data sharing that applies the proven REST architecture principles of the World Wide Web to the sharing and linking of machine-readable data across domains and applications. This architecture is being pursued by the OASIS XDI Technical Committee in development of the XDI trusted data sharing protocol. Rest has several different meanings. ... The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) is a global consortium that drives the development, convergence and adoption of e-business and web service standards. ... XDI (XRI Data Interchange) is a generalized, extensible service for sharing, linking, and synchronizing data over the Internet and other data networks using XML documents and XRIs (Extensible Resource Identifiers). ...

How the Dataweb Differs from the World Wide Web

The Dataweb will work very much like today's Web, except it will:

• Link people and organizations in addition to machines and documents,
• Support persistent links that won't break as people and organizations move and change addresses, and
• Address the privacy and trust issues that plague today's Web by building authority, authentication, and authorization directly into the fabric.

The result is that unlike the primarily public and anonymous links available over today's Web, links on the Dataweb will enable private, trusted, and bi-directional data sharing relationships approaching the same level of intimacy as real-world relationships.

The Three Key Building Blocks

Three key building blocks of the Dataweb are:

1. XRIs - A new OASIS specification for URI-compatible abstract identifiers used to identify and share resources across domains and applications. XRIs offer several key data sharing features not found in conventional URIs.
2. XDI documents (Dataweb pages) - a single XML "universal" schema format in which any XML-encoded data (including XML documents in other schema formats) can be shared independent of the application or domain from which the data originated.
3. Link contracts - XDI documents than govern the sharing of other XDI documents, including authentication, authorization, privacy (data usage), synchronization, and termination.

XRI (eXtensible Resource Identifier) is a scheme and resolution protocol for abstract identifiers compatible with Uniform Resource Identifiers and Internationalized Resource Identifiers, developed by the XRI Technical Committee at OASIS. The goal of XRIs is to provide a universal format for identifiers that are domain-, location-, application-, and transport-independent... Uri is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. ... XDI (XRI Data Interchange) is a generalized, extensible service for sharing, linking, and synchronizing data over the Internet and other data networks using XML documents and XRIs (Extensible Resource Identifiers). ... The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a W3C-recommended general-purpose markup language for creating special-purpose markup languages, capable of describing many different kinds of data. ... A link contract is a new approach to data control in a distributed data sharing network. ...

Dataweb Standards

Dataweb standards follow the precedent of Web standards, as shown in the table below:

The Social Web

The Dataweb approach to a globally-distributed data sharing network models the real-world mechanism of social contracts and legal contracts that bind civilized people and organizations in the real world today. So Dataweb technology and standards can be a key enabler of the Social Web. Public services based on the Dataweb and Social Web models are under development by an international non-profit organization, XDI.ORG. Social contract theory (or contractarianism) is a concept used in philosophy, political science, and sociology to denote an implicit agreement within a state regarding the rights and responsibilities of the state and its citizens, or more generally a similar concord between a group and its members, or between individuals. ... The Social Web refers to an open global distributed data sharing network similar to todays World Wide Web, except instead of linking documents, the Social Web will link people, organizations, and concepts. ...

See also

• Social Web
• Link contracts
• XRI
• XDI
• I-names
• I-numbers
• I-brokers
• REST

The Social Web refers to an open global distributed data sharing network similar to todays World Wide Web, except instead of linking documents, the Social Web will link people, organizations, and concepts. ... A link contract is a new approach to data control in a distributed data sharing network. ... XRI (eXtensible Resource Identifier) is a scheme and resolution protocol for abstract identifiers compatible with Uniform Resource Identifiers and Internationalized Resource Identifiers, developed by the XRI Technical Committee at OASIS. The goal of XRIs is to provide a universal format for identifiers that are domain-, location-, application-, and transport-independent... XDI (XRI Data Interchange) is a generalized, extensible service for sharing, linking, and synchronizing data over the Internet and other data networks using XML documents and XRIs (Extensible Resource Identifiers). ... I-name - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... I-numbers are one form of an XRI - an abstract identifier designed for sharing resources and data across domains and applications. ... I-brokers are bankers for data or ISPs for identity services - trusted third parties that help people and organizations share private data the same way banks help us exchange funds and ISPs help us exchange email and files. ... Rest has several different meanings. ...

External links

• The Dataweb: An Introduction to XDI
• The Social Web: Creating An Open Social Network with XDI
• OASIS XDI Technical Committee
• OASIS XRI Technical Committee
• XDI.ORG
• Interview with Richard Locke, DataWeb CEO
• Andy Dale's blog about XRI, XDI and Identity