A couple of days ago, Microsoft announced their OData API. In the first blog post at odata.org, they wrote:

At the same time we are looking to engage with IETF and W3C to explore how to get broader adoption of the OData extentions & conventions.

I would like to take Microsoft up on their suggestion: I invite you to create an Incubator Group at W3C. Incubator groups start quickly, and the Members that start them can design them so that anyone can participate. A lot of people who are passionate about data are already part of the W3C community and you are likely to get a lot of feedback.

Incubator Groups don't produce standards, but the community can decide later whether the API should move to the W3C Recommendation Track (or somewhere else). One good reason for doing that is the W3C Royalty-Free Patent Policy. Incubator Groups can smooth the transition from "good idea" to "widely deployed standard available Royalty-Free."

I hope you'll take me up on the invitation.

Oh, and the invitation is not just for Microsoft. W3C is interested in APIs for access to data; this is on the agenda for a June Workshop. If you're working on an API and it has "data" in the name, I encourage you to build community support in a W3C Incubator Group.



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