First Call for Papers ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Advances in Semantics for Web services Workshop (semantics4ws'06) http://events.deri.at/semantics4ws2006/ at the Fourth International Conference on Business Process Management (BPM 2006) http://bpm2006.tuwien.ac.at/ Vienna, Austria, September 4, 2006 -------------------------------------------------------- The theme of semantics4ws'06 is �^�^�Semantic Web Service in Business Processes�^�^� GENERAL OVERVIEW Web services have added a new level of functionality to the current Web by taking a first step towards seamless integration of distributed software components using Web standards. Nevertheless, current Web service technologies around SOAP, WSDL and UDDI operate at a syntactic level and, therefore, although they support interoperability (i.e. interoperability between the many diverse application development platforms that exist today) through common standards, they still require human interaction to a large extent. For example, the human programmer has to manually search for appropriate Web services in order to combine them in a useful manner, which limits scalability and greatly curtails the added economic value of envisioned with the advent of Web services. Recent research (to which we refer to as Semantic Web Services - SWS), which draws on a variety of fields such as Semantic Web, knowledge representation, formal methods, software engineering, process modeling, workflow, and software agents, is gaining momentum, in particular in the context of Web services usage. Research in the mentioned fields can be exploited to automate Web services-related tasks, like discovery, selection, composition, mediation, monitoring, and invocation, thus enabling seamless interoperation between them while keeping human intervention to a minimum. Although several initiatives, like OWL-S, WSMO, WSDL-S, or IRS, have emerged in this area aiming at addressing the problem of semantics in Web services, many major challenges still need to be addressed and solved in this field. In this context, this workshop aims to provide a forum in which to focus on selected core technical challenges for deployment of Semantic Web Services, and reach a better understanding of the relationships between commercial Web service standards, current SWS research efforts, and the ultimate requirements for full-scale deployment of these technologies. More specifically, this workshop aims to tackle the research problems (as well as recent practical experiences) around methods, concepts, models, languages and technology that enable semantics in the context of Web services, as well as discussing recent advances in semantics for Web services. Of particular interest are the architectural, technical, and developmental foundations of SWS, and showing how they combine synergistically to enable service automation on the scale required by today�^�^�s Internet-connected enterprises. This proposed workshop aims to bring together researchers and industry practitioners (e.g. leading modelers, architects, system vendors, open-source projects, developers, and end-users) addressing many of these issues (including recent developments in tools and techniques, and real-world implementations of SWS applications), and promote and foster a greater understanding of how semantics can assist automation in Web services, thus helping people develop and manage services more efficiently and effectively. TOPICS The following indicates the general focus of the workshop. However, related contributions are welcome as well. * case studies for (semantic) Web services * OWL-S, WSMO, WSDL-S, IRS, SWSF-based systems and applications * static and dynamic logics for Web services and related aspects * ontologies for modeling (semantic) Web services * formal languages for describing (semantic) Web services * ontologies and languages for process modeling for (semantic) Web services * ontological representation of quality of services (QoS), services level agreements (SLAs), and non-functional properties (NFPs) of Web services * formal languages for QoS, SLAs, and NFPs * reasoning tasks and their complexity in SWS * formal methods and their applications in Web services * validation and verification for Web services * advertising, discovery, matchmaking, selection, and brokering of (semantic) Web services * data/process/protocol mediation in (semantic) Web services * composition, planning, and re-planning with (semantic) Web services * execution and lifecycle management of (semantic) Web services * monitoring, adaptability, and recovery strategies for (semantic) Web services * policies for (semantic) Web services * semantics in Web services contracts * security and privacy for (semantic) Web services * semantics for Grid services and e-Services * architectures for (semantic) Web services deployment * tools, middleware, and infrastructure for (semantic) Web services WORKSHOP FORMAT AND ATTENDANCE The program will occupy a full day, and will include presentations of papers selected from the full papers category (see 'submissions' below). Please note that at least one author of each accepted submission must attend the workshop. The BPM 2006 conference formalities are applied for fees and respective organizational aspects. Submission of a paper is not required for attendance at the workshop. However, in the event that the workshop cannot accommodate all who would like to participate, those who have submitted a paper (in any category) will be given priority for registration. SUBMISSIONS The workshop invites different types of contributions: * Papers * Demos * Posters / Position papers Papers:The papers should not exceed 12 pages and should have the Springer Lecture Notes of Computer Science (LNCS) layout. Demos: Detailed description plus sufficient number of screenshots or a video of the demo are required. For paper-based submissions, please follow the Springer LNCS layout. Please note that at the workshop itself no technical support is provided except possibly Internet connection and power (to be confirmed). Posters/Position papers: The posters/position papers should not exceed 5 pages and should have the Springer LNCS layout. All contributions will be peer reviewed by a program committee that will incorporate well recognized experts in the area of semantic technologies and Web services. All submissions should be formatted in Springer's LNCS style, should be submitted in electronic format using the link: http://www.easychair.org/semantics4ws2006/. All accepted full papers and all position papers of attendees will be published in the proceedings of the workshop. Workshop proceedings will be published with Springer LNCS and will be available at the workshop. IMPORTANT DATES Submissions: May 1, 2006 Acceptance: May 23, 2006 Final copy: June 7, 2006 Workshop day: September 4, 2006 ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Steven Battle (Hewlett-Packard Labs, UK), John Domingue (The Open University, UK), David Martin (SRI International, USA) Dumitru Roman (DERI Innsbruck, Austria) Amit Sheth (University of Georgia, USA) PROGRAM COMMITTEE (confirmed; to be extended) - Rama Akkiraju, IBM, USA - Abraham Bernstein, University of Zurich, Switzerland - Carine Bournez, W3C, France - Jorge Cardoso, University Mediera, Portugal - Sanjay Chaudhary, DA-IICT, India - Marin Dimitrov, Ontotext, Bulgaria - Dieter Fensel, DERI, Austria - Karthik Gomadam, University of Georgia, USA - Michael Gruninger, University of Toronto, Canada - Sung-Kook Han, Won Kwang University, South Korea - Rick Hull, Lucent, USA - Deepali Khushraj, Nokia, Finland - Michael Kifer, State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA - Michael Maximilien, IBM, USA - Sheila McIlraith, University of Toronto, Canada - Massimo Paolucci, DoCoMo Euro-Labs, Germany - Tony Shan, Wachovia Bank, USA - Stuart Williams, HP Bristol, UK