IVOA Roadmap for 2022B

This outlines the roadmap for development activities by the various IVOA working and interest groups between the Oct 2022 and May 2023 Interops.

Applications WG

Data Access Layer WG

ADQL
- 2.1 - Feature complete - validation being finalised
- 2.2
- Vector extension
- move from BNF to PEG for language specification

ADQL User Defined Functions
- ADQL astrometry library
- GAVO and Vizier implementation of coordinate transformation
- Functions added in pgsphere

TAP
- Allow ROT13 for encoding of ADQL query strings?

SIAP-2.0 -> Data Access Protocol v1
- Expanding to cover spectra and potentially measurement sets and catalogues
- One shot cutouts from SIA2
- Renaming SIA2 to reflect expanded role
- Work continues in new GitHub repo: https://github.com/ivoa-std/DAP
- New WD by May interop

SODA-1.1
- Errata for MOC parameter, rebin/project, pixel cutout
- One shot cutouts from SIA2
- Cross-join of parameters
- Metdata
- Select output by dataproduct_type

DataLink 1.1
- Working draft out
- Needs implementations before RFC

DALI-1.2
- multipolygon still pending
- otherwise ready for PRec+RFC (Q1-2023)

SSAP
- Minor revision to
- make coverage information non mandatory
- Explain SSA utype prefix
- Longer term function is covered by DAP + SODA

ConeSearch -1.1 [in connection with TD IG]
- work will progress to close issues
- a new WD before May 2023 Interop ?

LineTAP
- Intended to replace SLAP
- WD before May 2023 Interop ?

ProvTAP
- Continuing work towards mature WD status

TAPRegExt [in connection with Registry WD]
- WD release in Q2-2023

ObjVisSAP
- PR-1.0 nearly there
- implementations ready

Following Radio IG, TD IG activities for requirements
- refer to the roadmaps of these IGs for details

Data Model WG

MIVOT (model mapping syntax for VOTables)
- Complete the REC step
- Providing a PyVO implementation

MANGO (the missing piece in between MIVOT, PhotDM and MCT)
- REC step

Field of view DM
- having a draft

Observation Proposal DM
- having a draft

CubeDM
- having drafts (including DatasetMetadata) + reference implementations

Transform (3rd lettre of MCT)
- having a draft+ reference implementations

Spectrum DM 2.1
- REC step

Grid and Web Services WG

• SSO - working towards next WD based on tokens and delegation.
• ExecPlanner - working towards first WD, splitting the note into three parts:
  • The core ExedPlanner interface
  • A related UWS interface for executing tasks
  • A basic task description language
• Science Platforms - continue collaboration with Theory IG and KDD. What are the IVOA services to build a SP? Do we need some new standardization? What kind of interoperability are we looking for?
• VO in the cloud
  • Looking at how we can publish data in Parquet format via S3 services.
• JSON-ification - small team of interested parties to look at what is easy and what is hard. Is it possible to move from XML to JSON? what is the effort needed?

Registry

• Continue support for pyvo and RegTAP compliance
• Continue development of new pyvo Registry search API (released on Sep 26, 2022 for pyvo 1.4)
• Start implementing space-time coverage in registries as described in VODataService -1.2, pending approval of the PRs: DALI 1.2 (for MOC serialization) and RegTAP 1.2 (for the stc_spatial table)
• Investigate better inclusion of authoring data in the Registry resources (especially for tables) in order to improve automatic citation: participate in discussions about DCP’s note “Data Origin in the VO”
• Coordinate with Ops IG to continue ongoing validation and curation efforts among registry maintainers, resource curators, and validator and standards authors
• Investigate registering more documentation and tutorial notebooks. Explore takeup and usefulness
• Discuss whether/how does cloud information belong in the registry and how to register information about multiple locations for finding data e.g., on-prem or on S3...
• Standards being worked on:
  • StandardsRegExt -1.1
    • in progress, started in Nov 2022 from 1.0
    • contributors welcome: https://github.com/ivoa-std/StandardsRegExt
  • VoResource -1.2
    • in progress
    • implements UAT-in-the-VO
    • more items ?
  • RegTAP 1.2
    • WD https://ivoa.net/documents/RegTAP/20220519/
    • includes VODataService -1.2’s field for space/time/spectrum coverage

Semantics WG

On the REC track, Semantics still has the RFC for Vocabularies 2.1 (on github procedures) open. We will try to gather the missing WG reviews during November and thus hope we can pass the document on to the Exec in December; we do not see much potential for controversy in the new regulations.

We also hope to release a Proposed Recommendation for VOUnits 1.1 before the end of 2022 and aim for RFC in January 2023. Given that the update addresses the difficult question of empty and missing units, that RFC could be more involved.

The UCD list 1.5 should be available for TCG review right after the Interop. We hope that it will be endorsed at the next TCG meeting, or perhaps the one after that.

Once that is done, the cycle for the UCD list 1.6 will begin in earnest. This will, in particular, comprise UCDs useful to annotate columns containing metadata on ambient conditions for observations.

Beyond the Semantics WG's documents, we intend to drive along a new release of VOResource with the main goal of clarifying how the UAT is intended to be used within VOResource. Unless the Registry WG has additional items in this update, we expect this will be another easy update.

Outside of the standards track, we still work on the product-type vocabulary that needs to be ready for Datalink 1.1. We also work on the facility nomenclature and hope to produce a note discussion the intended practices between the IVOA and wikidata before the next Interop.

Finally, we will continue to process VEPs in the context of maintaining the vocabulary repository. By this activity's nature, we cannot predict at this point how much effort will be required for that.

Data Curation Preservation IG

Education IG

2022

• Improving the newcomer's session with regard of feedback. Eventual adaption of the Session to in person or hybrid meetings.
• Moving forward with the Edu note in Registry to make tutorial findable in the registry
• Updating the IVOA webpage in regard of VO publishing topics
• Finding a solution for putting votut-latex currently hosted on SVN at GAVO to ivoa github (Not as trivial as it sounds)

• Presenting VO-publishing at AAS meeting (when in person meetings are possible)
• Organizing one week workshop/hackathon on VO publishing with the goal that participants will have a usable VO service running at the end of the workshop (when in person meetings are possible)

Knowledge Discovery IG

Operations IG

Ongoing activity:

• Monitor VO health
  • Coordinate "weather reports" (service compliance)
• Address non-compliancy:
  • Identify common/persistent errors
  • Support/encourage service operators to improve service compliance
  • Work with WGs on standards-related issues
• Validation:
  • Ensure validators are available (IvoaValidatorsSummary)
  • Encourage use of validators
    • on deployed services
    • during standard development
• Communication
  • Provide forum for discussion of operational issues
  • Host/invite "site reports"

Specific focus:

• Work with DAL on standards issues:
  • ConeSearch: UCD1+
  • DALI: Sexagesimal markup standards
  • SSA: A couple of Errata suggested
• Push for service metadata improvements:
  • VOUnits, UCDs
• Upcoming themes:
  • Operations in the cloud
  • Authentication as an operational necessity

Radio IG

Solar System IG

Theory IG

Time Domain IG

Standard and Processes

Science Priorities