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

Data Model WG

Grid and Web Services WG

Registry

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

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