The vision of the Semantic Web is to create both connected and interlinked data which can be shared and reused by all. In 2006, Sir Tim Berners-Lee introduced a notion of linked data and the best practices for creating and sharing on the Web. To encourage people (and government) to share data he additionaly developed a rating system:
| * | Available on the web in any format, but with an open licence |
| ** | Available as machine readable structured data such as Excel |
| *** | As for two stars, but in an open format such as CSV |
| **** | As for three stars but using open standards from W3C to identify |
| ***** | All the above but additionally linking your data to other peoples to provide context |
There are some badges available here to display on your site if you wish to display your commitment
Cafepress has official W3C merchandise available here
In the holiday downtime it is good to think about some of the ways we can make a real difference in amongst those cool drinks at the beach (or snow shovelling in the Northern Hemisphere)