Another possible biometric example.

[ewoogit]

CLR Labs in France is initiating a work item with CEN (WG18?) to develop a small face template for inclusion in barcodes (and elsewhere) - with the intention of sharing it with W3C via whatever mechanism can be used. They have stated their intention to join W3C and have a staff member participate in Confidence Method and VC Barcode.

This issue is raised to discuss any processes required to enable and facilitate this effort.

[jandrieu]

The best route forward seems to be having CLR Labs join the W3C and participating in the VCWG and the Confidence Method task force.

Is that option a viable next step?

Separately, we can also start down the path of how we might collaborate on a standard with CEN, but that quickly gets above my pay grade. I believe we do have a staff liaison for CEN https://www.w3.org/liaisons/#C, but the W3C personnel is not listed on the website. I'll ask @iherman to chime in on that.

There are a few different options, to frame some language for this discussion.

First, CLR Labs can simply join the W3C and help standardize the Confidence Method, so that any contributions they make to that work is appropriately licensed via IPR agreements. That would be the easiest way for us to support the innovation, although this is independent of what CEN might develop.

However, there are still two options at this level:
A -- The specification could be entirely published by the W3C as part of the VCWG chartered work.
-- OR --
B -- The W3C could reference a public specification published by CEN. This means the CEN work would be adopted by reference without defining any additional normative language.

I'm not the right guy to definitively expand on the viability of B in this case. Here's what my favorite LLM suggested and it seems right:

W3C specifications routinely make both normative and informative references to established standards published by recognized external organizations like CEN, ISO, and the IETF.

However, if the reference is normative (meaning the CEN specification is strictly required to implement the W3C standard), the W3C Team and Working Group will evaluate it based on three primary factors as it progresses along the W3C Recommendation track:

1. Stability: The referenced CEN specification needs to be an established, stable standard. If it is a draft or a living document, the W3C will look closely at the stability of the specific parts being referenced to ensure the W3C standard isn't built on a moving target.

2. Schedule: If the referenced CEN document is still under development, its timeline toward completion should ideally align with or precede the W3C specification's schedule.Licensing and

3. Availability: This is often the most scrutinized factor. W3C has a strong preference for referenced material to be available on the Web at no cost to remove barriers to review, implementation, and adoption. Because CEN standards are often fee-gated (behind a paywall), a normative reference to one might face pushback or require a Formal Objection review. The W3C Council does make exceptions if the reference is essential and reflects "deployment reality," but licensing terms must not interfere with the royalty-free implementation goals of W3C Recommendations.

And all of this could be augmented by more formal interactions, such as attending each other's meetings without joining each respective org, but that really gets into areas I'm not familiar with.

@iherman Can you confirm if that's an accurate take on how we might leverage the CEN work?

[iherman]

@iherman Can you confirm if that's an accurate take on how we might leverage the CEN work?

Yes. I do not really have anything to add. Thanks @jandrieu .

Le me give, for the record, the original resource for the rules on external references: https://www.w3.org/guide/process/tilt/normative-references.html. The LLM summary is accurate and, indeed, the free availability of the specification is often a problem (another working group is fighting with this as we speak, except that it is a problem with ISO and not CEN).

The person who is responsible for all the contacts v.a.v. CEN is Rigo Wenning @rigow.