Ian Davis

I am a technical architect, active on the Internet since the early nineties. My primary area of interest is around the Semantic Web, with more emphasis on the Web and its network effects than on semantics. I advocate the use of Web standards including HTTP, URIs and RDF to build scalable distributed applications. I prefer to use agile development practices especially test-first design. In 2000 I was co-author of the RSS 1.0 specification and I have contributed to many RDF-related developments including vocabularies, frameworks, specifications and standards. I have founded three technology startups in the areas of large scale search, syndication and semantic web architectures. I have a strong personal interest in genealogy.

I’m currently serving as the Chief Technology Officer of Talis, a UK-based company with expertise in semantically rich metadata and in delivering software and services for information management. At Talis I’m leading the development of a new web-based platform for building human-centric, information-rich applications that take advantage of the network effects produced when huge numbers of people interact over the Web.

I maintain a personal blog, Internet Alchemy where I write on technology, the semantic web and whatever else catches my eye. I also contribute to the Talis group blog Nodalities. You can contact me by email using me@iandavis.com or ian.davis@talis.com. I am often on irc.freenode.net as iand in #talis, #swig, #foaf or #code4lib. You can also skype me using the name ian_davis although I prefer chat to voice.

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