OASIS Context Server (CXS) TC

The purpose of the TC will be to create specifications for a Context Server as a core technology for enabling the delivery of personalized digital experiences. Organizations currently struggle to create and deliver consistent personalized experiences across channels, markets, and systems. The Context Server will simplify management, integration, and interoperability between solutions providing services like Web Content Management, CRM, BigData, Machine Learning, Digital Marketing, and Data Management Platforms.

The benefits for end users include more personalized and relevant user experiences as well as more control over aggregated collected data.

The benefits for organizations include simpler ways to setup, aggregate, and use the collected data associated with their audiences.

A clear and defined standard for personalization will also support growth of the broader market by making it easier for established and new players to ramp up new products, integrate with existing systems, and grow niche opportunities into new market areas.

The TC shall also work in a forward looking manner to identify features that are useful but not available in existing systems. It is a goal to use existing systems as a point of reference but not be limited by them.

The TC will accept as input the following initial contributions:

• "Context Server proposal" contributed by Jahia and Enonic, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YKwDyJaouKzzN3SqSa4DYZiEvgJmGkZVN-yyUG0uDVI/edit?usp=sharing
• An externally hosted (under an Apache License) open source reference implementation: "Project Unomi : Open Source Context Server prototype implementation" contributed by Jahia, https://github.com/Jahia/unomi

The TC will further accept input from various vendors' existing interfaces and domain models, and other contributions for consideration without any prejudice or restrictions. These inputs will be evaluated based on technical merit insofar as they conform to the TC charter.

For the initial set of deliverables, the TC will target a very focused set of use cases related to delivering personalized user experiences. Through the introduction of a "context server", personalization can be delivered in a simple and interoperable manner. A standard approach to personalization will speed up vendor innovation and reduce integration costs for customers.

Example use cases:

• Enable collection and aggregation of user behavioral data into profiles
• Enable user segment definitions (i.e., based on demographics) to identify sets of profiles
• Enable third party systems (WCM etc.) to tag and serve content based on segments
• Allow marketing systems to access profiles and compile lists for campaigns
• Allow users to access the context server to exercise control over their collected data (user privacy)
• Deliver product recommendations based on user behavior collected by the context server

The TC shall also support the effort of producing reference implementations and test suites that validate the specifications; all such deliverables will be implemented as community open source projects.

The TC will focus on producing the required deliverables such as a detailed list of use cases, a domain model, a REST API, as well as a reference implementation.

The following use cases, while not planned for completion in the initial set of deliverables, may be considered at a later time:

• Entitlement and Access Control
• Graphical User Interfaces

The initial set of deliverables will include:

• Context Server specification (2015 projected completion date) that includes:
  • Use cases
  • Domain Model
  • Rest API
• Open Source Reference Implementation (2015 projected completion date)

The reference implementation will serve as a real world example of how the standard can be used. It will deliver all the basic capabilities defined; it might also include other non-specified features such as security and clustering.

The IPR mode for the TC will be Non-Assertion Mode (https://www.oasis-open.org/policies-guidelines/ipr#s10.3).

The primary audience for the final output of this TC includes architects from WCM, CRM, Digital Marketing Solutions, Data Management Platforms, Machine Learning and Big Data System vendors and implementers, as well as system architects from organizations that create Customer/Web/User or Digital Experiences.

The language in which the TC will conduct business: English