Roles and Responsibilities within the Organising Committee (OC)
Introduction
One of the first things that need to be done in the organisation of ISWC is in the formation of the Organising Committee (OC). Ideally, the General Chair should invite (and have them accept) chairs for each of the roles at least one year prior to the event (i.e. typically before the previous year’s ISWC conference). This is typically done once the location (and the identity of local chair) has been finalised by SWSA; so that the invitees can ascertain if they can attend the conference.
Traditionally, SWSA offers comments and advice on the key roles: primarily the chairs of the main tracks (Research, Resources, In-Use). Therefore, when drawing up a shortlist, the General Chair should consult SWSA before reaching out to individuals.
Diversity is important for the OC (gender, geographical, etc.), so please be mindfull of this. It is also possible to check the manes of previous chairs by consulting the following spreadsheet. Likewise, where possible, consider identfying a mix of individuals with experience together with those who have not served on previous ISWC OCs. nominations.
Note that in past years, come invitiees may not respond promptly (or at all) to invitations, so factor in possible delays in the formation of the new OC.
Time Line
12-18 months
Aim to finalise the Chair positions at least one year before the prior ISWC Conference. Ideally, the Website should be launched at that conference and list details of all members of the Organising Committee.
12 months (at prior ISWC Conference)
Ideally the General Chair (or if not possible, someone to represent the OC) should attend the previous year’s ISWC to attend:
- the Town Hall meeting (to garner current feedback),
- the OC Lunch (typically on the last day, where the main chairs of the prior and new ISWC and be introduced and can exhange details etc), and
- the closing ceremony, where a presentation of your event should be launched (typically with a video presentation) in coordination with SWSA and the prior Local Chairs.
Typically, one week after the prior ISWC, The General Chair or SWSA should organise a Handover meeting with present and future ISWC Local and General Chairs. This allows the General Chair to intrduce the new committee (so that they can coordinate handover of materials), get into more detail on feedback, tips, material to hand over, etc, and set out some of the goals for the conference. The meeting should start with the summary presentation of the prior ISCW conference (typically by the previous general and local chairs), followed by a 5-10 min talk by the new General Chair.
Chair Positions and Responsibilities
Each of the chair positions are listed below. Typically, two chairs are appointed for each role to ensure robustness and resilience for each role, though having three, though unusual, is not unheard of. It is rare to have one chair - but if this is done, avoid this on time-critical roles. The list of roles below reflects the main roles, but these can vary with each conference edition (for example, the inclusion of the Job Fair Chair in 2025 or the Visionary Ideas Track Chair in 2026).
General Chair:
Typically a single role - responsible for the overall management and delivery of the conference, including the appointment of the OC. Core management includes coordinating the overall program of events (with the Research Track Chairs) and delivering the conference itself (with the Local Chairs). Also responsible for the financial planning of the conference.
| Associated Roles | Description |
|---|---|
| Sponsor Chairs | Responsible for soliciting sponsorship (and subsequent advertising) for the conference, supporting the financial planning of the conference. Coordinate with General Chair. |
| Student Grants Chairs | Oversee travel grants and other support for students at the conference. Coordinate with General Chair. |
Local Chairs:
Responsible for the original bid to host the conference; these chairs coordinate the venue, social activities (including welcome reception and banquet), and are responsible for overseeing all technical and Audio/Visual services to ensure the conference runs smoothly. They also traditionally oversee the activities of the Web Presence and Publicity Chairs.
| Associated Roles | Description |
|---|---|
| Web Presence and Publicity Chairs | Manage updates to the web site and all publicity activities, including advertising calls, the event itself, activities during the conference, and recording conference activities. Typically report back to the Local Chairs. |
Research Track Chairs:
Responsible for the overall programme, and coordinating the activities of the other main tracks, with the In-Use Application Track Chairs and Industry Track Chairs. The selected papers form the tracks of the main programme, as opposed to the co-located events. They are also repsonsible for managing the solicitation, review and selection of submissions for the main tracks of the conference, as well as coordinating other events (such as invited talks, panels and introduction of new tracks with the General Chair). Also coordinate with other chairs and General Chair to finalise the overal programme of the main and co-located events.
| Associated Roles | Description |
|---|---|
| In-Use Application Track Chairs | Responsible for managing the solicitation, review and selection of submissions for the In-Use Application track. Coordinate with Research Track Chairs. |
| Industry Track Chairs | Responsible for managing the solicitation, review and selection of submissions for the Industry track. Coordinate with Research Track Chairs. |
| Poster, Demo & Lightning Talk Chairs | Responsible for managing the solicitation, review and selection of demo submissions and poster publications (including late breaking submissions), together with main track subissions that are accepted as posters. Also repsonsible for coordinating the lightning talk session. Coordinate with Research Track Chairs. |
| Dagsthul-style Workshop Chairs | Responsible for managing the solicitation, revie, selection and coordination of Dagsthul-style workshops. These were introduced in ISWC 2025, and although they are technically workshops, they are organised separately from the workshops submitted to the Workshop and Tutorial Chairs and may take place throughout the conference programme. |
| Proceedings & Metadata Chairs: | Responsible for the coordiation and assembly of the Proceedings Volumes (in coordination primarily with the Research Track Chairs and General Chair, but also with other track cheirs where necessary. |
| Workshops and Tutorials Chairs | Responsible for managing the solicitation, review and selection of workshop / tutorial submissions (forming the main co-located events that occur prior to the main conference programme). Also responsble for coordinating with the successful individual tutorial and workshop track chairs. Need to coordinate with Local Chairs to ensure capacity wrt rooms etc. |
| Doctoral Consortium Chairs | Responsible for solicitation, review, selection and running of the Doctorial Consortium. |
Other Roles
Chair positions vary from year to year; here is a list of other roles have have existed in past years.
| Past Roles | Description |
|---|---|
| Panel Chairs | Respoonsible for planning the panel session, incluing the selection of topics and speakers. |
| Semantic Web Challenge Chairs | Responsible for identifying the *Semantic Web Challenge, and coordinating the submission, review and notification of challenge submissions. |
Notes, Tips and useful Resorces
- The following spreadsheet lists the members of past Ogragising Comittees can be found here - please extend it for future years.