The World Wide Web Consortium's Semantic Web Health Care and Life Sciences Interest Group (HCLSIG) wants to help life scientists use and leverage the potential benefits of Semantic Web technology through the development of use cases and application of standard Semantic Web specifications to healthcare and life sciences challenges. The new venture puts W3C specifications through the paces of a dynamic, multifaceted, and interdependent set of communities, said Sir Tim Berners-Lee, W3C director. The opportunity to hear area experts, learn how the work of the W3C meets their needs, and serve their future needs is extraordinary, said Mr. Berners-Lee. Eric Miller, Semantic Web activity lead, oversees the HCLSIG and will consult with industry to provide the oversight required to pull in subject matter expertise. For that purpose, Mr. Miller has recruited co-chair Eric Neumann and Tonya Hongsermeier. The HCLSIG will run as part of the W3C as an active group through which vendors, users, and industry professionals will collaborate vendor-independently to deal with issues that face the industry. A priority for HCLSIG will be development of use cases that show the value of Semantic Web technology adoption, core vocabularies, and ontologies. The HCLSIG group will be a forum that supports communication, education, and collaboration. The HCLSIG's Web site currently has a collection of several life sciences Semantic Web examples, including BioDash, active semantic electronic medical records, and partners Healthcare Knowledge Management Portal.