*  Develop a Plugin for the NeOn Toolkit
    * WIN UP TO 2000 €
    * Deadline is 31st October 2008

The NeOn project is seeking to create an open, service-centred reference architecture for managing the complete lifecycle of networked ontologies. This architecture is realised through the NeOn Toolkit, a new generation ontology engineering environment for semantic applications. The NeOn Toolkit is designed around an open and modular architecture, which includes infrastructure services, such as registry and repository, and supports distributed components for ontology management, reasoning and collaboration in networked ontologies.
The NeOn Toolkit is freely available in open source as the reference implementation of the NeOn architecture. Building on the Eclipse platform, the Toolkit provides an open framework for plug-in developers.

Within the NeOn project, we are organizing a plugin developers contest to stimulate the creation of a wider developers’ community around the NeOn Toolkit. The most original and innovative plugins will be awarded attractive prizes.

Important Dates
Call sent out: 01 July 08
Submission site open: 01 August 08
Submission site closes: 31 October 08
Winners notified: 30 November 08
Award ceremony: 8-11 December 08 (NeOn Glowfest @ ASWC08)

Prizes
1st Prize: 2000 €
2nd Prize: 1000 €
3rd Prize: 500 €

How To Enter
Entries must be received by the end of October 31st, 2008.
Multiple plugins in a single submission will only count once towards a single individual. Individuals cannot win more than once in this contest.

Submitting Entries
Your submission must include:

    * A description of your plugin: what it's supposed to do.

    * Installation instructions, including a list of all prerequisites.

    * Usage instructions: how to use it, and how to make sure it's working as expected.

Take a look at the available plugins (http://www.neon-toolkit.org/wiki)  to see the documentation format used to describe plugins.

License

    * In order to eligible to win, you must use an open source license that allows NeOn to bundle your plugin with their NeOn Toolkit distributions. Developers may choose an appropriate license for their plugin.
    *

      NeOn will retain non-exclusive, perpetual, no-cost license to all submitted plugins.
    *

      Participants retain intellectual property rights to their plugins, as well as their right to license

Submission Form
Please submit your plugins using the form on this site: http://www.neon-toolkit.org/submission-form

Which version of the NeOn Toolkit do I use?
Plugins should be developed for the latest version of the NeOn toolkit, which is available both in Binary and Sourcecode from http://www.neon-toolkit.org

Reference Documents / Support
Reference Documents
You can find the NeOn Plugin API and Documentation linked from our website
http://www.neon-toolkit.org/content/view/52/126/

Support
For more technical support we recommend joining the NeOn Developers mailing list:
http://www.neon-toolkit.org/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,50/

Judging Criteria
Entries will be judged by a panel of qualifying NeOn developers and expert researchers. Decisions of the judges are final as to all matters relating to this contest. The judges will consider the following criteria in determining winners:
Relevance / Originality (40%): How the plugin provides advantages to ontology engineers in combination with the NeOn toolkit, making them applicable to the broadest number of users. Of special interest are plugins that work with networked ontologies, ideally also able of incorporating ontologies from the open web.
Robustness (20%): A measure of how well the plugin has been engineered and how it stands up to the stress of testing and edge cases.
Clean Architecture and Design (20%): A measure of how well thought out the design of the plugin feels, along with inherent design decisions (e.g. how the tradeoff between code reuse and easy installation of the plugin were handled).
Documentation (20%): How well is your plugin documented. Is it easy for users to understand what the plugin is doing and how it can be used? Is the code well documented?
Prizes will be awarded on the overall scores according to the above criteria.

Judges
Judging Co-Chairs:

    * Enrico Motta (Open University)

    * Rudi Studer (Universität Karlsruhe (TH))

Judging Committee:

    * Jürgen Angele (ontoprise)

    * Michael Erdmann (ontoprise)

    * Aldo Gangemi (CNR)

    * Asunción Gómez Pérez (UPM)

    * Jose Manuel Gomez-Perez (ISOCO)

    * Peter Haase (Universität Karlsruhe (TH))

    * Steffen Staab (Universität Koblenz-Landau)
    * Walter Waterfeld (Software AG)

Eligible Contestants
You must be at least 18 years of age to enter. Void where prohibited by law.
The contest is open to independent developers. It is your sole responsibility to review and understand your employer’s policies regarding your eligibility to participate in contests. If you are participating in violation of your employer’s policies, you may be disqualified from entering this Contest or receiving prizes. The NeOn Consortium disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for disputes arising between an employee and their employer related to this matter, and prizes will only be awarded in compliance with the employer’s policies.
NeOn Employees, their families, and judges are not eligible to enter.

Terms and Conditions for Entries
Entries will be accepted beginning 01 August 2008.
Deadline for entry is October 31st, 2008 11:59pm (HST)
Entries must not contain any viruses or destructive properties.
The NeOn Consortium will retain non-exclusive, perpetual, no-cost license to all submitted plugins. Participants retain intellectual property rights to their plugins.
Each entrant warrants and represents that he/she is the independent creator of the submitted entry, the entry is original and owned by the entrant, the entry was not created at your job using your employers equipment or on your employers time (unless permitted by your employer).
The entry must not contain copyrighted artwork and/or non-distributable typefaces.
Plugins must work correctly; their instability or failure may lead to elimination of your entry from the contest.
Multiple entries may be submitted. Each entry must be submitted separately. Only one prize will be awarded to an individual entrant.
The NeOn Consortium does not assume responsibility for technical, network, electronic, computer, hardware or software failure of any kind, stolen, incomplete, garbled or delayed internet/e-mail computer transmission, or lost, late, misdirected, damaged, incomplete or incorrectly transmitted entries.
Entries will be disqualified if entry form is not complete, or contains inaccurate or false information.
By entering the contest, the entrants (a) agree to the official rules and the decisions of the judges which shall be final in all respects; (b) consent to the use of the winners names and likenesses, statements, quotes or testimonials for advertising, trade and publicity purposes and grants NeOn Consurtium and its authorized agents the right to reprint, display, reproduce, perform or exhibit the entry without limitation and without any further compensation; (c) release the NeOn Consortium from any and all liability for any injuries, losses or damage of any kind caused by any prize or resulting from acceptance, possession or use of any prize.
Judging will begin on or about November 1st.
Winners will be notified by both e-mail and mail no sooner than 30 November 2008 and no later than 03 December 2008.
Prizes are non-transferable.
All prizes will be awarded.
This contest is governed by Belgium law. Offer void where prohibited or otherwise restricted.
Winners are responsible for any applicable local, state and federal taxes and any other charges, including, but not limited to, duties, customs fees or other fees on prizes.
A copy of the winners list, once available, will be posted at NeOn-project.org.

Contact Persons
For questions related with the Contest, contact either
Peter Haase ( haase ' at ' aifb.uni-karlsruhe.de )
or
Holger Lewen ( lewen ' at ' aifb.uni-karlsruhe.de )