Saf: A Provenance-Tracking Framework For Interoperable Semantic Applications

This paper describes the foundations of a framework for constructing interoperable semantic applications that support recording of provenance information. The framework uses a client-server infrastructure to control the encoding of application. Provenance records for application components, settings, and data sources are stored as part of the final application file using the Open Provenance Model (OPM) [1]. The application can render events such as setting changes to users so that they can identify when collaborators make changes to the application. We demonstrate how the system can be used to collaborate on a project, identify errors in data sources, and extrapolate insights to other data sets by making changes to the application. Lastly, we outline some key issues related to using asymmetric key encryption for tracking changes in semantic content and how we address them (or not) within this framework.