World Wide Web Consortium Launches Australian Office
http://www.w3.org/ -- 8 June 2000 -- The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) today launches its Australian Office, based at the Australian government's Cooperative Research Centre for Enterprise Distributed Systems Technology (DSTC). Bob Hopgood, Head of W3C Offices, and Jim Elder, Queensland Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, are opening the Office at DTSC headquarters at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.
Australia's Growing Internet Presence
Australia is the 6th largest country in the world in terms of Internet usage. Seven million people, or over 35% of the population, is online, surpassed only by the United States, Sweden, and Finland. With a strong history of innovation and early adoption of new technologies, Australia is a natural choice for the creation of a W3C Office.
DSTC to Provide W3C Connection for Australia
As a vendor-neutral, active Member of W3C, and with an extensive contact network and shared objectives for Web development, DSTC meets the criteria for W3C Office selection.
DSTC has an established reputation in terms of Web technologies with pioneering work in the use of both XML and RDF, and participates in W3C Working Groups. Its distributed nature with sites across Australia gives it the potential for raising awareness across the country as a whole.
W3C looks forward to a long-term partnership with DSTC leading to a stronger Australian voice within W3C and a greater awareness in Australia of W3C's Activities. Liz Armstrong of DSTC serves as Head of the Australian Office.
About W3C Offices
As part of realizing the full potential of the Web, W3C partners with regional organizations wishing to further W3C's mission. The W3C Offices assist with promotion efforts in local languages, help broaden W3C's geographical base, and encourage international participation in W3C Activities. W3C currently has Offices in Australia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Morocco, The Netherlands, Sweden, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.
About the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C]
The W3C was created to lead the Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability. It is an international industry consortium jointly run by the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science (MIT LCS) in the USA, the National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA) in France and Keio University in Japan. Services provided by the Consortium include: a repository of information about the World Wide Web for developers and users, and various prototype and sample applications to demonstrate use of new technology. To date, over 420 organizations are Members of the Consortium. For more information see http://www.w3.org/
- Contact --
- Janet Daly, <janet@w3.org>, +1.617.253.5884 or +1.617.253.2613
