W3C Exec Summary

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an International Consortium where Member and External organizations, a full-time technical staff, and the public work together to lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing Web standards such as protocols and guidelines that ensure long-term growth for the Web.

• Goals: Interoperability, Universality, Functionalities
• Neutral/nonforprofit, consensus based, open participation, open results
• ~450 members, ~70 staff,
• ~50 Working Groups ~20 Coordination Groups and Interest Groups
• Hosting: MIT (America), ERCIM (Europe) and Keio University (Japan) + 17 Offices
• Advisory Board, Technical Architecture Group
• Liaisons with 40+ other standards bodies, Accountable to the global Public

What Open Standards means ?

A lot of debates nowadays for a common definition of Open Standards(IGF, EC, etc)

• Transparent process
• Open participation
• Technical Consensus
• Running code
• Free and Persistent Specification
• W3C Patent Policy for Web Technologies

W3C Eating its own dog food!

W3C works with thousands of engineers using the Web and the Internet as a platform.

• Emails, open archives (e.g. HTML5 WG today)
• Web sites under w3.org (public, member, team)
• Web 2.0 applications (action item, issues tracker, web survey)
• Web DB tools (to manager participants)
• Instant Message (IRC) + bots for teleconferencing
• VOIP, slides in HTML/CSS, etc

Many using Semantic Web technologies on the server, and accessible to participants with disabilities.

Like IETF, our process is one of our specification (bootstrap principle)

W3C Results

A Memorandum commitment

• Develop and deploy technologies and practices to meet the evolving needs of the global Internet.
• Engage with governments and other stakeholders of OECD and non-OECD
• Invite governments to join us in an open and collaborative community

And much more!