W3C Opens the W3C Germany and Austria Office at DFKI

http://www.w3.org/ — 10 February 2011 — As part of strengthening its relation to European industry and research, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announces today the opening of a new W3C Germany and Austria Office. The Office is hosted at the Project Office Berlin of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the leading German research institute in the field of innovative software technology based on Artificial Intelligence.

W3C and DFKI celebrate today this collaborative effort at an opening event, at Theseus Innovation Center. With speakers from German ministries, industries, DFKI and W3C, the event agenda is of particular interest to government, industry, and the developer community.

"Today's grand opening of the Germany and Austria Office at DFKI is an important milestone," said Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wahlster, Director and CEO of DFKI. "We look forward to strengthen W3C's position in Europe, via our network including national and international research bodies, standardization organizations like DIN and ISO, and the IT-intensive industry in the German speaking region at large."

The opening event follows the successful Berlin W3C Web and TV workshop where the television industry and other producers of consumer electronics discussed how W3C Web standards are transforming entire industries including television and broadcasting. W3C's work on open Web platform will be the basis for convergence of many industries that are important to the regional economy, including automotive, television, chemical, pharmaceutical and mobile.

"European research and industry have a clear role in shaping the future of the Web," said Dr. Jeff Jaffe, W3C CEO. "Increased participation from key German and Austrian industries will not only impact positively their businesses and innovation strategies, but will also influence W3C's international landscape."

About W3C Offices

W3C collaborates 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 work. W3C has Offices in: Australia; the Benelux countries; Brazil; China; Finland; Germany and Austria; Greece; Hungary; India; Israel; Italy; Korea; Morocco; Senegal; Southern Africa; Spain; Sweden; and the United Kingdom and Ireland.

About the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI GmbH)

Since its foundation in 1988, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence has become the world’s leading research center in this field. DFKI projects cover the whole spectrum from application-oriented basic research to market- and client-oriented design of product functions. Currently more than 400 employees from 46 countries are conducting research focusing on knowledge management, multi-agent technology, simulated reality, language technology, intelligent user interfaces, image understanding, pattern recognition, robotics, safe and secure cognitive systems, augmented vision and information systems. The financial budget in 2010 was more than 36 million Euro. Impact: more than 50 professorships of former DFKI employees, and 57 spin-off companies with more than 1,300 highly qualified jobs. For more information see http://www.dfki.de/web.

About the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards. W3C primarily pursues its mission through the creation of Web standards and guidelines designed to ensure long-term growth for the Web. Over 300 organizations are Members of the Consortium. W3C is jointly run by the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (MIT CSAIL) in the USA, the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM) headquartered in France and Keio University in Japan, and has additional Offices worldwide. For more information see http://www.w3.org/

Media Contacts

Contact W3C Americas, Australia —

Ian Jacobs, <ij@w3.org>, +1.718.260.9447

Contact W3C Europe, Africa and the Middle East —

Marie-Claire Forgue, <mcf@w3.org>, +33 6 76 86 33 41

Contact DFKI —

Reinhard Karger, <reinhard.karger@dfki.de>, +49 681 85775 5253