World Wide Web Consortium Celebrates Ten Years Leading the Web in Asia

http://www.w3.org/ -- 25 October 2006 -- The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) marks the tenth anniversary of its Asian presence -- and the establishment of a W3C Host at Keio University -- with the W3C10 Asia symposium and celebration on Tuesday, 28 November 2006, at the Hotel Nikko Tokyo, Japan.

Presenters, Industry Leaders Examine Role of Asia in Web's Past and Future

The day-long symposium program starts with opening greetings and congratulatory addresses from Dr. Nobuo Saito, W3C Associate Chair for Asia and Professor Emeritus of Keio University, and also from representatives of W3C Members in Asia and the three W3C Hosts. Dr. Tatsuya Hagino, W3C Deputy Director for Asia and Faculty of Environmental Information, Keio University, serves as Master of Ceremonies.

The symposium consists of three panel discussions with luminaries from Japan and Asia whose contributions have played a key role in promoting the Web, ensuring that the Web is open and accessible to everyone, and helping the Web to reach its full potential in Asia.

• "Role of W3C at Keio – From Foundations to the Future" moderated by Mr. Masayasu Ishikawa, Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University
• "How Japanese Industry Works with Web Standards" moderated by Mr. Shinichi Matsui, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic)
• "How Asia Will Influence the Future Web" moderated by Dr. Martin J. Dürst, College of Science and Engineering, Aoyama Gakuin University.

The symposium closes with a dialog between Dr. Jun Murai, Vice-President of Keio University, and Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, KBE, inventor of the World Wide Web and founder of the W3C.

W3C10 Asia Open to the Public, Completes the W3C10 Series

The symposium welcomes representatives of W3C Member organizations, the international media, invited guests, speakers, and dignitaries, and the W3C Team as well. Members of the public may also attend for an admission fee of 10,000 Yen. Simultaneous interpretation between English and Japanese will be provided at all sessions.

Parallel sessions to the panel presentations include a half-day exhibition on Web Technologies and Standardization.

W3C10 Asia is the third and final event of the series which included tenth anniversaries in 2004 and 2005 of the founding of W3C at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and W3C's expansion into Europe.

W3C10 Asia Sponsors and Partners

W3C is grateful to W3C10 Asia sponsors, including all of the Member, non-Member and media sponsors, and to the Partners, who have generously agreed to provide financial or in-kind services to help ensure the success of the W3C10 Asia. W3C welcomes sponsorship requests from your organization. For more information on sponsor benefits, see the W3C10 Asia sponsorship packages.

Logistics and Contact Information

Date:

28 November 2006 (Tuesday)

Time:

Symposium:	10:00 - 16:30	(Registration desk opens 9:00)
Exhibition:	12:00 - 17:30
Press Briefing:	16:45 - 17:15	(Restricted to media registrants)
Reception:	17:30 - 19:00

Location:

Hotel Nikko Tokyo, 1-9-1 Daiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo 135-8625 Japan

Symposium:	Room "Orion," 1st Floor
Exhibition:	Room "Sirius," 1st Floor
Press Briefing:	Room "Rainbow Terrace," 3rd Floor
Reception:	Room "Apollon," 1st Floor

Registration:

All participants must register in advance.

Contact Asia --

Yasuyuki Hirakawa, <chibao@w3.org>, +81.466.49.1170

Contact Americas, Australia --

Janet Daly, <janet@w3.org>, +1.617.253.5884 or +1.617.253.2613

Contact Europe, Africa and the Middle East --

Marie-Claire Forgue, <mcf@w3.org>, +33.492.38.75.94

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 400 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, Keio University in Japan, and has additional Offices worldwide. For more information see http://www.w3.org/