Summary since last Steering Committee meeting
The last W3C Steering Committee meeting took place in 2010. We plan to meet more frequently now as we need guidance and decisions about the new W3C legal structure. So we will meet at least annually, if not more frequently.
Since our last meeting, the standards landscape has changed, the needs of the web have changed, and W3C has changed with it. A challenge for W3C has been the change in the standards landscape – more software and systems companies are collaborating in open source projects and standards development organizations are on the decline. On the other hand, the needs of the web have broadened which has resulted in a unique opportunity for W3C to reinvent itself. It is no longer an ivory tower contemplating the core technical needs of the world wide web. Instead, it is a meeting place for technologists, industry, and innovators to address web technology needs, business needs, and society needs.
In other words, our focus has shifted from a limited focus on the core technology needs of the web to a series of initiatives that are solving important problems for business. This can be best seen with a listing of these initiatives:
Membership
Membership has generally increased slightly over this period, but there are many more types of memberships than ever before. A graph of membership is below:
To respond to changing needs, W3C has introduced new membership classes to deal with start-ups, industries, and mergers (e.g. with the International Digital Publishing Forum).
From a revenue perspective W3C has benefited from this industry focus as it has brought in world class companies from various industries including Banking (Capital One), Credit card networks (Visa, Mastercard, AmEx), e-tail (Amazon), automotive (Volvo, Volkswagen), entertainment (Netflix, Comcast), and publishing (Hachette, Wiley). However, this has also added risk as often companies stay in W3C only for the length of time for a particular initiative.
W3C is also more global today with strength in Japan, and a new Host in China. Membership has been weakest in EMEA. See members by region below:
| Table 3. Distribution of Membership by Host, by Quarter | ||||||||||||
| 11-Oct | 12-Oct | 13-Oct | 14-Oct | 15-Apr | 15-Oct | 16-Jul | 16-Sep | 17-Apr | 17-Oct | 18-May | 18-Oct | |
| ERCIM | 137 | 158 | 157 | 152 | 140 | 150 | 148 | 149 | 149 | 142 | 153 | 147 |
| Keio | 29 | 33 | 38 | 42 | 45 | 53 | 52 | 54 | 54 | 56 | 53 | 51 |
| MIT | 149 | 198 | 186 | 189 | 171 | 181 | 204 | 195 | 211 | 233 | 233 | 228 |
| Beihang | - | - | 4 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 26 | 28 | 30 | 29 | 33 | 28 |
| Total | 315 | 389 | 385 | 406 | 378 | 405 | 430 | 426 | 444 | 460 | 472 | 454 |
Finances
Over the most recent period, member revenue has been relatively stable, with a slight downward arch in the last few years. Revenue from other sources (sponsorships, grants, research program) has been on the decline. We are beginning to see an upswing - as of 10 January 2019 the FY2019 (July 2018-June 2019) new member revenue has been $850K - well above the historical pace. We are in the middle of moving our Business Development method from a model with paid staff at each Host to a "channel model" with the recruitment of Evangelists that are focused on Member Recruitment in either a specific vertical industry (locally or globally) or all verticals within a specific geography. See below for our consolidated financials since FY 2012:
| Table 2 INCOME AND EXPENDITURES | ||||||||
| ($ Million) | FY12 Final | FY13 Final | FY14 Final | FY15 Final | FY16 Final | FY17 Final | FY18 Forecast TPAC2018 | FY19 Forecast TPAC2018 |
| Income - Member Fees | $ 7.98 | $ 7.90 | $ 8.10 | $ 8.63 | $ 8.69 | $ 8.58 | $ 8.21 | $ 8.13 |
| Income - Government/Contracts | $ 1.51 | $ 1.55 | $ 1.85 | $ 1.93 | $ 1.65 | $ 0.95 | $ 1.01 | $ 1.35 |
| Income - Sponsorship/Other Funds | $ 0.74 | $ 1.41 | $ 1.23 | $ 0.80 | $ 0.59 | $ 0.22 | $ 0.19 | $ 0.14 |
| Income - ISOC Donation | $ 0.72 | $ 1.04 | $ 0.40 | $ - | $ - | $ - | $ - | $ - |
| Gross Income - Grand Total | $ 10.95 | $ 11.90 | $ 11.58 | $ 11.36 | $ 10.93 | $ 9.75 | $ 9.41 | $ 9.62 |
| Office Commissions | $ (0.33) | $ (0.37) | $ (0.21) | $ (0.18) | $ (0.17) | $ (0.12) | $ (0.11) | $ (0.11) |
| Discretionary funds to Hosts | $ (0.66) | $ (0.65) | $ (0.70) | $ (0.68) | $ (0.67) | $ (0.68) | $ (0.69) | $ (0.67) |
| Operating Income - Grand Total | $ 9.96 | $ 10.88 | $ 10.67 | $ 10.50 | $ 10.08 | $ 8.95 | $ 8.61 | $ 8.83 |
| Operating Expense - Grand Total | $ (9.83) | $ (10.83) | $ (11.20) | $ (10.70) | $ (10.14) | $ (9.28) | $ (8.68) | $ (8.95) |
| Balance | $ 0.13 | $ 0.05 | $ (0.53) | $ (0.20) | $ (0.05) | $ (0.33) | $ (0.07) | $ (0.12) |
Incubation
Together with the shift from standardization to open source, W3C has shifted to support incubation in addition to standardization. In 2010, W3C’s major focus was on working groups. In 2018, the W3C community has substantial incubation in its Community Groups. See below for the growth of projects and people that are involved in those projects. From a revenue perspective, participation in CGs is free so it generally does not drive revenue.
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Groups | 82 | 128 | 193 | 205 | 245 | 281 | 307 | 333 |
| Participants | >1,280 | >2,850 | >4,000 | >5,000 | >6,800 | >8,400 | >9,700 | >10,500 |
Current technical focus and innovation
W3C continues to have a substantial portfolio of projects that are true to its mission of “Leading the Web to its Full Potential”. Notable projects at the core of the web include long-term continuing projects such as CSS (styling on the web) as well as new projects such as the Immersive web (VR and AR interfaces). Projects that try to address society’s problems with the web include Web Authentication, and new guidelines for mobile accessibility (which has been adopted by regulators in Europe). Projects that meet industry needs include a streamlined web payments process, a web media framework, and standards for the connected car.
Challenges
There has been considerable change in the development of web technology and W3C has attempted to be agile to meet these new needs. But the current structure has made it difficult to respond. Increased agility to address new needs in security, privacy, IoT, 5G networks, blockchain based solutions (e.g. decentralized ID, interledger protocols), conversational interfaces, etc. is a key reason to contemplate a new organizational structure.