Dear Colleagues,
Today, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) launches a revision of
Membership fees, providing organizations in developing countries with
significantly reduced rates. It is the latest effort in encouraging
international participation in the development of Web technologies.
For more information, contact Janet Daly +1 617 253 5884 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
or the representative in your area, indicated at the end of this press
release.
********************************************************************
World Wide Web Consortium Lowers Membership Fee for Organizations in
Developing Countries
Initiative Supports International Scope of W3C Work
Web Resources
-------------
This Press release
in English: http://www.w3.org/2005/04/dcfee-pressrelease.html.en
in French: http://www.w3.org/2005/04/dcfee-pressrelease.html.fr
in Japanese: http://www.w3.org/2005/04/dcfee-pressrelease.html.ja
Fee Calculator: http://www.w3.org/Consortium/fees
Joining Materials:
http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Prospectus/Joining
http://www.w3.org/ -- 20 April 2005 -- In keeping with its international
mission to lead the Web to its full potential, W3C today announced a new
fee structure designed to reduce the barrier of entry for organizations
in developing countries. The goal is to make it easier for small
companies and not-for-profit organizations to become W3C Members and
become engaged in the development of foundation technologies for the
World Wide Web. For small companies and not-for-profit organizations in
developing countries, the resulting fees are reduced to between 15 and
60% of former values.
"W3C is all about building Web technologies that can be of service to
the world. This new fee structure for organizations from the developing
world affirms the value W3C places on their participation in,
contribution to and use of the standards and guidelines we are
developing to drive the future of the World Wide Web," declared Dr.
Steve Bratt, W3C's Chief Operating Officer.
To Develop a World Wide Technology, Diverse Representation is Essential
Technologies such as the Web proliferate to the extent that they are
easily available - either because of distribution methods, licensing
constraints, hardware and software requirements, or ease of use.
Further, standardized technologies built in a flexible manner, with
attention to internationalization needs (languages and/or
infrastructure) can have dramatic impact on life, education and commerce
in a given region.
However, one of the greatest obstacles for participation in large
consortia is the cost of entry. What appears to be a reasonable
membership fee in Western Europe, Japan, or North America is prohibitive
in other parts of the world. While W3C does embrace participation from
individuals as Invited Experts, the Consortium realized that more was
necessary to engage organizations around the globe.
W3C's New Fee Structure Tailored to Local Economies, Encourages Broader
Participation
This initiative, focused on regions of the world beginning to discover
Web technologies, is only the most recent in W3C's international
commitments. Through its technical Internationalization Activity,
volunteer-based translation program, its fourteen Offices around the
globe, as well as its Patent Policy, W3C can better meet the needs and
requirements of diverse populations, and can help those regions develop
sound, standards-based Web infrastructure.
Building on its broadly recognized work for the development of a global
infrastructure, W3C is actively soliciting participation from
organizations in the developing world, with help from its own Members,
government and NGOs, philanthropic organizations, and its extensive
global Offices network, which is also expanding into the developing
world. For more information on joining W3C, please consult the "Join
W3C" documentation.
Contact America and Australia --
Janet Daly, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, +1.617.253.5884 or +1.617.253.2613
Contact Europe --
Marie-Claire Forgue, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, +33.492.38.75.94
Contact Asia --
Yasuyuki Hirakawa <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, +81.466.49.1170
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 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. 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 350 organizations are Members of the
Consortium. For more information see http://www.w3.org
------------
***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization***
To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type:
subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd
Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at:
<http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
