- From: Janet Daly <janet@w3.org>
- Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 23:55:33 -0700
- To: w3c-news <w3c-news@w3.org>
The World Wide Web sets a new milestone today with the establishment of
its Spanish Office, committing resources to better outreach throughout
Spain and to Spanish-speakers worldwide. For more information, please
contact Janet Daly, W3C Head of Communications, at +1 617 253 5884
<janet@w3.org> or refer to the W3C Communications Team representative
nearest you.
==============================================================
World Wide Web Consortium Launches Spanish Office
W3C strengthens its presence in the Spanish speaking world
Contact Americas, Australia --
Janet Daly, <janet@w3.org>, +1.617.253.5884 or +1.617.253.2613
Contact Europe, Africa, Middle-East --
Marie-Claire Forgue, <mcf@w3.org>, +33.492.38.75.94
Contact Asia --
Yasuyuki Hirakawa <chibao@w3.org>, +81.466.49.1170
Web Resources
Press release
In English:
http://www.w3.org/2003/10/spoffice-pressrelease.html.en
In French:
http://www.w3.org/2003/10/spoffice-pressrelease.html.fr
In Japanese:
http://www.w3.org/2003/10/spoffice-pressrelease.html.ja
In Spanish:
http://www.w3.org/2003/10/spoffice-pressrelease.html.es
Homepage for the W3C Spanish Office:
http://www.w3c-es.org/
More about W3C Offices:
http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Offices/
http://www.w3.org/ -- 20 October 2003 -- The World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C) today launches the W3C Spanish Office, based at the Fundación para
el Fomento de la Investigación Científica y la Tecnología (FICYT) in
Oviedo, Spain. Although the primary goal of this Office is to be
dedicated to outreach in Spain, this is also the first W3C Office with
active contacts with Spanish-speakers worldwide. It joins the complement
of W3C European Offices in The Benelux Countries, Finland, Germany &
Austria; Greece; Hungary, Italy; Sweden; and the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Among those attending the day's opening ceremonies are Dr. Daniel
Dardailler, W3C Associate Chairman for Europe, and Sr. D. Luis
Iturrioz-Viñuela, president of the FICYT.
The opening ceremony is a public event, with presentations from the W3C
Team including:
* Sr. D. Vicente Alvarez-Areces, President of the Principality of
Asturias, "Welcome to all attendees"
* Sr. D. Luis Iturrioz-Viñuela, president of the FICYT, "The role
and expectations of FICYT as host of the W3C Spanish office"
* Dr. Daniel Dardailler, W3C Associate Chairman for Europe, "World
Wide Web Consortium"
* Dr. Marie-Claire Forgue, W3C European Communications Officer,
"The W3C Process"
* Dr. Ivan Herman, W3C Head of Offices, "W3C Network of Offices"
Spain's IT Industry Exhibiting New Growth
The Spanish information technology (IT) sector is currently experiencing
strong growth. In parallel with the development of the Information
Society, the use of mobile phones has reached 65% of the population,
with 94% of the schools and 31% of homes having direct access to
Internet. Spain is second in Europe in broadband penetration in homes,
with a rate of 18%. In a promising sign for industrial growth,
expenditures in information and communication technologies (ICT) have
grown by 50% from 1995 to 2001, shifting from 3.7% of the gross domestic
product (GDP) to 5.1% by 2001, according to the the Spanish Ministry of
Science of Technology.
Recently, the Spanish government has also launched the España.es
program. The aim of the program is to improve the use of the Web in
administration, education, and small and medium sized enterprises
(SMEs). Complementary España.es measures are focused on territorial
cohesion, citizen access, development of new content for the Web, and
communication strategies to foster the use of the Web in general. The
España.es program has an expected investment of over 1M€ for the years
2004-2005.
Until recently, and in contrast to the importance of the Spanish economy
in Europe, W3C had only three Spanish Members. However, this is rapidly
changing. The W3C Office in Spain has already brought in nine new
Members, and the Spanish community is gaining a better representation.
By opening this new Office, W3C hopes to increase its presence in this
important area, and benefit from the results of Spanish industry and
academia in its own work.
FICYT Provides W3C Connection and Outreach to Spain and Latin America
FICYT carries out and disseminates applied research in information
technologies, both self-financed and on behalf of the private and public
sectors. It is a non-profit institution whose goal is to co-operate with
industry on important areas of research and development. FICYT's
activities include:
* Undertaking and supporting research and development projects
* Awarding individual grants to researchers and scientists
* Promoting and disseminating technology transfer and collaboration
among the scientific, education and research communities and the private
and public sectors
* Contributing to the development of the Information Society.
Furthermore, FICYT has an important network of contacts in Latin
America. The new W3C Spanish Office will be of help in coordinating with
Latin American communities by also disseminating information in Latin
America, encouraging and co-ordinating new translations to Spanish,
build up press contacts, etc.
As a vendor-neutral Member of W3C, and with an extensive contact network
and shared objectives for Web development, FICYT meets the criteria for
W3C Office selection.
About W3C Offices
As its Members work to realize the full potential of the Web, W3C
partners 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 Activities. W3C currently has 14 Offices in
Australia, the Benelux countries, Germany and Austria, Finland, Greece,
Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Korea, Morocco, Spain, Sweden, and
the United Kingdom and Ireland.
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, nearly 400 organizations are Members of the
Consortium. For more information see http://www.w3.org/
Received on Monday, 20 October 2003 02:55:36 UTC