News Release: W3C Launches Mobile Web Initiative

Today, Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and WWW inventor, announced the 
start of the Mobile Web initiatve; a new W3C effort aimed at improving 
the quality of the Web experience for Mobile devices. "MWI recognizes 
the mobile device as a first class participant of the Web," explained 
Berners-Lee in his opening Keynote at the WWW2005 Conference in Chiba, 
Japan. Founding sponsors include France Telecom, HP, MobileAware, Segala 
M Test, Vodafone and Volantis.

For more information, please contact Janet Daly, janet@w3.org, +1 617 
253 5884.

W3C Launches "Mobile Web Initiative"
Industry Leaders Join Effort to Improve Mobile Web User Experience

Web Resources

This press release
   In English: http://www.w3.org/2005/05/mwi-pressrelease.html.en
   In French: http://www.w3.org/2005/05/mwi-pressrelease.html.fr
   In Japanese: http://www.w3.org/2005/05/mwi-pressrelease.html.ja

Testimonials from MWI Founding sponsors:
http://www.w3.org/2005/05/mwi-testimonials

W3C's Mobile Web Initiative:
   http://www.w3.org/2005/MWI/

Chiba, Japan -- 11 May 2005 -- Today, at the WWW2005 Conference, the 
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced the launch of the Mobile Web 
Initiative (MWI) - an endeavor to make Web access from a mobile device 
as simple, easy, and convenient as Web access from a desktop device.

"Mobile access to the Web has been a second class experience for far too 
long," explained Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director. "MWI recognizes the 
mobile device as a first class participant, and will produce materials 
to help developers make the mobile Web experience worthwhile. "

Potential of Mobile Devices on the Web Not Yet Realized

Many of today's mobile devices already feature Web browsers and the 
demand for mobile devices continues to grow. Despite these trends, 
browsing the Web from a mobile device -- for example, to find product 
information, consult timetables, check email, transfer money -- has not 
become as convenient as expected. Users often find that their favorite 
Web sites are not accessible or not as easy to use on their mobile phone 
as on their desktop computer. Content providers have difficulties 
building Web sites that work well on all types and configurations of 
mobile phones offering Web access.

W3C has launched the Mobile Web Initiative to make browsing the Web from 
mobile devices a reality.

W3C Takes Action to Accelerate and Improve Mobile Web Experience

Mobile Web Initiative participants will initially focus on two areas: 
best practices and mobile device descriptions. The Mobile Web Best 
Practices Working Group is chartered to develop authoring guidelines, 
checklists and best practices to help content providers to develop Web 
content that works well on mobile devices. The Device Description 
Working Group is chartered to address the development of improved device 
description solutions, that is, a database of descriptions that can be 
used by content authors to adapt their content to a particular device.

W3C is already active in the mobile Web space, developing Web standards 
for multimodal interaction and device-independent design, as well as 
profiles for mobile devices; related standards include XHTML, SVG Mobile 
Profiles, and the SMIL Basic Profile. MWI work will complement these 
current efforts.

Sponsors, Participants Include Industry Leaders in Mobile and Web 
Technologies

W3C Members France Telecom, HP, MobileAware, Segala M Test, Vodafone, 
and Volantis have stepped forward as Founding Sponsors of the Mobile Web 
Initiative. MWI Founding Sponsors enjoy unique benefits, including a 
seat on the MWI Steering Committee, the group that will set the 
direction of the MWI and propose new work. All W3C Members are eligible 
to become MWI Founding Sponsors until 1 July 2005.

Efforts to Be Coordinated with Relevant Organizations

The MWI is chartered to establish cooperative ties with related groups, 
including the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) and 3GPP. These ties will help 
ensure that the needs of users are well-defined and that the efforts of 
the MWI and these related groups are complementary.

Testimonials from HP, MobileAware, Vodafone and Volantis

     HP has been a strong supporter of the W3C for the past decade. We 
are firmly committed to the goal of building robust platforms based on 
open standards and are pleased to be a founding supporter of this Mobile 
Web Initiative. We believe the MWI will accelerate the development of 
rich media content services and will be a catalyst for the next 
generation of engaging communications experiences. MWI will cause the 
creation and adoption of a merged set of technologies for today's fixed 
and mobile content systems and delivery platforms. This is an essential 
step in the evolution of the World Wide Web. We expect to see a rapid 
innovation cycle based on MWI contributions to the convergence of fixed 
and mobile domains.
     -- Evan Smouse, Director of Strategic Technology, Hewlett-Packard

     MobileAware, as a sponsor of the Mobile Web Initiative and leading 
innovator in mobile business solutions, welcomes the launch of this 
Initiative by the W3C. This reflects an important moment in the 
evolution of the Web. It brings together the key mobile players in a 
forum where expertise and experience can be shared; ultimately leading 
to a Web that spans the globe for everyone on any Web-enabled device. 
MobileAware is proud to be invited to be part of this significant 
initiative and commends the W3C for its vision.
     -- Kevin McCloskey, Chief Executive Officer, MobileAware

     Vodafone welcomes this initiative from the W3C to bring the 
benefits of the Web to mobile phone customers. Vodafone is pleased to be 
a founding sponsor and are committed to the success of platforms based 
on open standards. We hope the outputs of the Mobile Web Initiative will 
help enable our 150 million customers access a diversity of valuable 
services.
     -- Reinhard Kreft, Director Industry Relations, Vodafone

     As a leading supplier of Intelligent Content Adaptation solutions 
to the mobile industry, Volantis is delighted to see the launch of the 
W3C Mobile Web Initiative. The initiative recognizes the rapidly 
increasing importance of access to the web from mobile devices. Volantis 
looks forward to participating in the new initiative, an activity which 
complements its existing, closely-related work within the Device 
Independence Working Group.
     -- Mark Watson, Chief Technology Officer, Volantis Systems Ltd.



Contact Americas and Australia --
     Janet Daly, <janet@w3.org>, +1.617.253.5884
Contact Europe, Africa and Middle East --
     Marie-Claire Forgue, <mcf@w3.org>, +33.492.38.75.94 or +81 90 12 08 
04 57
Contact Asia --
     Yasuyuki Hirakawa <chibao@w3.org>, +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 
(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. More than 350 organizations are Members of W3C. To learn 
more, see http://www.w3.org/

-- 


World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

Janet Daly, Global Communications Officer
MIT/CSAIL, Building 32-G518
32 Vassar Street
Cambridge, MA 02139

voice: 617.253.5884
fax:   617.258.5999
http://www.w3.org/
janet@w3.org

Received on Wednesday, 11 May 2005 00:26:57 UTC