News Release: W3C to Examine Role of Mobile Technologies in Fostering Social Development

W3C is organizing a public workshop to identify the challenges of 
providing e-services on mobile phones to people in developing economies. 
Expected participants are mobile and Web technology experts, NGO 
specialists, and egovernment representatives.

"We are witnessing an extraordinary explosion of mobile phone use in 
developing countries," says Stéphane Boyera, of W3C's Mobile Web 
Initiative. "This W3C Workshop will investigate the strengths of various 
mobile technologies for providing e-services to improve people's lives."

For more information, please contact Ian Jacobs, W3C Head of 
Communications, at +1.718.260.9447, or contact the W3C Communications 
Team representative in your region.

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W3C to Examine Role of Mobile Technologies in Fostering Social Development

Workshop Participants Will Discuss How To Unleash the Power of Mobile 
Phones for Delivering eServices

Web Resources:
-------------
This press release:
  in English: http://www.w3.org/2008/03/mw4d-pressrelease.html.en
  in Portuguese: http://www.w3c.br/2008/release-11-03-2008.htm
  in French: http://www.w3.org/2008/03/mw4d-pressrelease.html.fr
  in Japanese: http://www.w3.org/2008/03/mw4d-pressrelease.html.ja

W3C Workshop on the Role of Mobile Technologies in Fostering Social 
Development:
     http://www.w3.org/2008/02/MS4D_WS/

W3C Mobile Web Initiative:
     http://www.w3.org/Mobile

Digital World Forum EU project:
     http://digitalworld.ercim.org/


http://www.w3.org/ -- 11 March 2008 -- As part of its mission to ensure 
that the Web is available to all, W3C invites people to attend a 
Workshop on the Role of Mobile Technologies in Fostering Social 
Development in São Paulo, Brazil, on 2-3 June 2008. The goal of the 
Workshop is to identify the challenges of providing e-services on mobile 
phones to people in developing economies.

"We are witnessing an extraordinary explosion of mobile phone use in 
developing countries," says Stéphane Boyera, of W3C's Mobile Web 
Initiative. "People in rural communities can get a mobile phone much 
more easily than a desktop device. This W3C Workshop will investigate 
the strengths of various mobile technologies for providing e-services to 
improve people's lives. In particular, we plan to discuss how Web 
technologies might play a decisive role in promoting social development."

W3C intends for this public Workshop to be a multidisciplinary forum 
where mobile and Web technology experts, NGO specialists, and 
egovernment representatives gather to learn more about the specific 
needs, expectations, and challenges of deploying services for 
underprivileged populations. Information about participating in the 
Workshop is available on the Workshop home page. W3C thanks NIC.br 
(Network Information Center), CGI.br Internet Steering Committee, and 
Institute CONIP for hosting this Workshop. The Workshop is organized 
with the financial support of the European Union's 7th Research 
Framework Programme (FP7) under the Digital World Forum project.

Mobile Technologies for Sustaining Development

The information technologies, such as the Web and Internet, that have so 
changed the world also offer tremendous opportunity for sustaining 
development in rural communities and underprivileged populations. 
Success stories of the past two years, such as the one about how some 
fishermen in India use mobile technology, suggest practical ways to 
improve people's lives through mobile technology. But there remains a 
gap between the development of few "proof of concept" services and the 
availability of critical services on a broad scale.

In this context, the recent explosion of mobile telephony in the 
developing world provides a great opportunity. According to the GSMA and 
ITU (GSMA Report 2006, 2007 ITU Report), at the end of 2007 
approximately 2.7 billion people had access to a mobile phone and 80% of 
the global population was covered by a GSM network. These figures make a 
strong case for using mobile phones as the platform for health, 
education, business, and government services in rural environments.

Sponsorship Opportunity

W3C invites all stakeholders who wish to support the event to become 
Workshop Sponsors. A three-tier Sponsorship Program has been designed so 
that sponsorships will enable participation by individuals and 
organizations with particular expertise, but who might not otherwise be 
able to attend due to travel or other costs.

This public Workshop is part of W3C's Mobile Web Initiative, which aims 
to identify and resolve challenges and issues of accessing the Web when 
on the move.

Press Contacts:
--------------
Contact Americas, Australia -- Ian Jacobs, <ij@w3.org>, +1.718.260.9447 
or +1.617.253.2613
Contact Europe, Africa and the Middle East -- Marie-Claire Forgue, 
<mcf@w3.org>, +33.492.38.75.94 or +33 6 76 86 33 41
Contact Asia -- Yasuyuki Hirakawa <chibao@w3.org>, +81.466.49.1170

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

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Received on Tuesday, 11 March 2008 15:06:10 UTC