News Release: World Wide Web Consortium Launches Office In Senegal

World Wide Web Consortium Launches Office In Senegal

http://www.w3.org/ -- 26 May 2009 -- The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
is proud to announce the launch of its first W3C Office in West Africa:
the W3C Senegal Office will be hosted by the Ecole Supérieure
Polytechnique (ESP), attached to the UCAD (Université Cheikh Anta Diop),
in Dakar, Senegal. With this first French-speaking office, W3C looks
forward to increasing interaction with the French-speaking community,
especially neighboring countries in Africa. The opening ceremony will be
held on 27 May 2009, as part of the eLearning Africa conference program.

Senegal IT Bets On Innovation

According to a recent OSIRIS report, only 6.1% of people in Senegal have
Internet access. However, signs do indicate a trend towards increased IT
availability, in part due to increased demand from institutes of higher
education in the country.

In Africa, and particularly in Senegal, a number of IT sectors are
showing strong growth, including e-commerce solutions,
telecommunications, e-banking, CRM, mobile Internet, network
integration, and Web application development. Senegal's strength in the
Internet and mobile sectors will also help the country narrow the
digital divide. W3C has been involved in the past few years (through
Workshops and Interest Groups) in how mobile technology can foster
economic development in this sort of emerging market.

Senegal Office Host Brings Regional Expertise to W3C

The Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique (ESP), host of the new W3C Senegal
Office, is a renowned engineering school whose primary goals are to
provide higher education in preparation for the functions of supervision
in production and services; to conduct research activities aimed at
continuous improvement, adaptation and participation in scientific and
technological developments; and to carry out expert evaluations for
public and private enterprise. The W3C Senegal Office will be managed
jointly by Ibrahima Ngom, Project leader, from Department of Computer
Science of ESP and Alex Corenthin, head of ISOC Senegal.

The launch of the W3C Senegal Office is part of the Digital World Forum
project (European Union's 7th Research Framework Programme - FP7) which
seeks to understand how low-cost technologies can help bridge the
digital divide.

Notes for editors:
=================

Web Resources:
--------------
This press release:
    - in English: http://www.w3.org/2009/05/senegal-pressrelease.html.en
    - in French: http://www.w3.org/2009/05/senegal-pressrelease.html.fr
    - in other translations:
      http://www.w3.org/Press/Overview.html#x2009-senegal

The W3C Senegal Office Web site:
      http://www.w3c.sn/

The opening ceremony (in Dakar, on 27 May):
      http://www.w3.org/2009/05/sn-launch.html

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

About W3C Offices
-----------------

As its Members work to realize the full potential of the Web, W3C
collaborates 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 has Offices in:
Australia; the Benelux countries; Brazil; China; Finland; Germany and
Austria; Greece; Hungary; India; Israel; Italy; Korea; Morocco; Senegal;
Southern Africa; Spain; Sweden; and the United Kingdom and Ireland.

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 400 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/
--
Ian Jacobs (ij@w3.org)    http://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs/
Tel:                                      +1 718 260 9447

Received on Tuesday, 26 May 2009 14:54:03 UTC