Inria Hosts First W3C Office in France

http://www.w3.org/ — 21 September 2011 — To strengthen its relations with industry and research activities in France and Europe, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announces today the opening of a W3C Office in France, hosted by Inria (French National Computer Science Research Institute). To mark the launch, the Office is organizing a session on Open Data at the Open World Forum on 22 September in Paris, in cooperation with Inria and Paris City Hall.

"Inria has a longstanding commitment to the development of free software and open standards," said Prof. Michel Cosnard, Inria Chairman and CEO. "We have supported W3C's mission since the inception of the Consortium in 1994, notably by hosting W3C's European branch".

One of the Office's primary activities will be to promote participation by French industry and research leaders in W3C standardization activities. "Through W3C Membership," said Bernard Odier, manager of the new Office, "industry representatives can do more than follow the rapid evolution of the Web, they can lead it. The W3C environment fosters innovation and creates opportunities for business partnerships. I look forward to working with French companies and research labs to enrich the W3C environment of innovation."

"We are particularly pleased that Inria, our longtime ally, will be the home of the first France Office," added Dr. Jeff Jaffe, W3C CEO. "Research and Industry are closely linked when it comes to the development of Web standards. Through its industry relations in France and Europe, Inria is ideally positioned to help W3C achieve its objectives."

The promotional and recruiting activities of the Office, located in Paris, will complement the technical activities carried out by the W3C staff located elsewhere in France (Sophia Antipolis).

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 and recruit international participation in W3C Activities. W3C has Offices in: Australia; the Benelux countries; Brazil; China; Finland; France; Germany and Austria; Greece; Hungary; India; Israel; Italy; Korea; Morocco; Senegal; Southern Africa; Spain; Sweden; and the United Kingdom and Ireland.

About Inria

Established in 1967, Inria is the only public research body in France fully dedicated to computational sciences. Combining computer sciences with mathematics, Inria’s 3,400 researchers strive to invent the digital technologies of the future. Educated at leading international universities, they creatively integrate basic research with applied research and dedicate themselves to solving real problems, collaborating with the main players in public and private research in France and abroad and sharing the fruits of their work with innovative companies. The researchers at Inria published over 4,800 articles in 2010. They are behind over 270 active patents and 105 start-ups. In 2010, Inria’s budget came to 252.5 million euros, 26% of which represented its own resources. For more information: http://www.inria.fr/

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 325 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/

Media Contacts

Contact W3C —

Ian Jacobs, <ij@w3.org>, +1.718.260.9447

Contact INRIA —

Marie Gallas-Amblard, <marie.gallas-amblard@inria.fr>, +33 1 39 63 78 52