W3C Celebrated Ten Years Leading the Web in Europe

W3C held a celebration of its ten years in Europe on Friday, 3 June 2005, in Sophia Antipolis, France. This half-day celebration afforded W3C Members and invited guests the opportunity to reflect on the progress and the role of the Web in Europe.

W3C10 Europe was part two of the W3C Tenth Anniversary celebration and follows on the W3C10 celebration last December, which marked the anniversary of W3C's founding at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

W3C10 Europe speakers and panelists discussed the importance of the Web in Europe, W3C's central role in the development of the Web, and visions of the future of the Web. The program emphasized two themes:

The Web as Unifying Force in Europe: The European Union experience provides a compelling backdrop for considering how to expand the frontiers of the Web to enable participation by new communities. Speakers addressed the integration of the Web into the lives of Europeans, some challenges of internationalization, and advances in sharing data across communities.

Policies Shaping the Web in Europe: Speakers discussed how Europeans are tackling important Web policy issues such as privacy, ensuring access by people with disabilities, and use of the Web in the public sector.

Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the Web, reunited with his former CERN colleague Robert Cailliau to share personal reflections and stories about how the Web got started at CERN. Berners-Lee also delivered a keynote stressing the importance of Web standards and addressing current challenges in the European industry and research communities.

Links:
W3C10 Europe: http://www.w3.org/2005/06/W3C10.html
Tim Berners-Lee keynote on "The Economic Importance of Standards": http://www.w3.org/2005/Talks/w3c10-TimBernersLee/
All presentations available from:
http://www.w3.org/2005/Talks/w3c10-Overview/