World Wide Web Consortium Launches Finnish Office; W3C Strengthens Presence in Northern Europe Through Finnish Outreach.

Business and Technology Editors

http://www.w3.org/--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 10, 2002

Tomorrow, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) launches its W3C Finnish Office, based at the Digital Media Institute (DMI) of the Tampere University of Technology in Tampere, Finland.

Among those attending the day's opening ceremonies at the Tampere Hall are Dr. Daniel Dardailler, W3C Deputy Director for Europe; Professor Jarmo Viteli, Director of the eTampere program; and Professor Hannu Eskola, Director of DMI.

The Finnish Office is the newest W3C outreach center, and the second in Northern Europe, joining the W3C Swedish Office at SICS in Stockholm, Sweden.

The opening ceremony is a public event, with presentations from the W3C technical Team including:

- Dr. Daniel Dardailler, W3C Deputy Director for Europe: "World Wide Web Consortium";

- Dr. Marie-Claire Forgue, W3C European Communications Officer: "The W3C Process";

- Dr. Ivan Herman, W3C Head of Offices: "2D Web Graphics: SVG";

- Yves Lafon, W3C Jigsaw and W3C XML Protocol Activities Lead: "Web Services"; and

- Dr. Marja-Riitta Koivunen, W3C Research Scientist, Technology and Society and Web Accessibility Domains: "Semantic Web and Web Accessibility."

Finland's IT Industry is Established, Thriving

Finland holds leading positions both as a consumer and exporter of information technology (IT). Within the country, more than 80% of the population have a personal mobile phone; more than 50% have a personal computer at home, and more than 60% have access to the Internet from home, from school, or from work. In addition, public libraries and other organizations offer free access to the Internet.

Finland's current prosperity is based largely on the global success of its IT-related industries, notably in the mobile communications and electronics markets. The variety and breadth of Finnish high-tech expertise today lies largely in the high level of spending devoted to R&D by industry and government alike. Finnish companies, universities, and research institutes have invested heavily in R&D for many years. In 1999, they invested the equivalent of 3.3% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in R&D - ahead of Japan, Germany, France and the United States, and second only to Sweden.

As the home of pioneering efforts in both mobile telecommunications and the birthplace of Linux, Finland is an excellent choice for a W3C Office, whose role is to encourage standards-based technology development. W3C currently has 10 Finnish Members, including CiTEC; Elisa Communications; Finnet Group; Helsinki University of Technology; Nokia; Profium Ltd.; Republica Corporation; Tieke; the University of Helsinki; and DMI of Tampere University of Technology.

DMI Provides W3C Connection and Outreach to Finland

As a vendor-neutral Member of W3C, and with an extensive contact network and shared objectives for Web development, DMI meets the criteria for W3C Office selection.

The Digital Media Institute organizes and carries on multidisciplinary research in the field of digital media. DMI creates synergy and stimulates world-class research in close cooperation with industry. The Institute's areas of research include signal processing, multimedia, digital and computer systems, software systems, communications engineering, and hypermedia.

DMI operates under the Council of Tampere University of Technology. With 450 researchers and a budget of over 17 million euros, it is the largest academic IT unit in Finland. Research at DMI is financed by the Finnish Technology Agency Tekes, the Finnish Academy, and by companies.

About W3C Offices

As part of realizing the full potential of the Web, W3C partners 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 currently has Offices in Australia, the Benelux Countries, Germany and Austria, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Korea, Morocco, Sweden, and the United Kingdom and Ireland.

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 Laboratory for Computer Science (MIT LCS) in the USA, the National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA) 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. To date, over 440 organizations are Members of the Consortium. For more information see http://www.w3.org/

(also available in French, Japanese, and Finnish on the Web at http://www.w3.org/2002/10/fioffice-pressrelease)