What is W3C?
W3C logo
As steward of global Web standards, W3C's mission is to safeguard the openness, accessibility, and freedom of the World Wide Web from a technical perspective.
W3C's primary activity is to develop protocols and guidelines that ensure long-term growth for the Web. The widely adopted Web standards define key parts of what actually makes the World Wide Web work.
A few history bits
Tim Berners-Lee at his desk in CERN, 1994
Tim Berners-Lee at his desk in CERN, 1994
Tim Berners-Lee wrote a proposal in 1989 for a system called the World Wide Web. He then created the first Web browser, server, and Web page. He wrote the first specifications for URLs, HTTP, and HTML.
In October 1994, Tim Berners-Lee founded the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Laboratory for Computer Science [MIT/LCS] in collaboration with CERN, where the Web originated (see information on the original CERN Server), with support from DARPA and the European Commission.
In April 1995, Inria became the first European W3C host, followed by Keio University of Japan (Shonan Fujisawa Campus) in Asia in 1996. In 2003, ERCIM took over the role of European W3C Host from Inria. In 2013, W3C announced Beihang University as the fourth Host.
In addition to these four Host locations that employ W3C staff, there are W3C Offices around the globe that support the developer communities in their regions and organize local events. Find the one next to your place!
A few figures
As of December 2017, W3C is:
A member-driven organization composed of over 473 companies, universities, start-ups, etc. from all over the world.
44 technicals groups, including Working and Interest Groups where technical specifications are discussed and developed.
Over 6,145 published technical reports, including 394 Web standards (or W3C Recommendations) - since January 1st ,1995.
About 298 Community and Business Groups, where developers, designers, and anyone passionate about the Web have a place to hold discussions and publish ideas.
Near 11,126 active participants constituting the W3C community.
A technical staff composed of 67 people, spread on all five continents.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee named recipient of the ACM A.M. Turing Award
Picture of Sir Tim Berners-LeeACM Turing Award logo
On Tuesday 4 April 2017, the ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, named Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the Web and Director of the World Wide Web Consortium, as the recipient of the 2016 ACM A.M. Turing Award. The Turing award is recognized as the highest distinction in Computer Science and is often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of Computing”.
Sir Tim is being given this award for inventing the World Wide Web, the first web browser, and the fundamental protocols and algorithms allowing the Web to scale. The Web is considered one of the most influential computing innovations in history.
If you want to know more kindly vote to this post and request for more through your conmemt.