Internet Society Reconfirms Support for World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) with $1Million Donation

RESTON, Va. and GENEVA, Nov. 17, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- http://www.w3.org -- In its continuing efforts to foster an open Internet ecosystem, the Internet Society today announced a 1M USD donation to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). This donation, the second installment of the Internet Society's 2009 pledge of 2.5M USD over three years, will support the evolution of W3C as an organization that creates open Web standards.

"The W3C is a key member of the ecosystem of organizations that supports the continued development, operation, and use of the open, global Internet," said Raul Echeberria, Chair of the Internet Society Board of Trustees. "The W3C and the Internet Society have long cooperated to advance our shared values through independent voices. We are pleased to support the W3C's continued organizational evolution as it strengthens its stewardship role to the growing community of Web users and developers around the world."

Both organizations have closely aligned views and strongly support the ongoing evolution of the open Internet as an invaluable platform for innovation. As active participants in the development of the open standards that ensure that the various parts of the system interoperate, both the Internet Society and W3C work to forge the strong partnerships among the various organizations that form this Internet Ecosystem. These communities help ensure the stability and growth of the platform.

"The first part of the Internet Society's donation has enabled the W3C community to develop a strategic vision for the organization," said Jeff Jaffe, W3C CEO.  "The vision includes standardization of technologies for an Open Web Platform, new opportunities for technology innovation and developer engagement, increased international participation, and efforts to ensure that business, government, and all users benefit from W3C's results. ISOC's continued support allows us to execute this plan, which I believe will drive the growth and success of the future Web."

The two organizations will continue to operate independently, and will maintain their long-standing, informal collaboration. A FAQ with additional information is available.

About the Internet Society

The Internet Society is a non-profit organization founded in 1992 to provide leadership in Internet-related standards, education and policy. It is dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of people throughout the world. See www.internetsociety.org.

About the World Wide Web Consortium

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 350 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.

SOURCE The Internet Society