Sat Jan 26, 2008
What exactly is the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)?
Well, they’re an international consortium made up of member organizations who work together with the public to develop web standards. They want to make sure the web does not become fragmented by incompatible technologies and vested interests. To this end, they keep everything open source. They’re also involved in education and outreach and see themselves as a forum for open discussion about the web.
Here’s a quote from their website:
W3C’s global initiatives also include nurturing liaisons with national, regional and international organizations around the globe. These contacts help W3C maintain a culture of global participation in the development of the World Wide Web. W3C coordinates particularly closely with other organizations that are developing standards for the Web or Internet in order to enable clear progress.
The WC3 was started in 1991 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the dude who invented the web browser, the URL, http, and html. He’s basically the creator of internet life as we know it today. The WC3 is thus respected around the world as it moderates a consensus over how the future of the web should evolve.