News Release

World Wide Web Consortium selects Web Science Institute to host UK and Ireland Office

Business Announcement

University of Southampton

Web Science Institute

image: The Web Science Institute at the University of Southampton. view more 

Credit: University of Southampton

The Web Science Institute (WSI) at the University of Southampton has become the UK and Ireland Office of The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

As the host of the W3C UK and Ireland Office, the WSI will help the W3C achieve its mission to broaden participation in W3C activities of more diverse stakeholders from the UK and Ireland. The WSI will foster relationships with UK technology and policy leaders and help to promote the adoption and implementation of W3C standards in the UK. The W3C UK and Ireland Office will also recruit and engage with members in the region, and develop education and outreach programs to raise awareness of W3C's role and standards activities by sponsoring and supporting local events where there is a focus on W3C topics.

"The WSI is excited to be taking on this important role within the W3C," said Professor Dame Wendy Hall, Executive Director of the WSI. "The University of Southampton has played an active role in the Web community since 1994 and has been a member of the W3C since 1998, promoting new futures of the Web through W3C community groups including the Web Observatory, Annotations and Web of Things."

J. Alan Bird, W3C Global Business Development Leader, commented: "With its wide range of research activities into the technologies and societal impact of the Web, the WSI is in a unique position to help broaden the scope and reach of the W3C. We look forward to working together to help the W3C achieve its mission."

The WSI carries out research into web science, data science, linked and open data, privacy, trust and provenance, social computation, cybersecurity, social media networks. These research activities align well with new W3C activities, including the W3C Data activities, Web Payments, Web Annotation, Web of Things, Security and Privacy and Web Accessibility.

The W3C UK and Ireland Office will be staffed by Susan Davies, Coordination Manager for the WSI, who will become the Office Manager and Professor Leslie Carr, Director of the WSI Centre for Doctoral Training, who will act in a Senior Advisor role. The WSI takes over from Nominet, who have been running the Office since 2010.

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