The global World Wide Web Conference (WWW2006) in
Edinburgh from 23-26 May is set to be one of the most influential
IT events in the UK this year.
This annual conference, which takes place in a different country
each year, comes to the UK at a crucial time in the development of
the web and aims to showcase the new wave of web-based
technology.
The conference has been organised for the World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C) in the UK by the School of Electronics &
Computer Science at Southampton University in conjunction with the
British Computer Society.
Computer Weekly is the media sponsor for the event, which will
be attended by about 2,000 delegates from around the world. It will
provide a forum where IT directors, business decision makers, web
specialists and techies can meet the people making the decisions
about the future of the web.
Keynote speakers at the event include director of the World Wide
ConsortiumTim Berners-Lee, Nato's director of policy planning,
Jamie Shea, chairman of the UK National Institute for Health and
Clinical Excellence Michael Rawlins, executive vice-chairman and
founder of online bank Egg Mike Harris, and senior figures from
Reuters, Nortel, Motorola, Microsoft, RM and Reed Elsevier.
The conference is broken down into four one-day themed sessions.
The first day will focus on the web's impact on business, looking
especially at the impact of web-based innovation on advertising,
publishing and the media, as well as e-commerce and on traditional
business.
The second day will focus on the next wave of web technologies
such as the Semantic Web, the mobile/pervasive web, and their
impact on applications. Delegates will also hear about the impact
of the web on networks, devices and interfaces, including browsing
technologies.
The final two days will focus on security and on what steps are
being taken to ensure that the web is secure. There will also be a
focus on the impact of the web on education and science, as well as
the impact on health, both for healthcare professionals and
patients.
Attendees can expect to hear about what is going on behind the
scenes to provide a richer user experience to the web. One such
area, for example, is where the W3C is developing standards that
support web interaction through the eyes, ears, voice and
touch.
They will also be brought up to date with W3C's work to enable
the "ubiquitous web" to become reality - this is a series of
standards and recommendations designed to make the web more easily
accessible to mobile devices. In this area W3C is building a
database of device descriptions and developing best practices for
the creation of mobile-friendly websites.
On security, the W3C is exploring ways to give users and service
providers more confidence in online transactions and provide easier
identity management.
The conference is also likely to hear about advances in managing
the huge amount of data thrown up by the web through what the W3C
calls the Semantic Web. The Semantic Web provides a common
framework that allows data to be shared and reused across
application, enterprise and community boundaries.
The wider context of the web will also feature at the
conference, for example the Web Accessibility Initiative, which
sets out guidelines to help the disabled access the web.
www.www2006.org
Conference details
Organiser The World Wide Web Conference is
organised by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and has been held
annually since 1994. This year the conference will be hosted in the
UK for the first time.
Date 23-26 May 2006
Venue Edinburgh International Conference
Centre
Speakers Speakers will include world wide web
founder Tim Berners-Lee, Michael Rawlins, chairman of the National
Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, and Mike Harris,
executive vice-chairman and founder of internet bank Egg.
The conference will showcase the new wave of capability
predicted to transform online activity. Attendees will hear about
progress on delivery of the "ubiquitous web" and developments such
as standards that support interactive voice technology for a richer
user experience. Business is set to play a key role in the
progression of the web and the conference will also feature senior
executives from Reuters, Google, Microsoft, Motorola and Reed
Elsevier.
Who should attend? Anyone who is interested in
seeking out new ideas, technologies and strategies to exploit the
potential of the online world.
www.www2006.org/register
The World Wide Web Consortium
The W3C is a global organisation founded and run by world wide
web inventor Tim Berners-Lee to ensure that the web is available
and accessible to everyone, regardless of their hardware, software,
network infrastructure, language, culture or geographical
location.
Members of the W3C include most major IT suppliers and many
large corporate user organisations, whose technical experts work
together to decide the future direction of the web.
"Our members work together to design and standardise web
technologies that build on its universality, giving the power to
communicate, exchange information and to write effective, dynamic
applications for anyone, anywhere, anytime, using any device," said
Berners-Lee.
Key areas of work include web accessibility,
internationalisation, and device independence. The W3C aims to make
the web as simple, easy and convenient to use on a range of mobile
devices as it is from the desktop. As a result, the W3C is working
to ensure that all types of mobile phones, PDAs, interactive
television systems, voice response systems and even certain
domestic appliances can all access the web.
Another area the W3C team is working on is developing the web's
vast database potential to solve problems that would otherwise be
too time-consuming or complex.
One of the long-term goals of the W3C is to promote technologies
that enable a more collaborative environment.
www.w3.org