World Wide Web Consortium Launches Office In Senegal

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http://www.w3.org/-- 26 May 2009 -- TheWorld Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is proud toannounce the launch of its first W3C Office in West Africa: theW3C Senegal Office

will be hosted by the EcoleSupérieure Polytechnique (ESP), attached totheUCAD(Université Cheikh Anta Diop), inDakar, Senegal. With this first French-speaking office, W3C looks forward toincreasing interaction with the French-speaking community, especiallyneighboring countries in Africa. Theopeningceremonywill be held on 27 May 2009, as part of theeLearning Africa conference

program.

Senegal IT Bets On Innovation

According to a recent

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, only 6.1% of people inSenegal have Internet access. However, signs do indicate a trend towardsincreased IT availability, in part due to increased demand from institutes ofhigher education in the country.

In Africa, and particularly in Senegal, a number of IT sectors are showingstrong growth, including e-commerce solutions, telecommunications, e-banking,CRM, mobile Internet, network integration, and Web application development.Senegal's strength in the Internet and mobile sectors will also help thecountry narrow the digital divide. W3C has been involved in the past few years(through Workshops and Interest Groups) in how mobile technology can fostereconomic development in this sort of emerging market.

Senegal Office Host Brings Regional Expertise to W3C

The Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique (ESP), host of the new W3C SenegalOffice, is a renowned engineering school whose primary goals are to providehigher education in preparation for the functions of supervision in productionand services; to conduct research activities aimed at continuous improvement,adaptation and participation in scientific and technological developments; andto carry out expert evaluations for public and private enterprise. The W3CSenegal Office will be managed jointly by Ibrahima Ngom, Project leader, fromDepartment of Computer Science of ESP and Alex Corenthin, head of ISOCSenegal.

The launch of the W3C Senegal Office is part of theDigital World Forum project

(European Union's 7th Research FrameworkProgramme - FP7

) which seeks to understand how low-cost technologies canhelp bridge the digital divide.

About W3C Offices

As its Members work to realize the full potential of the Web, W3Ccollaborates with regional organizations wishing to further W3C’s mission.TheW3C Officesassist withpromotion efforts in local languages, help broaden W3C’s geographical base,and encourage international participation in W3C Activities. W3C has Officesin: Australia; the Benelux countries; Brazil; China; Finland; Germany andAustria; Greece; Hungary; India; Israel; Italy; Korea; Morocco; Senegal;Southern Africa; Spain; Sweden; and the United Kingdom and Ireland.

About the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C]

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium whereMember organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together todevelop Web standards. W3C primarily pursues its mission through the creationof Web standards and guidelines designed to ensure long-term growth for theWeb. Nearly 400 organizations are

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of the Consortium.W3C is jointly run by theMIT ComputerScience and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory(MIT CSAIL) in the USA, theEuropean Research Consortium for Informaticsand Mathematics(ERCIM) headquartered in France,Keio University

in Japan, and has additionalOffices worldwide. For moreinformation seehttp://www.w3.org/

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