What is W3C?

Tim Berners-Lee wrote a proposal in 1989 for a system called the World Wide Web. He then created the first Web browser, server, and Web page. He wrote the first specifications for URLs, HTTP, and HTML.

In October 1994, Tim Berners-Lee founded the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Laboratory for Computer Science [MIT/LCS] in collaboration with CERN, where the Web originated (see information on the original CERN Server), with support from DARPA and the European Commission.

In April 1995, Inria became the first European W3C host, followed by Keio University of Japan (Shonan Fujisawa Campus) in Asia in 1996. In 2003, ERCIM took over the role of European W3C Host from Inria. In 2013, W3C announced Beihang University as the fourth Host.

As of January 2023, W3C is a public-interest non-profit organization incorporated in the United States of America, led by a Board of Directors and employing a global staff across the globe.

A few figures

As of July 2023, W3C:

• Is a member-driven organization composed of over 400 companies, universities, start-ups, etc. from all over the world.

• Holds 52 technical groups, including Working and Interest Groups where technical specifications are discussed and developed.

• Published over 11575 published technical reports, including 482 Web standards (or W3C Recommendations) - since January 1st,1995.

• Runs a translation program to foster the translation of its specifications: see the translation matrix currently listing 308 available translations of W3C recommendations.

• Hosts 177 Community and Business Groups, where developers, designers, and anyone passionate about the Web have a place to hold discussions and publish ideas.

• Gathers over13926active participants constituting the W3C community.

• Has a technical staff composed of 47 people, spread on all five continents.

W3C's core values

Committed to core values of an open Web that promotes innovation, neutrality, and interoperability, W3C and its community are setting the vision and standards for the Web, ensuring the building blocks of the Web are open, accessible, secure, international and have been developed via the collaboration of global technical experts.