GOVERNMENT

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Internationalization Activity leader Richard Ishida is visiting Australia this week to speak at a series of workshops and conferences about internationalization of Web sites and Web applications. Mr. Ishida is presenting at the Open Road Conference in Melbourne and at special workshops in Canberra organised by the Web Standards Group and the Australian office of the W3C. Internationalization is the design and development of a product, application or document content that enables easy localisation for and use by target audiences that vary in culture, region, or language. The W3C Internationalization Activity aims to ensure that W3C's formats and protocols are useable worldwide, in all languages and in all writing systems. "Internationalization should occur as a fundamental step in the design and development process, Mr Ishida says. "If treated as an afterthought it can often involve awkward and expensive re-engineering. Developers and content authors need to be aware of the issues involved and ways of addressing them." Ross Ackland of the CSIRO ICT Centre, which hosts the local W3C office, says: "Internationalization is an important process in the development of the next generation of the world wide web. "As more information is migrated to web only sources, especially within government departments and agencies, being able to provide access to and translation of this information is essential." Mr Ishida joined the W3C in July 2002 to help expand the work of the Internationalization Activity, particularly in the area of guidelines, education and outreach. His role is to help make the World Wide Web worldwide. Mr Ishida is the Internationalization Activity Lead, and chair and staff contact for the GEO Working Group (Internationalisation Guidelines, Education and Outreach). He is on the advisory committee and review board of the Internationalisation & Unicode Conference, and on the review boards of the International Conference on Usability and Internationalization and the IWIPS 2005 Conference. The W3C is an international consortium where 400 member organisations work with the public to develop Web standards. W3C also works with regional organisations wishing to further W3C's mission. The W3C offices help promotion efforts in local languages, help broaden W3C's global reach, and encourage international participation in W3C Activities. W3C currently has 15 offices worldwide, including CSIRO ICT Centre in Australia. Further information on W3C, the Open Road Conference and Web Standards Group is available at: http://www.w3.org/International/ www.openroad.net.au/conferences/2006/ http://webstandardsgroup.org/go/event53.cfm.