The 20th International World Wide Web Conference, WWWC (W3C) 2011 was organized jointly by the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Bengaluru and Hyderabad and the Institute of Information Technology, Mumbai. WWWC 2011 with the theme 'Web for All' was spread over 5 days from March 28th to April 1st, 2011 at the Hyderabad International Convention Center (HICC) in Hyderabad.Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, the former President of India formally inaugurated the event on March 30th.
Prof S Sadagopan, director, IIIT, Bengaluru shares the excitement of bringing the international event to India with VOICE&DATA, “It is a part of our larger effort to get supply side leadership for the country. World has given us this leadership. There is yet a long vision. This is a part of larger game play. These kinds of research oriented events are the seeds which will reap huge benefits. It will boost research activities in India.”
Future of the Web
This conference discussed future of the web and to bridge digital divide. W3C 2011's theme being 'Web for All' aims to promote the all-inclusive aspect of the Web. At present, around 11% of Indian population access web. Referring to the theme 'Web for All', Prof S Sadagopan said, “People in India have recognized the potential of ICT. There are multiple things that are happening, primarily the affordability. We are moving towards the phase of integrating web and mobile, hence people can access web via mobile. Content is improving in Indian languages.” He added, “People, even in rural areas who are now coming into 15 to 16 years are becoming literate. Things are happening though it is not dramatic.”
Web for Empowering Democracy
Sir Tim Berners-Lee shared his insights about Web while delivering keynote address on 'Designing the Web for Open Society' on March 31st, 2011. He said that right to internet should be a human right as in Finland. World Wide Web also reflects the principles of democracy which signifies equality of all people irrespective of their racial, national, social or economic background. Hence it has emerged as the embodiment of the principles of democracy and a powerful tool to achieve democratic process in lands where democracy is non-existent. Referring to the Egypt revolution, he said that web is a powerful tool if used in a right way. Industry is now talking about real-time web data. Data is growing double the times within a span of 10 months. With regard to semantic web, he pointed that interpretative web is exciting. But most of the data is non-formatted. Control of cybercrime doesn't have a simple solution. There are problems of jurisdiction between countries. There's the issue of coordination among law enforcing agencies of different countries. Even if one country does not participate in the regulatory mechanism, all the bad can happen from there. He declared, “Unfortunately IT is conservative and conventional when it comes to producing web data. There should be an interconnection of data amongst all verticals. It is not the internet policy which is questioned time and again but the functions of internet. Internet is very centralized; suppose if the access to internet is interrupted, we would not have a copy of it. Hence we should think about reconnecting immediately if there is any political or any other disaster. Internet is a wonderful place which is like a tree and it escalates system. People should know how to use the unlimited data on net.”
The annual event drew around 700 people from 49 countries. The exclusive research oriented WWW 2011 event was an amalgamation of researchers, technologists, developers and users with intense technical sessions viz, 81 technical papers, 90 posters, 25 demos, 12 tutorials, 9 workshops and a PhD symposium. It also attracted CIOs, IT directors and decision makers from the public and private sectors.
No comments:
Post a Comment