W3C

W3C released today a Positive Work Environment Framework that includes a Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and accompanying procedures. Both guidelines are now in effect and govern our work environment.

W3C is a growing and global community where participants from all horizons choose to work together. Our Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct defines a set of community principles and promotes high standards of professional practice. It also acts as a vehicle for better identity of the organization which celebrates its 20th anniversary this month.

The Social Web Working Group has published two First Public Working Drafts today:

• Activity Streams 2.0. This specification details a model for representing potential and completed activities using the JSON format.
• Activity Vocabulary. This specification describes the Activity vocabulary.

Learn more about the Social Activity.

The Efficient XML Interchange Working Group has published a Working Draft of Canonical EXI. Any EXI document is part of a set of EXI documents that are logically equivalent within an application context, but which vary in physical representation based on differences permitted by the Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) Format 1.0 (Second Edition). This specification describes a relatively simple method for generating a physical representation, the canonical form, of an EXI document that accounts for the permissible changes. An example of the applications targeted by this specification is one that needs to guarantee non-repudiation using XML Signature yet allows certain flexibility for intermediaries to reconstitute the documents before they reach final destination without breaking the signatures. Note that two documents may have differing canonical forms yet still be equivalent in a given context based on more elaborate application-specific equivalence rules which is out of scope of this specification. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity.

W3C published today the report of the W3C Web Cryptography Next Steps: Authentication, Hardware Tokens and Beyond workshop held on 10-11 September, 2014, in Mountain View. Participants at the workshop expressed unanimous support for including standards-based access to hardware tokens in the charter of a future W3C Working Group or re-chartering of existing groups. Multi-factor and secure authentication are some of the driving use-cases. The discussion over chartering will take place on the Web Security public mailing list. W3C considers secure key storage and access to cryptographic operations important for the future of the Web. The fully booked Workshop was hosted by Microsoft, and sponsored by Google and Tyfone. Learn more about the Security Activity.

W3C announced today a new Web Payments Initiative to integrate payments seamlessly into the Open Web Platform. W3C calls upon all industry stakeholders –banks, credit card companies, governments, mobile network operators, payment solution providers, technology companies, retailers, and content creators– to join the new Payments Interest Group and leverage the unique ability of the Web to bridge ecosystem diversity and reach users everywhere, on any device. The result will be new business opportunities, an improved user experience for online transactions, reduced fraud, and increased interoperability among traditional solutions and future payment innovations. Read the full press release and testimonials from W3C Members, including Bloomberg, Gemalto, GRIN Technologies, Ingenico Group, NACS, Rabobank, and Yandex.

This month W3C celebrates its 20th anniversary. In a 1994 press release about the launch of W3C, Director Tim Berners-Lee explained, “The decision to form the consortium came at the urging of many firms investing increasing resources into the Web, whether in creation of software products, selling information, or for sharing information within their own companies, with business partners and the public at large.” Twenty years on, the W3C community is actively building an Open Web Platform for application development that has the unprecedented potential to enable developers to build sophisticated interactive experiences that are available on any device. Pursuing a vision of one Web available to all, 400 Members, thousands of individuals in Working and Interest Groups, nearly 4500 people in Community and Business Groups, and many more subscribed to public mailing lists power today’s W3C community. W3C thanks all of you for 20 years of creating, implementing, and supporting open standards for the Web.

Please join us to discuss the future of the Web and W3C at the W3C 20th Anniversary Symposium and Gala Dinner on 29 October in Santa Clara, California. Register today while seats remain. Follow the event online with #W3C20.