Please see the enclosed HTML page:
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<H1><a href="http://www.cern.ch/">CERN</a> and <a href="http://www.inria.fr">INRIA</a> join forces in World-Wide Web Core
Development
</H1>
<HR>
As is well known, the <a href="http://info.cern.ch">World-Wide Web</a> (WWW) originated at <a href="http://www.cern.ch/">CERN</a>
with Tim Berners-Lee and his colleagues. It is now the information system which is largely driving the Internet, and which has a
substantial global business potential for the near future. The World-Wide Web was conceived as a communication tool for the widely
dispersed scientific community of High-Energy Physics. It is destined to become essential for the Global Information
Infrastructure, and is thus a prime example of important spin-off from pure scientific research.
<P>
The Web, used by millions of people on the Internet, is in a continual process of enhancement, driven by new techniques and by
applications with differing demands. Up to now CERN, in its pioneering role, has provided the technical reference point and
invested substantial resources in the development of WWW. It is clear that its further development as an informatics project now
needs to be undertaken in a wider context. In this spirit CERN has been working with the European Commission on the definition of a
project, in collaboration with parallel activities at <a href="http://web.mit.edu/">MIT</a> in the USA.
<P>
The recent <a href="http://www.cern.ch/Press/Releases94/PR16.94E_LHC-Council.html">approval</a> of the <a
href="http://www.cern.ch/CERN/LHC/LHCwelcome.html">Large Hadron Collider (LHC)</a> project implies that CERN needs to concentrate
its resources on efforts directly relevant to the future collider and its experimental programme. CERN intends to remain a major
user of WWW, which is seen as an essential tool for the scientific community, and CERN has a continued interest in its technical
stability and evolution. Thus CERN will continue to be involved in developments of particular interest to its community, while
envisaging a change of focus of its efforts with a corresponding reduction of involvement in more general developments.
<P>
CERN and the <a href="http://www.cordis.lu/en/home.html">European Commission</a> wish to ensure a strong European presence in WWW
development as well as a single set of standards for the technology.
<P>
<a href="http://www.inria.fr">INRIA</a> with its wide variety of advanced informatics projects and a long history of basic software
development, already contributes to many Europe-wide programmes. It is also involved in a variety of web-related research projects
including structured document editing, content routing, multicasting browsers, and integration of Object-Oriented databases.
<P>
INRIA has played a significant role in the development of the Internet in France and Europe and is willing to assume
responsibilities in the standardisation and the promotion of the World-Wide Web.
In agreement with CERN, INRIA has therefore accepted to host the European WebCore project with funding from the Commission. The
project will tackle such issues as:
<UL>
<LI>evolution of the Web components specifications,
<LI>development of reference code,
<LI>information services on the Web,
<LI>promotion and dissemination in Europe.
</UL>
In the early phases of this project, CERN will collaborate with INRIA, to provide a smooth transition and ensure continuity of
developments and services for the benefit of the user community.
CERN is confident that the Webcore project will play a key role in the participation of our continent in the Information Society.
<P>
<HR>
CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, has its headquarters in Geneva. At present, its Member States are Austria,
Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the
Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Israel, the Russian Federation, Turkey, Yugoslavia (status
suspended after UN embargo, June 1992), the European Commission and Unesco have observer status.
<HR>
J. Poysti
[email protected]