WebLab: Research, Development and Education in Web Technologies

This site is maintained as a static reference to old activities and files.
Updated version is available at https://www.orestesignore.eu/weblab.

The rapid evolution of web technologies increases the gap between the production environment, the offer of innovative solutions and the new ideas matured in academic and research environment. Very often, implementing new projects or products, new ideas and emerging technologies are discarded due to lack of previous tests of their effectiveness. The obvious consequence is that the possibly positive and fruitful feedback between innovative and challenging projects and research, where projects stimulate research, and research ideas are tested in real environment, is broken.

The present environment, were web is evolving towards the Semantic Web is even more critical: taking a conservative approach can rapidly bring out of market and waste human and financial resources.

The evolution of the Web is guided by the World Wide Web Consortium (http://www.w3.org/), whose long term goals are:

Universal Access: To make the Web accessible to all by promoting technologies that take into account the vast differences in culture, languages, education, ability, material resources, and physical limitations of users on all continents;
Semantic Web : To develop a software environment that permits each user to make the best use of the resources available on the Web;
Web of Trust : To guide the Web's development with careful consideration for the novel legal, commercial, and social issues raised by this technology.

W3C has also developed a program to partner with regional organizations, referred to as W3C Offices, which act as local points of contact, and which make sure that W3C and its specifications are known in their country.

WebLab is hosting the W3C Office in Italy (an international activity of C.N.R.), enhancing its technical and scientific role. WebLab favours know how transfer towards private IT companies and Public Administration, in light of developing competitive, technologically advanced tools and applications, saving investments.