World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Internationalisation Activity leader Richard Ishida is visiting Australia this week to speak at a series of workshops and conferences about internationalisation of web sites and web applications.

The W3C is an international consortium where 400 member organisations work with the public to develop Web standards.

Mr Ishida is speaking at the Open Road Conference: Challenges and Possibilities in Melbourne presented by Vicnet, a division of the State Library of Victoria in partnership with Victorian Office of Multicultural Affairs, Department for Victorian Communties.

Internationalisation 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 Internationalisation Activity aims to ensure that W3C's formats and protocols are useable worldwide, in all languages and in all writing systems.

Internationalisation should occur as a fundamental step in the design and development process," Mr Ishida says. ӓIf 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: ԓInternationalisation 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.Ӕ

Mr Ishida joined the W3C in July 2002 to help expand the work of the Internationalisation Activity, particularly in the area of guidelines, education and outreach. His role is to help make the World Wide Web worldwide.