Tag Archives: technology

6 software and driver update utilities compared

The update situation in Windows is dire: Other than a few drivers and built-in Microsoft-only programs, there isn’t a whole lot that Windows Update actually keeps “up to date.” As a result, users are subject to all the reliability, performance and security issues associated with aging drivers and applications.

That’s where software and driver update tools come in. These utilities promise to keep your Windows PC, laptop or tablet up-to-date — automatically.

We tested four software update utilities and two driver update utilities and rated them on update detection and ease-of-use.

None of the products was perfect, but in our testing, UpdateStar Premium Edition and UpdateStar Drivers came out on top because of their massive database and well-structured user interface.

Software updating is a messUnless you’re part of a big enterprise infrastructure with PC lifecycle and patch management solutions, third-party software and driver updates are a messy business. Here’s why:

A lot of the larger software developers, such as Adobe, Google, Microsoft, etc. install their own update mechanisms along with their software. They’re either being run as startup items, background services or scheduled tasks.

And the number of background updaters grows with the number of programs installed. (According to UpdateStar, their average user runs 80 applications.) So you can expect to eventually be dealing with A LOT of updaters, each of which runs on its own schedule.

Despite keeping my system squeaky clean, I’m getting at least one notice per week. That’s happening either when I’m working (ugh, those annoying balloon-tips) or when I launch an application that’s not up-to-date.

While there’s not much of a performance hit, the more updaters you’ve got pinging your hardware, the less you’ll get out of your laptop’s (or tablet’s) battery.

And to make matters worse, these updaters aren’t even particularly reliable. While it’s certainly a good intention of some update tools to not constantly check for (and download) updates, this also means an increased risk. There will be a period of time — several hours up to a couple of days — when a fix isn’t available via the built-in updater.

All in all, relying on built-in updaters is a poor attempt at keeping your PC up-to-date. It’s time for a better approach.

The update utilities reviewed here will routinely scan your system for available updates, give you an at-a-glance view of all upcoming updates, and get you quickly to the downloads. But best of all, they’ll give you the ability to turn off all of the currently running individual update tools and just use one solution for all.

Source: http://www.itworld.com/software/347798/6-software-and-driver-update-utilities-compared

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Cloud Computing And Banking Security

Individuals which still worry about cloud security, are those that fall under the financial institution category like banks, brokers, lenders and the like. They do not trust third party cloud computing providers and vendors, at least not with their most sensitive information and data. They might use cloud computing for some things like websites and applications that they think they can risk security with, but they would never consider parting with direct access of their financial and other similar data.

The biggest reason behind this is simpler than most would imagine as it has something to do with numbers and probability, thought they probably would not admit it is something as basic as that and would rather cite some technical issue like migration and data integrity. Those are valid points, but they are not truly even problems. With ease and security of data migration through cloning and inter-server data transfers with services like Cloud Velocity, migration is truly a no pain no worry process. The real reason as I have said is the probability of a successful attack. Government systems and financial data systems are under attack multiple times a day, and a sizeable majority of these fail at the first lines of defense. The probability of a successful attack is always real, and this probability of success increases as the number of attempts increases.

When data systems reside behind closed and secret doors, very few people will be able to access it, never mind knowing about it. However, the moment that data resides in the cloud, a sign bearing the words “Step right! Take your chance to earn millions of dollars!” goes up as well; it is inherently an invite to all attackers of all skill levels to at least try. Inevitably the success of an unscrupulous individual/s will prevail. A basic analogy would be to keeping a jar of cookies on a high table when there are a lot of kids around as opposed to keeping it out of reach and out of sight inside the cupboard.

In this case, it’s not a matter of technology but a matter of probability. No matter how advanced your security measures are men can open locks that are made by other men, it is best to keep those that try to a minimum.

Source: http://www.cloudtweaks.com/2013/02/cloud-computing-and-banking-security/

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Software Testing is not a commodity!

Stick in software testing long enough, and you will see enough ideas come and go to be able to sort out the ones that look promising to work, and the ones that you just hope will go away soon enough so that no manager will pay any of her attention to it. There have been quite a few in the history of software testing, and from my experience the worst things started to happen every time when someone tried to replace a skilled tester with some piece of automation – whether that particular automation was a tool-based approach or some sort of scripted testing approach.

Why do we test software?

If we were able to write software right the first time, there would be clearly no need to test it. Unfortunately we humans are way from perfect. Take for example the book I wrote mostly through 2011. 200 pages, lots of reviewing, production planning, and stuff happening in the end. And still, while reviewing the German translation, I spotted a problem in the book – clearly visible at face value. I had spend at least 2 weeks after work to go through the book once more, and get everything right. Yet, I failed to see this obvious problem.

The problem lies in our second-order ignorance: the things we don’t know that we don’t know them. These are the things of good hope, and prayers that it will work. Murphy’s Law also has a role to play here.

The very act of software testing then becomes to find out as much information about our unawareness as possible. This includes not only exercising the product, but also finding out new things about the product. Skilled testers learn more about the product and the product domain and the development team over the course of the whole product lifecycle.

Why do we repeat tests?

But how come we focus on regressions to often in our industry? It has to do with first-order ignorance. A regression problem is a bug that gets introduced a second time, although it already had been fixed in the meantime. Since we were already fully aware of the problem, the bug is no longer something that we don’t that we don’t know it. It has become something that we know now, but we don’t know whether we will know it still tomorrow. That’s why we introduce a regression check for tomorrow, so that it will remind us about the problem that we tried to avoid at this time.

Read that sentence again. Yes, it’s speculation. We speculate that we might break the software tomorrow again. With this speculation comes a whole lot of costs. We have opportunity costs for doing the test, for automating it, and with every run, we have the opportunity cost of analyzing the result (if we have to).

We wouldn’t need this if we were able to realize that a regression bug introduced in our software is an opportunity to learn what is not working in our current process that caused that bug to re-occur. Every regression bug discovered should be an invitation to start a root cause analysis and fix the underlying problem rather than deal with the symptoms.

Source: http://www.shino.de/2013/02/04/software-testing-is-not-a-commodity/

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Apple Is Beta-Testing An Update That Kills Evasi0n Jailbreak

All good jailbreaks must come to an end.

Late last week Apple released an update for iOS to developers in beta that prevents the use of the popular jailbreak software evasi0n, according to one of evasi0n’s creators who tested the patch over the weekend, David Wang.

Wang tells me that he’s analyzed the 6.1.3 beta 2 update and found that it patches at least one of the five bugs the jailbreak exploits, namely a flaw in the operating system’s time zone settings. The beta update likely signals the end of using evasi0n to hack new or updated devices after the update is released to users, says Wang, who says he’s still testing the patch to see which other vulnerabilities exploited by the jailbreak might no longer exist in the new operating system.

“If one of the vulnerabilities doesn’t work, evasi0n doesn’t work,” he says. “We could replace that part with a different vulnerability, but [Apple] will probably fix most if not all of the bugs we’ve used when 6.1.3 comes out.”

That impending patch doesn’t mean evasi0n’s time is up, says Wang. Judging by Apple’s usual schedule of releasing beta updates to users, he predicts that it may take as long as another month before the patch is widely released.

When evasi0n hit the Web earlier this month, it quickly became the most popular jailbreak of all time as users jumped at their first chance to jailbreak the iPhone 5 and other most-recent versions of Apple’s hardware. The hacking tool was used on close to seven million devices in just its first four days online.

Despite that frenzy, Apple has hardly scrambled to stop the jailbreaking.  Evasi0n has already gone unpatched for three weeks. That’s far longer, for instance, than the nine days it took Apple to release a fix for Jailbreakme 3.0, the jailbreak tool released in the summer of 2011 for the iPhone 4, which was by some measures the last jailbreak to approach Evasi0n’s popularity.

Apple’s slow response to Evasi0n is explained in part by the relatively low security risk that the tool poses. Unlike Jailbreakme, which allowed users to merely visit a website and have their device’s restrictions instantly broken, Evasi0n requires users to plug their gadget into a PC with a USB cable. That cable setup makes it far tougher for malicious hackers to borrow Evasi0n’s tricks to remotely install malware on a user’s phone or tablet.

Security researchers have nonetheless pointed out that Evasi0n could give criminals or spies some nasty ideas. The tool uses five distinct bugs in iOS, all of which might be appropriated and combined with other techniques for malicious ends. And F-Secure researcher Mikko Hypponen points out that if a hacker used a Mac or Windows exploit to compromise a user’s PC, he or she could simply wait for the target to plug in an iPhone or iPad and use evasi0n to take over that device as well.

More likely, perhaps, is a scenario described by German iPhone security researcher Stefan Esser. He argues that a hacker could use a secret exploit to gain access to an iPhone or iPad and then install evasi0n, using the jailbreaking tool to hide his or her tracks and keep the secret exploit technique undiscovered by Apple and unpatched. “That way they protect their investment and leave no exploit code that could be analyzed for origin,” Esser wrote on Twitter.

Apple already has a more pressing security reason to push out its latest update. The patch also fixes a bug discovered earlier this month that allows anyone who gains physical access to a phone to bypass its lockscreen in seconds and access contacts and photos.

When Apple’s update arrives, the team of jailbreakers known as the evad3rs may still have more tricks in store. Wang tells me that the group has discovered enough bugs in Apple’s mobile operating system to nearly build a new iOS jailbreak even if all the bugs they currently use are fixed.

But then again, Wang says he hasn’t yet been able to check Apple’s patch for every bug it might fix–either the ones evasi0n employs or those he and his fellow hackers had hoped to keep secret for their next jailbreak. “If they patch most of the bugs,” Wang says, “Then we’re starting from scratch.”

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/02/25/apple-is-beta-testing-a-fix-for-evasi0n-jailbreak/

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9 top threats to cloud computing security

9 top threats to cloud computing security

Cloud computing has grabbed the spotlight at this year’s RSA Conference 2013 in San Francisco, with vendors aplenty hawking products and services that equip IT with controls to bring order to cloud chaos. But the first step is for organization to identify precisely where the greatest cloud-related threats lie.

To that end, the CSA (Cloud Security Alliance) has identified "The Notorious Nine," the top nine cloud computing threats for 2013. The report reflects the current consensus among industry experts surveyed by CSA, focusing on threats specifically related to the shared, on-demand nature of cloud computing.

First on the list is data breaches. To illustrate the potential magnitude of this threat, CSA pointed to a research paper from last November describing how a virtual machine could use side-channel timing information to extract private cryptographic keys in use by other VMs on the same server. A malicious hacker wouldn’t necessarily need to go to such lengths to pull off that sort of feat, though. If a multitenant cloud service database isn’t designed properly, a single flaw in one client’s application could allow an attacker to get at not just that client’s data, but every other clients’ data as well.

The challenge in addressing this threats of data loss and data leakage is that "the measures you put in place to mitigate one can exacerbate the other," according to the report. You could encrypt your data to reduce the impact of a breach, but if you lose your encryption key, you’ll lose your data. However, if you opt to keep offline backups of your data to reduce data loss, you increase your exposure to data breaches.

The second-greatest threat in a cloud computing environment, according to CSA, is data loss: the prospect of seeing your valuable data disappear into the ether without a trace. A malicious hacker might delete a target’s data out of spite — but then, you could lose your data to a careless cloud service provider or a disaster, such as a fire, flood, or earthquake. Compounding the challenge, encrypting your data to ward off theft can backfire if you lose your encryption key.

Data loss isn’t only problematic in terms of impacting relationships with customers, the report notes. You could also get into hot water with the feds if you’re legally required to store particular data to remain in compliance with certain laws, such as HIPAA.

The third-greatest cloud computing security risk is account or service traffic hijacking. Cloud computing adds a new threat to this landscape, according to CSA. If an attacker gains access to your credentials, he or she can eavesdrop on your activities and transactions, manipulate data, return falsified information, and redirect your clients to illegitimate sites. "Your account or services instances may become a new base for the attacker. From here, they may leverage the power of your reputation to launch subsequent attacks," according to the report. As an example, CSA pointed to an XSS attack on Amazon in 2010 that let attackers hijack credentials to the site.

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/t/cloud-security/9-top-threats-cloud-computing-security-213428

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MobileFirst: IBM asking companies to design mobile applications first, rest later

ING Vysya Bank BSE 0.83 %, with around 500 branches and an additional 500 ATMs, is too small to compete with the banking titans directly. So it does what small companies do in such situations: use tact and finesse to lure and retain customers.

The bank was evaluating technology options to use mobility as a strategic edge, when it was attracted to an Israeli company, Worklight. This startup, set up in 2006, had a useful piece of technology.

It enabled companies to create, in one seamless process, an application that could work in any device: a laptop, iPad,iPhone, Android phone… Its capabilities were impressive, but there was one problem.

Worklight did not operate in India. This was in early 2012. Soon after, ING VysyaBSE 0.83 % heard an interesting piece of news: IBM was acquiring Worklight.

IBM, which had worked hard to build formidable products and services in cloud and analytics, had suddenly found itself inadequate in mobility, a rapidly-emerging area that was becoming a conduit to these two businesses.

With IBM having a substantial presence in India, ING signed up with Worklight quickly. IBM went on to acquire more companies, totaling 10 in the mobility space in four years, and launched a brand called MobileFirst on Thursday last week.

"We are planning to double investments in mobility this year," says Ed Brill, director of IBM Mobile Enterprise Marketing. MobileFirst, as the name implies, asks companies to turn their current development philosophy on its head.

MobileFirst: IBM asking companies to design mobile applications first, rest later

Instead of making mobile applications an extension of their desktop software, IBM is asking companies to design mobile applications first and then think about the rest later.

For them to do this well, IBM has spread a splendid set of tools: a mobile development platform, a security platform, a mobile device management product, mobile analytics, an ecosystem which includes service-provider A&T (only in the US) and universities, and a plethora of services around of them.

Although not mentioned explicitly, it would include a cloud service also, often serving as a critical part of mobile services. Mobility is now considered as one of the mega trends affecting the IT industry, on par with three trends that defined and directed it earlier: Mainframe, client-server and Internet.

Many chief information officers and analysts now bundle mobility with other recent developments like social, cloud and analytics. These four trends are together called SMAC, a term that describes the close association between social, mobile, analytics and cloud.

All four areas are bustling with startup innovation. Big IT companies are watching them closely. Mobile applications have been growing slowly over the last decade, but mobile commerce had not, till recently.

Phones were not good enough then. The networks were slow. Enterprises had legacy applications that were not easy to extend to a mobile. So you could, in theory, buy stuff on the mobile or do other financial transactions, but customers were often put away by the poor experience.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/software/mobilefirst-ibm-asking-companies-to-design-mobile-applications-first-rest-later/articleshow/18666952.cms

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IBM brings iPhone mobile security to the enterprise

IBM has launched new software to help developers secure code and data in iPhone and iPad apps.

AppScan Source 8.7 for iOS searches through app code and alerts developers when it finds flaws.

The software also analyses apps that employees may want to use on Apple devices for vulnerabilities and alerts IT security staff to potential threats.

Big blue said the software would improve security without sacrificing the time to market for mobile apps.

Citing Gartner figures, IBM said more than 45.6 billion mobile apps were downloaded in 2012, which is why securing smartphones and other endpoint devices should be a top priority for organisations.

IBM developed AppScan Source by looking at over 40,000 mobile APIs for iOS apps using Apple’s iOS Software Development Kit.

These API profiles have been added to the IBM AppScan Source Security Knowledgebase and tied to the analysis engine.

The software also features complete language support for Objective-C, JavaScript and Java and includes the ability to do call and data flow analysis that will generate trace information. This new capability enables organisations to build secure enterprise mobile apps, regardless of technology choice, for employees and partners.

One of the companies that has been trying out AppScan Source for IOS is mobile technology firm KiwiTech.

Rakesh Gupta, chief executive of KiwiTech, said his firm had developed hundreds of apps for iOS and Android and as the risk from mobile malware and data leakage grows, “our customers are looking for ways to secure their iOS and Android apps and protect corporate data.”

Gupta said the software would help his company “proactively secure mobile apps and automate security testing to ensure our customers can keep pace with constant updates."

Caleb Barlow, director of Application, Data and Mobile Security at IBM, said the new capability would help clients incorporate “security into their infrastructure and solutions from the design, development and testing phases rather than leaving security to become an afterthought.”

AppScan Source for iOS will be available from 25 March. IBM launched its AppScan range of products in 2008, following the $2.1 billion acquisition of Rational Software. It has previously launched a version of the software that scans Android apps.

Source: http://www.itpro.co.uk/smartphones/19276/ibm-brings-iphone-mobile-security-enterprise

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HP Enables Partners to Accelerate Cloud Services Delivery

HP

HP today announced two new HP Cloud Builder programs that enable partners to leverage HP Cloud Services, the company’s public cloud, to expand their cloud practices and generate new revenue opportunities.

HP also introduced three new "as a service" offerings from HP Cloud Services that provide customers with faster time to value and simplified cloud deployment.

As part of HP’s Converged Cloud strategy, the new additions to the HP Cloud Builder program enable global system integrators (GSIs) and value-added resellers (VARs) to offer their customers a hybrid delivery model across private, managed and public cloud environments. HP partners are looking for new and innovative ways to assist their customers’ move to the cloud. By adopting these programs, partners gain access to specialized personnel and training that enables them to respond faster, and drive greater profitability and innovation for their customers.

The two new HP Cloud Builder programs, unveiled at the 2013 HP Global Partner Conference, expand opportunities in the cloud for GSIs and VARs. HP’s public cloud partner program for GSIs enables them to leverage tools and capabilities to simplify the cloud transition for customers. In addition, HP announced the general availability of its public cloud partner program for VARs, which provides reward incentives to partners referring customers to HP Cloud Services.

HP public cloud partner program for global system integrators HP’s public cloud program for GSIs enables partners to provide consulting services, build applications or resell services leveraging HP Cloud Services. It provides partners with the tools to rapidly and reliably transition customers to the cloud. Program members have access to designated cloud testing environments; collaborative go-to-market opportunities; and sales, technical and support resources that expand their public cloud practices.

Deloitte Consulting LLP, a global financial services firm, and Infosys, a technology consulting and outsourcing provider, are working with HP Cloud Services and the HP partner program for GSIs to help meet the high demand among enterprise customers to leverage the public cloud. As a result, Deloitte and Infosys have the means to help their customers solve complex business problems, foster innovation and drive growth.

"HP’s public cloud partner program for GSIs provides global system integrators with access to HP Cloud Services to grow their public cloud practice," said Chris Weitz, Deloitte Consulting director and leader of Deloitte’s cloud computing practice. "Deloitte has joined HP’s public cloud partner program for GSIs to help meet the high demand among enterprises to define a cloud strategy, move to the cloud and remain competitive."

HP public cloud partner program for value-added resellers HP’s public cloud program for VARs rewards partners for referring customers to HP Cloud Services and maintaining long-term relationships with annuity-based commissions. The program helps VARs and channel partners capture new markets and attract customers through HP training, cobranding opportunities and marketing tools.

Starting summer 2013, HP will expand the program to provide financial incentives for channel partners reselling HP Cloud Services.

"By engaging with HP’s public cloud partner program for VARs, we are able to meet the needs of our customers by offering solutions that help them innovate and scale with their business," said Al Chien, vice president, Sales and Marketing, Dasher Technologies.

HP cloud services

New HP Cloud Services offerings HP has expanded its HP Cloud Services portfolio with new private beta "as a service" offerings that support a reliable application infrastructure and enable customers to achieve rapid business results:

        –  HP Cloud Monitoring helps users identify potential issues before they
            impact production with infrastructure metrics, alerts and notification
            tools.
        –  HP Cloud Load Balancer optimizes application response times and
            reduces IT management costs by distributing web traffic across
            multiple servers.
        –  HP Cloud DNS saves developers’ time and provides quick and easy access
            to a faster, reliable global DNS service by translating domain names
            to IP addresses using a global network of servers.

"Partners and organizations alike are strapped for resources, making it difficult to invest in the newest technologies for their customers," says Roger Levy, vice president, Technology and Customer Operations, Cloud Services, HP. "HP’s partner programs and service additions demonstrate our ongoing commitment to engage partners and clients in innovative technology capabilities, helping them to reach new markets, grow their customer base and, ultimately, ensure their profitability."

Availability All HP Cloud Services offerings announced today are initially available in private beta. Additional information is available at HP Cloud Matters.

Additional information about HP Cloud Services is available at hpcloud.com and the HP Cloud Matters blog. Additional information an HP Converged Cloud is available online. Up-to-the-minute information is available on Twitter at @HPCloud and @HPNews.

HP’s premier Americas client event, HP Discover, takes place June 11-13 in Las Vegas.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning expected development, performance, market share or competitive performance relating to products and services; any statements regarding anticipated operational and financial results; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include macroeconomic and geopolitical trends and events; the competitive pressures faced by HP’s businesses; the development and transition of new products and services and the enhancement of existing products and services to meet customer needs and respond to emerging technological trends; the execution and performance of contracts by HP and its customers, suppliers and partners; the protection of HP’s intellectual property assets, including intellectual property licensed from third parties; integration and other risks associated with business combination and investment transactions; the hiring and retention of key employees; assumptions related to pension and other post-retirement costs and retirement programs; the execution, timing and results of restructuring plans, including estimates and assumptions related to the cost and the anticipated benefits of implementing those plans; the resolution of pending investigations, claims and disputes; and other risks that are described in HP’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including HP’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2012. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

Copyright 2013 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

Source:http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hp-enables-partners-to-accelerate-cloud-services-delivery-2013-02-20

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iPhone lock screen hack prompts another Apple patch

iPhone lock screen

Apple is once again promising to patch iOS 6.1 – this time to address a serious security flaw that allows thieves to bypass the iPhone’s lock screen.

Earlier this week Apple released iOS 6.1.1 to address a flaw that left iPhone 4S users struggling to connect to 3G networks after the upgrade to iOS 6.1. Apple has also promised a further iOS 6.1 patch to fix a problem that sees the phone repeatedly pinging Exchange servers, draining the device’s battery.

Now another more serious bug has emerged, which allows phone thieves to bypass the lock screen on the iPhone 5 without entering the correct PIN code. The rather convoluted method involves making, and then quickly terminating, an emergency phone call, before holding down the power button twice. The hack could give thieves access to a user’s contacts, voicemail and phone call history.

A YouTube video demonstrating the attack is shown below:

iphone lock screen

An Apple spokesperson told All Things Digital that the company "takes user security very seriously" and that it "will deliver a fix in a future software update".

Source: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/security/379981/iphone-lock-screen-hack-prompts-another-apple-patch

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W3C designates Chinese uni as ‘host’ center

W3C china

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced today it has designated China’s Beihang University as a "host" institution, as it hopes to increase opportunities for collaboration with local developers, Internet companies, and research institutes to shape the Web’s future.

In a statement issued Monday, the W3C said Beihang University will join the US’ Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM), and Japan’s Keio University as the organization’s four official host centers. Beihang University’s School of Computer Science & Engineering department had been a W3C office since April 27, 2006.

It is also the first time in 15 years that the W3C has appointed a new host institution, noted Ian Jacobs, head of communications for W3C.

In a phone interview with ZDNet, Jacobs explained the difference in status between "host" and "office," saying that while Beihang University had previously been a "friend of W3C" in that it hosted events and brought together collaborators, it did not set the direction for the Consortium and house staff member. In other words, the latest announcement means the Chinese institution is "now W3C," he said.

"A host is the heart of our organization, and it is a different level of engagement," the executive said, adding the W3C has set a goal of having seven to 10 employees in China by the end of 2013.

Tapping local innovations

Jacobs also pointed out the Consortium will have a stronger base to engage the Chinese Internet companies, developers, and research institutes to have them contribute to shaping how the Internet will develop in the future. 

He said Beihang University has organized many Web developer events since 2006, such as training, meetings, and conferences, and it will continue to be a facilitator for such platforms. Already in place this year is a conference on HTML 5 and mobile development to be held in Beijing in July for approximately 1,000 people, and a "Test the Web Forward" event in Shanghai in the middle of this year, he stated.

Asked if the Chinese developer community has particular strengths the W3C can tap on, the executive said recent participation from members "hint at particular interests." The community has proved adept at creating new browsers and innovating on them, which has led to more distinct browser products in the market than a decade ago, he said.

Mobile and software testing are two other "hot" areas among Chinese developers and are focus areas for Beihang University’s events, he added.

Jeff Jaffe, CEO of W3C, also pointed out in the statement that Chinese companies have excelled in instant messaging, online games, smartphones, search, and creating a flourishing browser ecosystem.  

"In the past two years, W3C has benefited from greater Chinese participation, and we look forward to that trend accelerating through the efforts of local industry and Beihang University. Global participation in W3C enables our community to identify global needs for the Web and drive solutions," Jaffe stated.

In terms of attracting more Chinese companies to become W3C members, Jacobs said there are no concrete goals set by the Consortium for the year.

He did note, though, that participation among local companies is "modest but growing." Companies such as Huawei Technologies, Baidu, Tencent, and China Unicom have employees contributing to W3C’s various community groups, and, with a local host institution in place, the contributions should rise accordingly, he added.

Source: http://www.zdnet.com/cn/w3c-designates-chinese-uni-as-host-center-7000010056/

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