W3C, The World Wide Web Consortium, develops standards and guidelines to help everyone build a web based on the principles of accessibility, internationalization, privacy and security. A range of organizations join the World Wide Web Consortium as Members to work with us to drive the direction of core web technologies and exchange ideas with industry and research leaders. The Web Consortium and its members, with help from the public and the web community, focus on a range of business ecosystems that the Web transforms, including E-commerce, Media & Entertainment, Publishing and several other areas.
Aliza: Hi Henrik, thanks for spending some time with me so that I can learn about W3C and Autodesk’s partnership with W3C.
Henrik: Hi Aliza. Sure, and I’m glad to share what’s been happening with W3C and our involvement as a member.
Aliza: That’s great. My first question is what is W3C and why is it important for Autodesk to be a part of it?
Henrik: W3C plays a leading role in developing many key open standards that form the foundation of the World Wide Web, including HTML and CSS, but also more recent technologies like WebAssembly, WebRTC, and WebGPU.
As Autodesk expands its products and services beyond traditional desktop applications to include more web-based and cloud solutions, many of these web standards become increasingly important to ensure compatibility, interoperability, and performance across different platforms and devices.
Being a part of the W3C enables us to actively contribute to the evolution of these web standards, ensuring they meet our customers' future needs in terms of interoperability, performance, reliability, and platform support.
Aliza: I love that W3C formed such an impactful community to solve the needs of a wide range of business ecosystems. Can you share how members like Autodesk contribute to the overall goals of W3C members?
Henrik: Each W3C standard has a corresponding Working Group and/or Community Group. Participation in these groups allows each company to contribute their unique perspective and expertise, from hardware manufacturers and research organizations to browser vendors and ISVs like Autodesk. With our strong presence in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC), Product Design & Manufacturing, and Media & Entertainment industries, Autodesk is well-positioned to provide insights into our customers' expectations of the web as a platform.
Our long history of developing desktop products also brings a certain area of expertise that I think is beneficial as the web evolves and starts to support more workflows that have previously only been available through installed desktop applications.
Aliza: Wow, that’s pretty cool. As the Autodesk lead representative for W3C, what are your hopes and goals for our involvement in the organization?
Henrik: I am optimistic about increasing our involvement in several of the Working Groups. Until now, our focus has primarily been on monitoring the evolution of key standards, providing us with valuable insights into the direction of each respective standard. However, moving forward, I believe we should assume a more active role as contributors, given the unique perspective we bring.
As I mentioned earlier, while Autodesk has historically been a “desktop company”, we are increasingly extending our functionality to the web. In doing so, we start to encounter some of the limitations in the current generation of web technologies. This presents us with an opportunity to address these challenges and ensure that the future web platform can accommodate all our customers' workflows, including those traditionally exclusive to a native desktop environment.
Aliza: For those companies who may be interested in joining W3C, what is your advice for them?
Henrik: The W3C website https://www.w3.org/ offers a good overview of the different standards, Working Groups, and Community Groups. I would suggest identifying the areas that seem most important to your company and reaching out to the W3C to set up a briefing call on how these standards and Working Groups could be relevant to your field. Also, note that joining the respective Community Groups is open to non-members, which can provide valuable insights into the development of each standard before deciding to join as a member.
Aliza: Thanks, Henrik, for taking time to share a bit about Autodesk and its involvement in W3C. I look forward to hearing more about Autodesk and W3C as 2024 progresses.
Henrik: Thank you, Aliza. I’m very excited about the future potential of the web as a platform for Autodesk and how W3C can help accelerate our vision for our web applications.
About the authors:
- Aliza Carpio is Director Tech Evangelist at Autodesk
- Henrik Edstrom is Distinguished Architect at Autodesk
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