Multilingualism: WIPO Internet Site awardedFirst Prize: www.wipo.int
Geneva, March 21, 2000
Press Updates UPD/2000/91
The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris, has thanked the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) for having awarded to WIPO the first prize in the Toile du Plurilinguisme [multilingual net] competition recently established by OIF to reward the best multilingual Internet sites.
"WIPO's efforts towards a dialogue with all cultures and the dissemination of information and knowledge on intellectual property through the WIPO Internet site have been honored by this award," Dr. Idris said. He added "the prize is an encouragement for us to increase our efforts and to further expand our Internet site to best serve the largest number of internet users throughout the world".
The trophy was awarded to WIPO on 20 March 2000 in Geneva on the occasion of the Journée de la Francophonie.
For its inaugural 2000 edition, the jury of the Toile du Plurilinguisme was composed of representatives from diplomatic circles, the media and academia. It sought to select the Internet site of an intergovernmental organization demonstrating, both in content and design, appreciation for the plurality of languages and cultures. Selection was based on the following criteria:
- Quantitative criteria:
- the number of languages in which substantial content existed
- the parity between the volume of information available in each language
- the parity between the updating time for content in each language
- the volume of the content
- Qualitative criteria:
- the quality of the languages used (lexicology, terminology, syntax)
- originality of the text: that is to say the existence of original and not translated texts
- the aesthetic value of the site taking into account the requirements of fast loading and the clear layout of texts.
- Technical criteria
- tree structure: the ease of locating and acceding to the information sought
- formatting of contents and the ease of use of navigation tools (downloading of texts, access to e-mail, etc.)
- independent operation of the site with relation to the constraints of navigation tools (example: Acrobat Reader).
For additional information, please contact the Media Relations and Public Affairs Section at WIPO:
- Tel.: +41 22-338 81 61
- Fax: +41 22-338 88 10
- Email: publicinf@wipo.int