The University of Calgary has been chosen to host a prestigious international conference on the future of the World Wide Web.

The five-day event, scheduled for May 2007 in Banff, is expected to draw about 1,000 academic, business and government computer experts from 40 countries.

"It's quite a feather in our cap to be hosting a major conference like this," said U of C computer science professor Carey Williamson, who is co-chairing the event's planning committee.

"It will also be a real opportunity to showcase Alberta's information and communications technology sector on an international scale."

Williamson said key issues on the agenda will include security, copyright, spam, blogging, web mobility and accessibility for those with visual or hearing impairments.

"Another interesting area to watch is the move to get more Internet infrastructure into rural areas of nations like India to give people access to medical and educational information," said Williamson.

Since being launched in the early 1990s, the world wide web now has "fairly broad penetration" in about 100 nations, Williamson said.

"There have been negative aspects such as viruses, worms and identity theft but I believe the web's advantages far outweigh the problems," he added.

"It's a major part of our commercial life today and the ability to access a world of educational information that's at our fingertips with two clicks (of a computer mouse) is quite phenomenal."