The popularity of Internet-based access to networked media such as television content, user-generated videos or music is growing very rapidly. However, the most popular solutions today are based on proprietary, closed systems.Web technology is currently undergoing a sea-change which makes it a strong contender for becoming an open, royalty-free standards-based platform for networked media that levels the playing field and enables new market participants, including European players.However, realizing this promise requires bridging a "convergence gap" between the innovative and rapidly expanding Web community and the traditional actors in the networked media and 3D community. This gap is particularly apparent in Europe, which is strong in traditional media fields, but has yet to realize its full potential in the area of Web-based networked media.OMWeb aims to build on Europe's strength in multimedia technology and content to enable European research and industry to strengthen its position in Web technology.The aim of the Open Media Web project is to overcome the "convergence gap" in Europe. This will be achieved by outreach on Web standards that are of particular relevance to the networked media community. Moreover, a series of workshops will provide the opportunity for members of all relevant communities involved to collaborate on ideas and concepts around web-based networked media. The Open Media Web project also includes training events that will enable the European networked media community to become familiar with standards relevant to web-based networked media. The project will also support working groups that enable collaboration between the Web-based and the more traditional networked media communities.The project is lead by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), an industry consortium of currently more than 400 members from research and industry. The Director of the consortium is Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the Web.