In february 2000 a first workshop on Multimedia between research scientists from Taiwan and from INRIA has been organised at INRIA in Rocquencourt and in Nancy. A second Sino-Franco workshop has been organised in march 2001 at Puli in Taiwan on Multimedia and XML.

We are pleased to continue these successful events by organising this year the third Sino -Franco Workshop on Multimedia and Web Technologies at INRIA in Sophia Antipolis on french riviera from Tuesday the 26th of March to Thursday the 28th of March.

In order to organise a permanent scientific cooperation between INRIA and the scientific community in Taiwan in the domain of information and communication technologies, the National Science Council of Taiwan and INRIA will sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Tuesday morning. This major event will be followed by the scientific workshop.

There will be 22 scientific talks presented by 10 research scientists from Taiwan (National Chiao-Tung University, National Taiwan University, Tamkang University, National Chi-Nan University, National Sun Yat-Sen University, National Cheng-Kung University, and Academia Sinica) and 12 research scientists from INRIA (IRISA Rennes, INRIA Rocquencourt, INRIA Lorraine, INRIA Rhones Alpes, INRIA Sophia Antipolis).

The titles of the sessions reflect the multidisciplinary aspects of research in multimedia. We will have 8 talks in Image and Video, 3 talks in Sound and Speech, 5 talks on Web Technologies and 6 talks on XML.

In connection with the workshop, technical visits of research groups and meetings will be organised to facilitate further cooperation between scientists from Taiwan and from INRIA.

I hope that this workshop will be fruitful for all participants.

Monique Thonnat
Workshop Scientific Organiser
Head of Orion Research Group