W3C uses the term "liaison" to refer to coordination of activities with a variety of organizations, through a number of mechanisms ranging from very informal (e.g., an individual from another organization participates in a W3C Working Group, or just follows its work) to mutual membership, to even more formal agreements. Liaisons are not meant to substitute for W3C membership.
All liaisons MUST be coordinated by the Team due to requirements for public communication; patent, copyright, and other IPR policies; confidentiality agreements; and mutual membership agreements.
The W3C Director MAY negotiate and sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with another organization. Before signing the MoU, the Team MUST inform the Advisory Committee of the intent to sign and make the MoU available for Advisory Committee review; the Advisory Committee MAY appeal. Once approved, a Memorandum of Understanding SHOULD be made public.
Information about W3C liaisons with other organizations and the guidelines W3C follows when creating a liaison [PUB28] is available on the Web.