Ecma International - European association for standardising information and communication systems came into existence in 1994, when the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) changed its name in order to reflect the international activities of the organisation (the long form of "ECMA" was dropped then, and capitalization changed to reflect this).
ECMA was founded in 1961 to standardise computer systems in Europe. Membership is open to companies which produce, market or develop computer or communication systems in Europe.
They are currently responsible for the ECMAScript standard, the latest standard being ECMA-262 Edition 3.
External links
todo: write about EMCA's role in various programming languages of late; perhaps linking to them