The Symbian Foundation announced plans to halt development work and focus purely on licensing of the mobile technology. The "seismic change" in the mobile market since the foundation was set up in 2008 has led to some funding members of the Symbian Foundation shifting their strategic focus. As a result "the current governance structure for the Symbian platform – the foundation - is no longer appropriate", said Tim Holbrow, the foundation's executive director. The first phase of the foundation's transition will involve a reduction in operations and staff numbers. By April 2011, the Symbian Foundation will be governed by a group of non-executive directors tasked with overseeing the organisation's licensing function. The change in structure sees much of the development work for Symbian returning to Nokia. Nokia reaffirmed its commitment to the Symbian platform and said it will continue to invest in development of the software. The announcement was made from the Symbian Exchange and Exposition, which starts 9 November in Amsterdam.
