Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web and director of the W3C who lay down recommendations on how, for instance, accessible websites can be created, unveiled today the World Wide Web Foundation, to fulfill a vision of the Web as humanity connected by technology.
The mission of the Foundation is:
- advance One Web that is free and open,
- to expand the Web’s capability and robustness,
- and to extend the Web’s benefits to all people on the planet.
Through research, technology development, and the application of the Web for the benefit of undeserved communities, the Foundation seeks to enable all people to share knowledge, access services, conduct commerce, participate in good governance, and communicate in creative ways. The Foundation will raise funds through a multi-faceted strategy, beginning with a $5 million seed grant over five years from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Talking to BBC News Sir Tim Berners-Lee said he was increasingly worried about the way the web has been used to spread disinformation. Sir Tim told BBC News that there needed to be new systems that would give websites a label for trustworthiness once they had been proved reliable sources.
“On the web the thinking of cults can spread very rapidly and suddenly a cult which was 12 people who had some deep personal issues suddenly find a formula which is very believable. A sort of conspiracy theory of sorts and which you can imagine spreading to thousands of people and being deeply damaging.”
According to the BBC, Sir Tim thinks the internet needs a way to help people separate rumour from real science, says the creator of the World Wide Web.
Perhaps the World Wide Web Foundation will help realise this.
Who Is Tim Berners Lee?
Sir Tim invented the World Wide Web, in 1989, an internet-based hypermedia initiative for global information sharing while at CERN, the European Particle Physics Laboratory. He is credited with writing the first web client and server in 1990. His origional specifications of URIs, HTTP and HTML were refined as Web technology spread.
Our success will be measured by how well we foster the creativity of our children. Whether future scientists have the tools to cure diseases. Whether people, in developed and developing economies alike, can distinguish reliable healthcare information from commercial chaff. Whether the next generation will build systems that support democracy, inform the electorate, and promote accountable debate. I hope that you will join this global effort to connect humanity.
Visit the WWWF to read the rest of his speech or find out more about the WWWF.
Article By Shaun Anderson.
September 15, 2008