Tim Berners-Lee: Turning the Web into an object of scientific research

The University of Southampton, MIT and Web Science Research Initiative WSRI to research evolution of the Net.

Tim Berners-Lee, the British scientist and Father of the World Wide Web said that as the web celebrates its first decade of widespread use, we are still know surprisingly little about how it evolved. It was way back in 1989, that Tim Berners-Lee first proposed the web while developing ways to control computers remotely at CERN, the Geneva-based European Organization for Nuclear Research. And for this very reason he has decided to research the net. The University of Southampton and MIT will join him in this project. WSRI will be headquartered at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT and at the School of Electronics and Computer Science (SECS) at the University of Southampton. 

Web Science Research Initiative (WSRI), to understand the scientific, technical and social challenges underlying the growth of the web, will generate the roadmap of the research. The research will focus on the volume of information on the web which records aspects like human behavioral, activity and knowledge. The WSRI research projects will answer some questions such as:

* How do we access information and assess its reliability?
* By what means may we assure its use complies with social and legal rules?
* How will we preserve the web over time?

Tim Berners-Lee added that we have only scratched the surface of what could be realized with deeper scientific investigation into its design, operation and impact on society. He wants to research the web, as he believes it has a great potential and will act as a powerful tool for humanity. At the same time it will also help to foster the web's growth. There is also a possibility of bringing all the scientists and scholars under one banner as a global forum to collaborate on the first scientific research on the web. The research might also develop a new discipline of science for future generations of researchers. 

Head of SCS and Founding Director of WSRI, Wendy Hall said, "As the web continues to evolve, it is becoming increasingly clear that a new type of graduate will be required to meet the needs of science and industry." He further added that the world is already witnessing as major internet companies and research institutions worrying that there is a dearth of talent with the right mix of skills to meet current and future employment demands. Recently the WSRI received financial backing from Google and IBM. There are also plans to raise more funds from corporations. The initiative will have four founding directors: Tim Berners Lee, Wendy Hall and Nigel Shadbolt from the University of Southampton, and Daniel Weitzner from MIT. 

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