NESTA partners with Worldwide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee to shape future of the Internet
20/05/2008
"This is an exciting project and it is fitting that it be announced at NESTA’s annual conference, the largest ever gathering of innovative minds in the UK."
The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) today announced a groundbreaking new partnership with the creator of the Worldwide Web on the future of the internet.
Speaking at NESTA’s Innovation Edge Conference attended by 3,000 people at London’s Royal Festival Hall, Sir Tim Berners Lee said the Web Science Research Initiative (WSRI) would look at the future direction, design and potential of the Web.
The WSRI is a joint endeavour between the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT and the School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) at the University of Southampton.
Web Science is an entirely new discipline that has emerged because of the way the internet is changing.
The vast majority of the debate around the Web has focused on technological issues. The WSRI is the first body devoted to exploring its social, political and geographic impact.
The Initiative will promote collaborative study of the Web across disciplines, provide a global forum to look at the factors that drive the growth of the Web and provide for the training of future generations of Web Scientists.
It will also conduct important research into more generic issues that are undermining the Web’s development. This includes spam, and security and privacy issues.
Commenting on the project, NESTA CEO Jonathan Kestenbaum said;
“Sir Tim Berners Lee is one of Britain’s most illustrious innovators and the person behind one of the most powerful new ideas the world has seen. This is an exciting project and it is fitting that it be announced at NESTA’s annual conference, the largest ever gathering of innovative minds in the UK."
Contact:
For more information or to arrange an interview with Jonathan Kestenbaum, please contact:
Jane Fordham
GolinHarris
T: 07770 401 436
Meryl Hanlon
GolinHarris
T: 07760 168 293
Related information:
We will also be providing updates from the sessions and accompanying photography throughout the day tomorrow on the following FTP site:
http://ldn-ftp.interpublic.com/login.php
username: NESTA_Innovation_Edge_Conference_2008
password: welcome18
Notes to Editors:
NESTA
Full details of the conference programme are available at www.innovationedge08.co.uk
NESTA is the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts - a unique and independent body with a mission to make the UK more innovative. It invests in early-stage companies, informs and shapes policy, and delivers practical programmes that inspire others to solve the big challenges of the future.