The New York times today reported on the initiative led by Tim Berners-Lee to make Web Science its own field of Academic study . Up to now the Web has been bundled in with computer science and its various disciplines but the complexity of the web and its unprecedented influence on society and politics to business, has finally earned its own academic badge.
“The Web isn’t about what you can do with computers,” Mr. Berners-Lee said. “It’s people and, yes, they are connected by computers. But computer science, as the study of what happens in a computer, doesn’t tell you about what happens on the Web.”
One of the areas of particular interest to Mr. Berners-Lee will be the influence of the Semantic. The next generation of the web which is hoped to bring a more intelligent web, is something many have been waiting for, and an important influence to study.
The programme is to be initially supported by MIT and
Southampton university, but hopes to spread across universities worldwide.
Ben Shneiderman, a professor at the University of Maryland, said Web science was a promising idea. “Computer science is at a turning point, and it has to go beyond algorithms and understand the social dynamics of issues like trust, responsibility, empathy and privacy in this vast networked space,” Professor Shneiderman said. “The technologists and companies that understand those issues will be far more likely to succeed in expanding their markets and enlarging their audiences.”
Personally I think this has been long overdue and wish Mr. Berners-Lee and everyone involved with this project the best of luck.
