Institute of Web Science

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Brian Randell <Brian.Randell () ncl ac uk>
Date: March 24, 2010 11:02:49 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Institute of Web Science

Dave:

For IP if you wish.

The UK Government has announced that it will be funding, to the tune of UKP 30M, an Institute of Web Science:

> It is designed to make the UK the hub of international research into the next generation of web and internet 
> technologies and their commercialisation, and was announced by the Prime Minister alongside plans for a radical 
> opening up of information and data to put more power in people's hands. The Institute will conduct research, 
> collaborate with businesses, identify opportunities for social and economic benefit, assist in commercialising 
> research and help Government stimulate demand through procurement.
>
> The web was originally a place where people published documents that users could search and pick up. Web 2.0 has 
> enabled users to contribute and create web content more easily. Web 3.0 will take the web to a whole new level by 
> publishing data in a linkable format so that users and developers can see and exploit the relationships between 
> different sets of information.
>
> The development of these technologies will create significant new opportunities for business and the public sector. 
> The impact of these technologies is likely to be as important as the creation of the original web, and could generate 
> large-scale economic benefits for the UK in the global market for web and internet technologies. The role of the 
> Institute will be to undertake research and development, and act as a bridge between research and business, helping 
> commercialise these new technologies. It will also advise Government on how semantic technologies can be used in the 
> public sector, and how public procurement can be used to speed their adoption.
>
> Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that £30 million would be set aside to create the Institute for Web Science. It will 
> be headed by Sir Tim Berners Lee, the British inventor of the World Wide Web, and leading Web Science expert 
> Professor Nigel Shadbolt.

The full announcement is at:

http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.aspx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=412457&SubjectId=15&DepartmentMode=true

Here is a BBC video clip of Gordon Brown explaining to TGBP ("the Great British Public") how important the Semantic Web 
is and announcing the grant:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8579666.stm

Cheers

Brian

--
School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne,
NE1 7RU, UK
EMAIL = Brian.Randell () ncl ac uk   PHONE = +44 191 222 7923
FAX = +44 191 222 8232  URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/people/brian.randell




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