1 00:00:00,065 --> 00:00:02,732 (uptempo music) 2 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:10,290 - [Narrator] Sir Tim Berners-Lee says he did not have 3 00:00:10,290 --> 00:00:12,990 a Eureka moment in 1989. 4 00:00:12,990 --> 00:00:15,630 The invention of the web came after years of learning 5 00:00:15,630 --> 00:00:18,480 from his experience on various projects. 6 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:21,450 He recognized the frustration and complications of trying 7 00:00:21,450 --> 00:00:24,670 to share information from different computer systems, 8 00:00:24,670 --> 00:00:26,980 and wanted to solve the dilemma. 9 00:00:26,980 --> 00:00:30,780 Finally, while working at CERN in Geneva, he did. 10 00:00:30,780 --> 00:00:34,010 - When I was at CERN I had all those pieces 11 00:00:34,010 --> 00:00:35,400 sort of in my brain from other projects. 12 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:38,740 Couldn't we just make one, can't we just imagine a grand, 13 00:00:38,740 --> 00:00:41,590 unified documentation system which would include them all, 14 00:00:41,590 --> 00:00:43,390 and it shouldn't be that difficult and it wasn't, 15 00:00:43,390 --> 00:00:46,040 it was a very, you know, web is a very simple system. 16 00:00:47,069 --> 00:00:49,986 (futuristic music) 17 00:00:54,210 --> 00:00:56,750 - [Narrator] Today, the web is considered one of computing's 18 00:00:56,750 --> 00:00:58,920 most influential innovations. 19 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,390 It is used by billions of people daily to communicate, 20 00:01:02,390 --> 00:01:04,630 access information, and perform and share 21 00:01:04,630 --> 00:01:06,310 countless activities. 22 00:01:06,310 --> 00:01:09,460 To make such an information-sharing system possible, 23 00:01:09,460 --> 00:01:12,320 Berners-Lee invented the integrated tools that would become 24 00:01:12,320 --> 00:01:15,980 the foundation of the world wide web: HTTP, 25 00:01:15,980 --> 00:01:19,860 URLs, HTML, and the web browser. 26 00:01:19,860 --> 00:01:22,450 The web was also intended to allow individuals 27 00:01:22,450 --> 00:01:25,580 to share information to solve world problems. 28 00:01:25,580 --> 00:01:30,250 - How does humanity come up with interesting idea 29 00:01:30,250 --> 00:01:34,170 when the problem is in lots of peoples' heads, 30 00:01:34,170 --> 00:01:36,070 and different parts of the solution are in different 31 00:01:36,070 --> 00:01:38,294 peoples' heads, and they are all sitting, 32 00:01:38,294 --> 00:01:43,180 looking at their screens, ready to type, ready to chat, 33 00:01:43,180 --> 00:01:45,760 ready to code up visualization software, 34 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:48,993 ready to run programs, they will look for correlations, 35 00:01:48,993 --> 00:01:50,750 they're trying to solve cancer, 36 00:01:50,750 --> 00:01:53,110 you're trying to solve global warming. 37 00:01:53,110 --> 00:01:56,130 Part of the goal of the web was to be a really powerful tool 38 00:01:56,130 --> 00:02:01,130 for allowing many brains to be better than one brain. 39 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:03,640 - [Narrator] Berners-Lee warns there is a constant threat 40 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:05,930 surrounding control of the web. 41 00:02:05,930 --> 00:02:09,500 - Some unholy mix of governments and companies often 42 00:02:09,500 --> 00:02:10,750 tries to control the web. 43 00:02:10,750 --> 00:02:12,650 So we always have to be aware of that. 44 00:02:12,650 --> 00:02:14,320 - [Narrator] And the web hasn't turned out 45 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:16,200 exactly as he had hoped. 46 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,440 On the 28th anniversary of the web earlier this year, 47 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:21,930 Berners-Lee cited issues with losing control 48 00:02:21,930 --> 00:02:25,400 of our personal data, the spread of misinformation, 49 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:27,090 and the need for transparency 50 00:02:27,090 --> 00:02:29,800 with online political advertising. 51 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:32,800 - For the first twenty years of the web 52 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:35,050 it was really exciting to see all the things, 53 00:02:35,050 --> 00:02:37,943 all the crazy things like Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, 54 00:02:38,990 --> 00:02:40,930 people building on top of the web. 55 00:02:40,930 --> 00:02:44,810 And my assumption was that if we just keep the web open, 56 00:02:44,810 --> 00:02:48,390 just keep it neutral, keep it royalty-free, 57 00:02:48,390 --> 00:02:52,605 then innovation will bloom, and people would build 58 00:02:52,605 --> 00:02:56,070 really, really valuable social systems 59 00:02:56,070 --> 00:02:58,520 for both science and democracy. 60 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:02,560 Now, looking back just over these last couple of years, 61 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:05,530 there are obviously people have been using the web in some 62 00:03:05,530 --> 00:03:09,480 ways where it isn't about science, it's about untruths, 63 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:13,740 it isn't about democracy, it's about unreasonable, 64 00:03:13,740 --> 00:03:17,390 just manipulation of the audience, so, yeah, 65 00:03:17,390 --> 00:03:20,070 I think, so my attitude has changed. 66 00:03:20,070 --> 00:03:23,870 I feel that people who look at the web and analyze the web, 67 00:03:23,870 --> 00:03:27,190 build the web, need to think about that, 68 00:03:27,190 --> 00:03:28,930 and they need to really look at the way 69 00:03:28,930 --> 00:03:32,990 social networks, work, and they need to take responsibility 70 00:03:32,990 --> 00:03:35,310 when they build a social network for making, 71 00:03:35,310 --> 00:03:37,040 looking at the bad things that happen on them, 72 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:39,770 and maybe reprogramming it, sort of just changing it 73 00:03:39,770 --> 00:03:42,240 so that it works in a slightly different way. 74 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:44,680 - [Narrator] Despite these challenges, the world wide web 75 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:47,900 has had an enormous impact on our society. 76 00:03:47,900 --> 00:03:51,270 And ACM recognizes the web as a contribution 77 00:03:51,270 --> 00:03:54,450 of lasting and major technical importance. 78 00:03:54,450 --> 00:03:57,310 It is for this reason Sir Tim Berners-Lee has been named 79 00:03:57,310 --> 00:04:01,226 recipient of the 2016 A.M. Turning Award 80 00:04:01,226 --> 00:04:04,595 on the 50th anniversary of the prize. 81 00:04:04,595 --> 00:04:08,622 - Winning the Turing Award is very humbling. 82 00:04:08,622 --> 00:04:12,670 I think, if I could suddenly meet Alan Turing now, 83 00:04:12,670 --> 00:04:16,260 the first thing I'd do would be apologize for what happened 84 00:04:16,260 --> 00:04:20,030 to him, what the British culture at the time did. 85 00:04:20,030 --> 00:04:24,952 I'd explain to him that actually that being gay is okay now. 86 00:04:24,952 --> 00:04:27,660 And that we're not in a perfect place 87 00:04:27,660 --> 00:04:29,830 but we've come a long way. 88 00:04:29,830 --> 00:04:33,170 Obviously it would be great to talk about, 89 00:04:33,170 --> 00:04:36,800 we could just just sit him down with a 90 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:39,740 with a powerful debugger so he could just see 91 00:04:39,740 --> 00:04:42,340 all the variables at the height of the language 92 00:04:42,340 --> 00:04:43,810 change in real time. 93 00:04:43,810 --> 00:04:46,410 - [Narrator] In 2004, Berners-Lee was knighted 94 00:04:46,410 --> 00:04:49,170 by Queen Elizabeth the Second for his work. 95 00:04:49,170 --> 00:04:52,290 He has received many other prestigious accolades, 96 00:04:52,290 --> 00:04:55,050 but one that he remembers in great detail is his 97 00:04:55,050 --> 00:04:58,370 honor at the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony 98 00:04:58,370 --> 00:05:01,070 in London, where he reminded the world 99 00:05:01,070 --> 00:05:03,730 that the web is for everyone. 100 00:05:03,730 --> 00:05:06,360 - The whole thing was done at the stadium, and I said 101 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:08,100 can I tweet that at the same time? 102 00:05:08,100 --> 00:05:10,630 And I felt that when I was pressing that button, 103 00:05:10,630 --> 00:05:13,320 I was doing that for all the geeks, for all the people 104 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:15,950 who are not gonna end up in that Olympic stadium 105 00:05:15,950 --> 00:05:18,250 and enjoy the closing ceremony because you have to be 106 00:05:18,250 --> 00:05:21,250 kind of sporty, and I felt like I was a representative 107 00:05:21,250 --> 00:05:24,750 of all the software technology world. 108 00:05:24,750 --> 00:05:27,330 - [Narrator] Berners-Lee says it has taken all of us 109 00:05:27,330 --> 00:05:31,340 to build the web we have, and now it's up to all of us 110 00:05:31,340 --> 00:05:34,790 to build the web we want for everyone. 111 00:05:34,790 --> 00:05:38,800 - If you're a web developer, then it's good to spend 112 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:41,730 90% of your time developing web pages, 113 00:05:41,730 --> 00:05:45,450 developing cool javascript software and so on, 114 00:05:45,450 --> 00:05:47,650 but then maybe for the other 10% of your time 115 00:05:47,650 --> 00:05:51,600 you should think about okay, but am I taking for granted 116 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:55,270 the fact that this will have this new web net neutrality? 117 00:05:55,270 --> 00:05:58,570 Am I taking for granted that the fact this my users 118 00:05:58,570 --> 00:05:59,820 will be able to use my site. 119 00:05:59,820 --> 00:06:03,090 Should I actually be joining groups 120 00:06:03,090 --> 00:06:05,840 where I get informed about issues. 121 00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:08,120 So spending a bit of that time to defend 122 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:10,600 the integrity of the web we're all using. 123 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:15,080 Because, if we just take it for granted, it will go away. 124 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:16,500 - [Narrator] We feature Sir Tim Berners-Lee 125 00:06:16,500 --> 00:06:19,947 in the June 2017 Communications of the ACM.