Sir Tim Berners-Lee, World Wide Web inventor, in NZ

Email
Print

World Wide Web inventor in NZ

3News NZ

Sir Tim gingerly embraced part of our culture with a hongi greeting

Sir Tim gingerly embraced part of our culture with a hongi greeting

The inventor of the World Wide Web is in Wellington to share the benefits of sharing on the internet with industry insiders and government leaders.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee is in such high demand on his fleeting visit he has to use his own technology to spread his message.

After a traditional welcome at Te Papa, Sir Tim gingerly embraced part of our culture with a hongi greeting.

Sir Tim is in New Zealand for just one day to give a public lecture on the importance of keeping information on the web open and accessible to everyone.

“It's really important for the open market,” he says. “It's really important for education, health. It's really important for democracy.”

Sir Tim created the World Wide Web in 1989 and made it freely available. He's now on a crusade to make sure his idea's not corrupted.

“If a government can control what you see, they can control your view of life. They can control what you might think the world is like. That's very, very powerful from a government point of view.”

He also revealed the World Wide Web we're all so familiar with was nearly named something else.

“I had various other things in mind – the Mine of Information or Information Mine, but The Information Mine would have been TIM, which I felt would have been a little egocentric.”

Sir Tim has been brought here at short notice. He's meant to be on a tour of Australia. 

Internet New Zealand says having the internet pioneer in New Zealand draws attention to the broader ideas behind the tool most of us use daily.

“I’m really looking forward to hearing about how Sir Tim invented the World Wide Web, and if the internet wasn't open he may not have been able to introduce it to the world as he did,” says Internet New Zealand policy lead Susan Chalmers.

In keeping with his ethos, his speech is being live streamed using the technology he invented for those who missed out on tickets.

3 News

Post a Comment

Before commenting, please take the time to read our moderation guide


(Won't be published)



Comments

31/01/2013 8:47:31 a.m.

Mike wrote:

Could argue many are more responsible for the world wide web or internet today.

Take Ronald Reagan, didn't know the first thing about the internet, yet he put several billion into it as part of US defence spending to make a world wide network that could continue to operate even if much of the network was knocked out.

By the late 80's the US network was become a world network as the US had funded so much of the network being added outside the US defence department. It was only a mater of time till someone made invention claims when the web was already heading that way without them.

If not for the US defence department or Ronald Reagans 'Star Wars' plan which funded the start of the network we now call the internet, we may never have ever seen the wolrd wide web or heard the name Tim Berners-Lee.