The Web from Gore to Obama: science and

fiction

Michalis Vafopoulos04/04/2013

Who’s talking? …The summit recognized the role of

the Internet as a unique tool for promoting democracy and fostering economic growth.

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The leaders!

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http://www.european-council.europa.eu/home-page/highlights/g8-support-for-the-arab-spring.aspx?lang=en

The Web space is:

o Everywhere o Controversialo Contradictory o Unusual o Complex o Dynamic

contents① The Web today② Digital cosmogony ③ The Web invention④ Technology ⑤ The Web ecosystem ⑥ Web science⑦ New values⑧ The future of the Web

We knew the Web was big...

• >1 trillion unique URIs (deep web?)• >2,5 billion users (+ mobile)• Google: 300 million searches/day• 72% of users >=1 social network

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Source blog.usaseopros.com/2009/04/15/google-searches-per-day-reaches-293-million-in-march-2009/

the new continentPer minute:• 204 million emails• Facebook: 2 million

photos& 2 million profile views • Youtube: 1 million views• 47.000 apps are

downloaded 8

…also in economy• UK: Online advertising >television

expenditure for the first time [4 billion Euros/year] (30/9/2009, BBC)

• US: spending on digital marketing overtook that of print for the first time in 2010

• Amazon.com: 50 million daily visitors– 60 billion dollars market capitalization– 24.000 employees

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Digital Cosmogony: dot-com bubble 2000

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Web 2.0 explosions of bits

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contents① The Web today② Digital cosmogony ③ The Web invention④ Technology ⑤ The Web ecosystem ⑥ Web science⑦ New values⑧ The future of the Web

The Web invention

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I. Personal story– CERN, Dertouzos, Metakides

II. Global environment– Gore, Delors

III. Historical moment– Knowledge overload

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• Internet ≠ Web• Internet = infrastructure• Web

–HTML–HTTP–URI

The technology

Why is so successful?Is based on architecture (HTTP, URI, HTML) which

is: • simple • networked • based on open standards • extensible • tolerant

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Why is so successful?• universal (regardless hardware platform

(iphone applications??), software platform, application software, network access, public, group, or personal scope, language and culture operating system and ability)

• free or cheap • fun • powerful

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Underlying ideas • Overcome deterministic software

connections (“waterfall” model)• Mimics the brain with “random”

connections• From ASCII to hypertext• Resolve (some) natural language

ambiguities (i.e. URI)• The biggest human system with no

central authority and control17

contents① The Web today② Digital cosmogony ③ The Web invention④ Technology ⑤ The Web ecosystem ⑥ Web science⑦ New values⑧ The future of the Web

the new ecosystem

An Internet applicationWeb=Hypertext+(HTML,URI, HTTP)+Internet

An information space

Web+users

The new ecosystemimportant effects in everyday lifeCreates & is created by the reality

Innovations in human life• The surf/edit experience• Low cost of communication• No central authority• Production outside the traditional

market with no direct price, authority, corporate governance

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the new ecosystemWhat is changing?• New issues: personal and global agenda• Prosumers: Self-powered production• Inter-creativity: Distributed collaborative

production• Non market & non property productionWhat is needed?• New analysis• New governance • New values

new issues• Network oligopolies

– Top 10 websites in USA: 31%(2001)-75% visits (2010)

– Google/Facebook under anti-trust investigation– App economy & mobile ecosystem (see Firefox

OS)

• Web-based development– W3F action in Africa- India– Open Linked Data

new issues• Understanding & usage of the

Web– In business– In everyday life

New analysis: Web science

before WWW after 

3/18

New analysis: Web science• a trans-disciplinary field

–Web as its primary object of study–Web= techno-social artifact

• positive or negative?Transformative!

3/18

Web science

• envelope question

what technological and other changes need to be made in order for the Web to work better for more people?

3/18

Two magics of Web Science

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Web & Philosophy

Email

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Web: the idea

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Web

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Google

Wiki

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Blog

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Semantic Web

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Linked Data

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Ideas for projects• Add content – more examples• Explain more• Describe with ontology• Annotate existing papers• ? <yours> ?

3/18

Websci09 Athens: the journey begins

New Web governance

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• Advance the Web

• Connect Humanity

• Empower People

the new values• New content/context in classic human

values (e.g. anonymity, private space)• Open {standards, data, cloud, source,

access, minds}• Privacy vs. accountability• Transparency• Net neutrality

The future of the Web

from Al Gore – ’90s (internet highways) to Barack Obama –’10s (linked data)

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other technologies• HTML5• Semantic Web • IPv6, Future internet, Internet of

things

The Web is…Unique opportunity to create

collaboratively (not only experts) and

If we do not take it now, may not be there for a long time

The new utopia…

It is not just information that must be free, but the knowledge of how to use it.

M. Wark, the manifesto of a hacker (MIT Press)

The new utopia…

The test of a free society is not the liberty to consume information, nor to produce it, nor even to implement its potential in private world of one's choosing.

M. Wark, the manifesto of a hacker (MIT Press)

The new utopia…

The test of a free society is the liberty for the collective transformation of the world through abstractions freely chosen and freely actualized.

M. Wark, the manifesto of a hacker (MIT Press)

two points of viewEconomy, business and

action..

Philosophy, ethics and thinking…

Thank you for this sort journey!

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Sources • http://www.w3.org/2007/Talks/0509-w

ww-keynote-tbl/#(1)

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