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Sir Tim Berners-Lee Speaks At Information Age Reception

Sir Tim Berners-Lee told a Parliamentary reception to celebrate the Science Museum’s new Information Age gallery he believes innovation will continue to overcome big challenges facing the world and specifically those facing the World Wide Web.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee told a Parliamentary reception to celebrate the Science Museum’s new Information Age gallery he believes innovation will continue to overcome big challenges facing the world and specifically those facing the World Wide Web.

Solutions to data security will, he predicted, lie in what he called `redecentralising the web` through local storage of data. He told the audience of leaders from the world of science and technology that through `collaborative systems that are very much more powerful` the web will play an important part in solving massive global problems such as climate change and cancer.

The reception at Portcullis House was hosted by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), whose Chairman Adam Afriyie MP, introduced Sir Tim, remarking that he didn`t think it was `possible to overstate his impact on the development of modern culture’.

Adam Afriyie MP, Chair of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) welcomes guests to the event.
Adam Afriyie MP, Chair of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) welcomes guests to the event. Image credit: Earl Smith

Speaking modestly about his invention (`the thing that started when I wrote a memo`), Sir Tim recalled some of what he called the `nifty things` CERN did at the outset, such as agreeing that it wouldn`t charge royalties and letting him have a `machine to code the thing up`.

Thanks to that same generosity of spirit at CERN, the Information Age Gallery is now home to `that machine` – the NeXT computer on which Sir Tim invented the web. Having told the audience a little about the transformation in communications technology in which he has played such a fundamental role, Sir Tim urged the audience to `go to the Science Museum and learn about it`.

Alongside lighter moments such as his impression of a dial up modem, Sir Tim said he and others would continue ‘carrying placards’ to defend their original vision of the web as ‘neutral, like a blank piece of paper’, recognising that this would lead to ongoing robust exchanges with governments and others around the world.

Guests, including Professor Dame Wendy Hall and parliamentarians such as Sir Peter Bottomley MP and Baroness Jay, were invited to explore exhibits provided by the Science Museum and meet the Information Age exhibition team, including lead curator Dr Tilly Blyth. Future technologies were represented by Cubic Transportation Systems and Elsevier, which each showcased examples of how big data is shaping business, including transportation systems.

Martin Howell, Director, Worldwide Communications at Cubic Transportation Systems, which sponsored the event, spoke about the need to “get a balance between benefit and privacy”.

Martin Howell, Director, Worldwide Communications, Cubic Transportation Systems.
Martin Howell, Director, Worldwide Communications, Cubic Transportation Systems. Image credit: Earl Smith.

Jean Franczyk, Deputy Director of the Science Museum, spoke of her delight at the initial success of Information Age, which has already received 50,000 visitors, and thanked Sir Tim for his contribution to the gallery.

Jean Franczyk, Deputy Director of the Science Museum.
Jean Franczyk, Deputy Director of the Science Museum. Image credit: Earl Smith

From the first transatlantic telegraph cable that connected Europe and North America in minutes rather than weeks, to the advanced computing power of the modern smartphone, Information Age looks at the communication networks that created our modern connected world. The gallery features more than 800 stunning objects from a tiny thimble to the 6-metre high aerial tuning inductor from Rugby Radio Station that stands at its centre.

Last night’s event was attended by representatives of some of the organisations that helped to make Information Age possible such as the Heritage Lottery Fund, BT, ARM, Bloomberg Philanthropies and Google, Accenture, Garfield Weston Foundation, Wolfson Foundation, Bonita Trust and  Motorola Solutions Foundation.

The event followed last year’s successful reception for the Science Museum’s Collider exhibition, which was also hosted by POST and its Director, Dr Chris Tyler.

Earlier in the day, Information Commissioner Christopher Graham was among the guests at a POST seminar on Big Data and Governance.