Internet: Tim Berners-Lee

By bridgetplate

  • Independent consultant at CERN

    Tim Burners-Lee worked at the European Organization for Nuclear Research known as CERN from June to December 1980 as a consultant software engineer. While at CERN he wrote a program called “Enquire” for his own personal use. It was a simple hypertext program which laid the foundation for the development of the World Wide Web in future.

  • Working at John Poole’s Image Computer Systems

    He worked on the company’s technical side which enabled him to gain experience in computer networking.

  • Return to CERN

    During the 1980s thousands of people were working at CERN and they needed to share information and data with each other. Much of the work was done by email. Tim realized that a simpler and more efficient method of data sharing had to be invented.

  • The World Wide Web

    Tim wrote a proposal for a more effective communication system within the organization which eventually led to the creation of the World Wide Web, an information sharing system that could be implemented throughout the world.

  • First ever website built

    The world’s first ever website, Info.cern.ch, was built at CERN and put online on August 6th, 1991, creating a new era in communication and technology.

  • Improvements

    Through 1991 and 1993, Tim continued working on the design of the Web, getting feedback from users across the Internet. His initial specifications of URIs, HTTP and HTML were refined and discussed in larger circles as the Web technology spread.

  • World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

    Tim established the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), a Web standards organization, in 1994. The W3C develops interoperable technologies to lead the Web to its full potential, and the W3C decided that its technologies should be royalty-free so that anyone could use them.

  • The Web Science Trust

    In 2006, Tim became the Co-Director of the Web Science Trust which was launched to analyze the World Wide Web and devise solutions to optimize its usage and design.

  • The World Wide Web Foundation

    Tim is Founding Director of the World Wide Web Foundation which was launched in 2008. The World Wide Web Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to achieving a world in which all people can use the Web to communicate, collaborate and innovate freely. The Web Foundation works to fund efforts to defend the open web and further its potential to benefit humanity.

  • Open Data Institute

    In 2012 Tim co-founded the Open Data Institute (ODI) which advocates for Open Data in the UK and globally.