‘We need a decentralisation of the Internet’

Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the World Wide Web, has had a substantial impact on our lives. While his invention was a resounding success and the Internet has developed unexpectedly fast, he is anything but satisfied with today's situation. He is an Internet icon, and his name is cause for fascination even among those who are too young to imagine a world without the World Wide Web: Sir Tim Berners-Lee - the 'father of the World Wide Web', as ETH President Lino Guzzella referred to him in his welcome address - made a guest appearance on Wednesday morning at Worldwebforum Next Generation at ETH Zurich. In his presentation before a predominantly young audience, he traced out how the Internet has evolved from its infancy through to the present day and why this development now frustrates him. A world without borders. The Brit started off by saying that he belongs to a fortunate generation, because he has been able to witness the evolution of the computer from its beginnings through to the present day. Back in the 1950s, his parents, both programmers, were captivated by the unimaginable possibilities that would eventually be opened up by computers.