Open data and a change of mindset is the next step in the internet revolution, says web founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee
Big and open data is the next big step for the revolutionary tool he created, founder of the web Sir Tim Berners-Lee has said.
Data: Sir Tim Berners Lee said openness is the way ahead online
Berners-Lee was in London this week to promote his Open Data Institute (ODI) project, which encourages governments, individuals, companies, groups and organisations to be more open with the data they control to create a more efficient world.
Berners-Lee explained to the Telegraph: “Imagine if you’re running a fleet of vans and you want to buy tyres. Right now, you go on the web as a human being, look around for a good deal.
“You don’t have to go and visit everybody because you can get the data on the web, but you have to personally go and look to make your own spreadsheet and then figure out who to buy it from. In the future it will just be a machine that will run and do it much more efficiently in some areas – electronic components, parts for aeroplanes.
“Where something’s really complicated, with lots of data on both sides, that will all become automates. Companies will become much more efficient.”
He added that the biggest obstacle in reaching this vision was a battle of mindsets; Berners-Lee said that people and organisations were still protective of their data, but argued that once people got the “open data bug” and realised the benefits, they were likely to become more engaged with the concept.