The Government
today announced the creation of the new Institute for Web Science.
It is designed to make the UK the hub of international research
into the next generation of web and internet technologies and
their commercialisation, and was announced by the Prime Minister
alongside plans for a radical opening up of information and data
to put more power in people’s hands. The Institute will conduct
research, collaborate with businesses, identify opportunities for
social and economic benefit, assist in commercialising research
and help Government stimulate demand through procurement.
The web was originally a place where people published documents
that users could search and pick up. Web 2.0 has enabled users to
contribute and create web content more easily. Web 3.0 will take
the web to a whole new level by publishing data in a linkable
format so that users and developers can see and exploit the
relationships between different sets of information.
The development of these technologies will create significant new
opportunities for business and the public sector. The impact of
these technologies is likely to be as important as the creation of
the original web, and could generate large-scale economic benefits
for the UK in the global market for web and internet technologies.
The role of the Institute will be to undertake research and
development, and act as a bridge between research and business,
helping commercialise these new technologies. It will also advise
Government on how semantic technologies can be used in the public
sector, and how public procurement can be used to speed their
adoption.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that £30 million would be set
aside to create the Institute for Web Science. It will be headed
by Sir Tim Berners Lee, the British inventor of the World Wide
Web, and leading Web Science expert Professor Nigel Shadbolt.
Speaking in London the Prime Minister said:
“We want to build on the outstanding work Sir Tim and Nigel
Shadbolt have put in to ‘making public data public’. We are
determined to go further in breaking down the walled garden of
Government, using technology and information to provide greater
transparency on the workings of Whitehall and give everyone more
say over the services they receive.
“This Institute will help place the UK at the cutting edge of
research on the Semantic Web and other emerging web and internet
technologies and ensure the Government is taking the right funding
decisions to position the UK as a world leader. We will invite
universities and private sector web developers and companies to
join this collaborative project.”
The Institute, to be funded through the Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills, will strengthen the UK’s world-leading
capability in the development of semantic web technologies as well
as others that enable the extraction of value from information. It
will bring together the best minds from around the world to
deliver the benefits of advances in web technology to businesses
and individuals.
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said:
“British innovation brought the web to the world. This Institute
will ensure the UK remains at the forefront and that we anticipate
and fully exploit the economic and social benefits of future developments.”
Whether it is to allow our research institutions and innovative
businesses to maximise and demonstrate the strength and
attractiveness of their networks, or to ensure we make the most of
clinical information to improve our understanding of disease, a
new web revolution is afoot.
Government support for this Institute as well as early adoption
of these emerging technologies in the public sector arena will
allow the UK to lead the way and help pull this technology through
to the market place.
Notes to Editors:
1. The Institute for Web Science will be jointly based in the
Universities of Oxford and Southampton. It is still subject to
contract.
2. For further information, contact BIS press office on 0207 215
5938.
3. Case studies for early semantic web projects:
Mapping Clusters of UK Technology Excellence
With the support of Talis a UK company that develops Semantic Web
applications the Research Councils UK, the Technology Strategy
Board and the Intellectual Property Office collaborated to develop
linked datasets in four key technology areas: regenerative
medicine, plastic electronics, RFID and advanced composite
materials. These in turn were linked to Google maps.
By ensuring that datasets have common elements and vocabulary it
enables any company or potential inward investor to identify where
the clusters of expertise lie in these important emerging
technologies, the companies/organisations involved, the projects
they are involved in, and how much public money has gone into
them. It also enables UK Science Parks to market their sites on
the basis of the strength of the clusters on and around the
science park in question.
The organisations have learned from this exercise and are rolling
this out across all technologies. It can also be extended to
include Measurement research and research programmes funded by
Government Departments and support given to relevant firms by
RDAs. The upshot will be a comprehensive picture of research and
technology excellence in the UK, inputs and outputs, as well as
evolving relationships which will be updated on a regular basis.
Health data
There has already been pilot work between the Universities of
Southampton and Oxford (Prof Shadbolt and Prof Sir Michael Brady)
in the area of multi-disciplinary cancer treatment. The semantic
mark up language SNOMED is also used within the NHS and could
provide an opportunity for much more extensive patient record
linkage using linked data technologies.
Inter-Departmental Data Sharing (Smarter
Government)
Semantic approaches could also improve the efficiency of handling
cases which straddle two Departments e.g. Health and Social
Security. There is a large scale pilot already underway in the
area of Assisted Living (in Cornwall, Kent and the Borough of
Newham), which is being supported by the Technology Strategy Board
(the Assisted Living Innovation Platform) which would provide a
significant platform for developing the use of semantic approaches
in a significant and growing area of public service delivery.
Department for Business, Innovation & Skills
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is
building a dynamic and competitive UK economy by: creating the
conditions for business success; promoting innovation, enterprise
and science; and giving everyone the skills and opportunities to
succeed. To achieve this it will foster world-class universities
and promote an open global economy. BIS - Investing in our future.
Contacts:
BIS Press Office
NDS.BIS@coi.gsi.gov.uk
Laure Thomas
Phone: 020 7215 5938
Laure.Thomas@bis.gsi.gov.uk