If researchers want the Web to reach its potential, they ought to make its study a multidisciplinary affair, says a panel of computing experts. Writing in the latest issue of Science, they argue that it’s time to start formulating a "science of the Web" that ties its technological underpinnings to its social and political implications:
If we want to model the Web; if we want to understand the architectural principles that have provided for its growth; and if we want to be sure that it supports the basic social values of trustworthiness, privacy, and respect for social boundaries, then we must chart out a research agenda that targets the Web as a primary focus of attention.
The essay makes the case that the Web has been given short shrift by computer scientists, who have often ignored it in favor of other technologies. The authors should know a good bit about the subject: They include Timothy J. Berners-Lee, known as the inventor of the Web, and James A. Hendler, a creator of the Semantic Web, a project to extend the usefulness of the World Wide Web. —Brock Read
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