Web Science Meeting, the RSA London
March 14th, 2008This Tuesday (March 11th 2008), I was privileged to host an IBM event on Web Science in association with the Web Science Research Initiative (WSRI). This was held at the RSA in London, a splendid and very prestigious venue.
I’m please to report that the event was a resounding success with organisations like Yahoo, HP, Cap Gemini and Microsoft all present alongside IBM. Many UK and US universities, including MIT, Oxford and others, came along to join in the fun too. Pictures of the event can be found here, and a BBC report from the day can be found here.
Below you can see the text I used to introduce the day’s proceedings:
I guess as one of the few in the world who openly claims to already work in this wonderful new field we’re choosing calling Web Science, it’s my job to try and enthuse you about what is to follow today. So an apology first as I’m going to get serious very quickly: This is where the fun starts; this is where the rubber hits the road; this is where, in all truth, here, today, we might be seeing the start of our next major step in understanding and exploiting this dauntingly powerful capability we have come to know as Information Technology.
Let’s start with the obvious first. When we talk about today’s successes and, in particular our successes with technology in general, we are really talking about one giant positive feedback loop; a self-fulfilling prophesy almost. The more success we have, the more we want. This demand, in turn, fuels research and development, which fuels more success. And so the wheel turns, ultimately powering the spread and advancement of technology. All great stuff one might think but, unfortunately, some rather difficult properties pop out the other end of this equation, almost as if obeying the “law of unforeseen circumstances”. While these challenges are not new, the scale and, in particular, complexity of today’s IT systems mean we are currently ill equipped to cope.
It is interesting to think that if we were to have met 20, 10, or perhaps only 5 years ago, we would not have been having this conversation. Until recently the rules of the game were different. Then we were predominantly occupied with the construction of self contained, systems; systems where boundaries could be well understood and the parameters involved nailed down without too much difficulty. To be blunt, we were in the business of purchase driven precision engineering.
Today the world is different, radically different. Now we have sociotechnical systems like the World Wide Web that are beyond our direct containment, systems that are quite literally so huge and complex that they blunt all our normal tools when we try to understand and control them head on. In a very real sense they are part of us and we are a part of them. And it’s a very open two way relationship as well. We almost never push back on technology’s advances both as individuals and as communities, and technology never seems to complain about the payback it gets from us. In fact, “open” appears to be the phrase of the moment. No longer need our computer systems work in a closed manner - the manner in which the services they offer and consume is wholly dependant on the reason for their initial construction. Now the doors are open, now the walls are down, now we are only restricted by the horizons of our own imagination and inspiration.
Complexity and Scale nicely lead us on to an early understanding of Web Science. So what exactly is it? Hmmm, good question. It’s a little too early to be definite about such matters, so perhaps an analogy might serve us well for now? If one were to understand every single property of hydrogen and oxygen in isolation, this would not even give the slightest hint as to the salient properties of water. Understanding every single property of water would also provide little insight into the important workings of a tidal wave. So it is with Web Science. Today we understand parts of the Web very well but we have little grasp of what it means when they all come together. This implies that we should be careful. We may understand the essence of what this new frontier is, or should be, but our abilities to understand, predict and provide are not yet mature enough to be sure we can direct all its traits for our greater good. Actually, we’re slowly realising we’ve always failed. Until now, we’ve muddled through heroically, managing complexity on a local scale - but heroism never scales well, and the if we are not careful this new dawn of massive morphing systems and contexts will simply overwhelm us.
So if there were any bad news, that’s it. There is some good news however. The IT business may well be having a hard time getting to grips with complexity and scale, but other fields of science and engineering have had much more success. Fields like mathematics, physics, biology, economics and sociology have been facing off against such problems for much longer than we have and have made huge inroads into solving the mysteries of many other types of complex system. So, can we look to them for inspiration? Now appears to be the time to be much more eclectic in our acceptance of what may and what may not work. Now it’s time to move on and do things differently. Now it is the time for Web Science.
Some of us have recognised this. “Some of us” are here today to talk about new ideas, new initiatives and new ways of communal working. We will hear from Tim Berners-Lee, the acknowledged father of the World Wide Web. We will hear of his passion and commitment for both the Web as we see it today and for its future as seen through the eyes of Web Science. We will hear from Professors Wendy Hall and Nigel Shadbolt, and of the great energy and foresight with which they are creating a global initiative within we can all openly and effectively work together. And we with hear from Professor Dave Cliff about the great research already underway in the Large Complex IT Systems consortium. Finally we hope Professor Stuart Kauffman will join us by phone from the University of Calgary in Western Canada. Stuart is unquestionably one of the pioneers of complexity theory and it will be interesting to hear his thoughts on just how complex sociotechnical systems like the Web may evolve in the future.
On the way we could shock a few of the conventional thinkers in our midst, we may send shivers up the spine of those who whish to see into the future. This is because we believe Web Science must be built from a broad base. We will hear words like “evolution”, and “emergence” used, ,both terms well out of reach of your normal Computer Scientist or Software Engineer. We may even hear very human terms like “intelligence” used, but in no artificial sense. Why? Because we, humankind, are undoubtedly the magic ingredient at the very centre of Web Science. And if we can overcome the problems of complexity and scale, in our technology, then our magic must surely be amplified many times over. That’s the genuine hope anyway.
Welcome to my blog. Hopefully over the following weeks and months I will have some stimulating thoughts to share with you on all matters ‘Web Science’. Watch this space!