World Wide Web Foundation

The World Wide Web Foundation, also known as the Web Foundation, is a US-based international nonprofit organization advocating for a free and open web for everyone. It was cofounded by Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, and Rosemary Leith.[2] Announced in September 2008[3] in Washington, D.C., the Web Foundation launched operations in November 2009 at the Internet Governance Forum.[4]

Not to be confused with the World Wide Web Consortium or the unrelated Open Web Foundation.

World Wide Web Foundation
FormationNovember 17, 2009 (2009-11-17)
Founder
Founded atWashington, D.C.
Type501(c)(3), charitable organization
26-2852431[1]
HeadquartersWashington, D.C.
Location
Key people
Websitewww.webfoundation.org

The Web Foundation is focused on increasing global access to the World Wide Web while ensuring the web is a safe and empowering tool that people can use freely and fully to improve their lives.[5] One of its former board members was Gordon Brown, former prime minister of the United Kingdom.[6]

Mission

The Web Foundation's mission is to advance the open web as a public good and a basic right. It seeks to achieve digital equality; a world where everyone has the same rights and opportunities online.[5]

In an open letter published in March 2018, Web Foundation founder Berners-Lee called for action to connect the 50% of the world still not online and to ensure they find a web worth connecting to.[7]

In 2019, Web Foundation launched the initiative Contract for the Web to attempt to address issues of political manipulation, fake news, privacy violations, and other malign forces on the internet.

Organization

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Web Foundation works across 70 countries, including work through partner organizations. Its team of around 30 employees works from three main hubs in Jakarta, London and Washington, D.C.[8]

It is also the host organization for the Alliance for Affordable Internet, a global coalition of organizations working to reduce the costs of broadband and increase access to the internet.[9]

Research

The Web Foundation produces a number of research products including the Open Data Barometer, the Affordability Report, the Web Index and other studies and reports.[10]

Campaigning

In November 2018, the Web Foundation launched the #ForTheWeb campaign, unveiled by founder Berners-Lee at the Web Summit tech conference in Lisbon, Portugal. The campaign calls on governments, companies and citizens to commit to defending a free and open web by signing up to a Contract for the Web.[11]

The Contract for the Web[12] was published as a set of initial high level principles that was built into a full contract published 25 November 2019.[13][14] These principles received backing from governments including Germany[15] and France,[16] companies such as Google, Facebook and Cloudflare, as well as a number of civil society organizations.[17]

See also

References
  1. "Ways to Give". World Wide Web Foundation. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  2. Smith, Craig. "Internet founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee to deliver prestigious Adam Smith Lecture in Fife". The Courier. March 15, 2019.
  3. "Warning sounded on web's future". September 15, 2008. Archived from the original on September 16, 2008. Retrieved September 16, 2008 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  4. Staff, Ars (November 17, 2009). "Tim Berners-Lee launches "WWW Foundation" at IGF 2009". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on April 16, 2011. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  5. "Delivering Digital Equality: The Web Foundation's 2017 – 2022 Strategy". World Wide Web Foundation. February 10, 2017. Archived from the original on September 8, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  6. Gordon's Future: Ex-PM Reveals His Big Plans, Sky News, September 2, 2010
  7. Berners-Lee, Tim (March 12, 2018). "The web can be weaponized – and we can't count on big tech to stop it | Tim Berners-Lee". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 31, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  8. "About". World Wide Web Foundation. Archived from the original on October 31, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  9. "Home". Alliance for Affordable Internet. Archived from the original on November 7, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  10. "Research". World Wide Web Foundation. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  11. "Web creator Berners-Lee launches contract for better internet". November 5, 2018. Archived from the original on June 11, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019 – via uk.reuters.com.
  12. "Contract for the Web". Contract for the Web. Archived from the original on November 25, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  13. Cellan-Jones, Rory (November 25, 2019). "Web inventor attacks Tories over misinformation". BBC. Archived from the original on November 25, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  14. Berners-Lee, Tim (November 24, 2019). "I Invented the World Wide Web. Here's How We Can Fix It". New York Times. Archived from the original on November 25, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  15. "Bund unterstützt "Contract for the web"". Startseite. November 28, 2018. Archived from the original on April 28, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  16. Collins, Katie. "Tim Berners-Lee unveils 'contract' to protect and strengthen the web". CNET. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  17. "Google and Facebook Join Tim Berners-Lee's 'Contract for the Web'". Fortune. Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
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