The Web Science Trust (WST) is a UK Charitable Trust with the aim of supporting the global development of Web science. It was originally started in 2006 as a joint effort between MIT and University of Southampton to formalise the social and technical aspects of the World Wide Web. The trust coordinates a set of international "WSTNet Laboratories" that include academic research groups in the emerging area of Web science.
It was first announced at MIT on 2 November 2006 as the Web Science Research Initiative (WSRI), changing its name in 2009 to the Web Science Trust. Tim Berners-Lee originally led this program, now run by a Board of Trustees, which aims to attract government and private funds to support their many activities. The Web Science Trust supports curriculum development in universities and research institutions to train future generations of Web Scientists. Given the similarities between Web Science and Information Science, Web Science overlaps with the interests of the ISchool movement, particularly in the United States, but focuses more specifically on the Web itself. The annual Web Science conference brings together participants from many fields including those studying both the social and the computational aspects of the World Wide Web.
Areas of interest include: Social networks Social machine Collaboration Understanding online community Analyzing the human interactions inherent in social media Web observatories Developing "accountability" and other mechanisms for enhancing privacy and trust on the Web.
Key personnel Directors/trustees Wendy Hall (Chair) Nigel Shadbolt James Hendler Noshir Contractor (Executive Director) JP Rangaswami George Metakides Steffen Staab Anni Rowland-Campbell Bill Thompson Fellows Tim Berners-Lee John Taylor
Conferences The first Web Science conference (WebSci09: Society on Line) was sponsored in part by WSRI and was held in Greece in March 2009. The conference had over 300 registrants from a number of fields including computing, social science, law, economics, philosophy, psychology. The conference has since continued as a yearly event. The first fully virtual Web Science conference was held in July 2020 as a result of travel restrictions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
+ Web Science conferencesConferenceDatePlaceKeynote speakersregistrants Web Science 202421-24 May 2024 Stuttgart-Vaihingen, GermanyEszter Hargittai, Jie Tang, Dirk Hovy, Hannes WerthnerWeb Science 2023April 30-May 1, 2023 Austin, Texas, USABob Metcalfe, Dhiraj Murthy, David RandWeb Science 202226-29 June 2022Barcelona, Spain (Hybrid conference)Leila Zia, M.C. SchraefelWeb Science 202121-25 June 2021 Southampton, UK (Virtual conference)Deen Freelon, Martha Lane FoxWeb Science 20207-10 July 2020 Southampton, UK (Virtual conference)Jim Hendler, Gina NeffWeb Science 2019June 30 - July 3, 2019 Boston, USAFabien Gandon, Sandra González-BailónWeb Science 2018 27-30 May 2018, AmsterdamTim Berners-Lee, John Domingue Web Science 2017 26–28 June 2017 Troy, NY, USA Steffen Staab, Jen Golbeck Web Science 2016 22–25 May 2016 Hannover, Germany Daniel Miller, Andrew Tomkins, Daniel Olmedilla, Ricardo Baeza-Yates, Jure Leskovec, Helen Margetts Web Science 2015 28 June–1 July 2015 Oxford, UK Markus Strohmaier, Mia Consalvo, Rachel Gibson 23–25 June 2014 Bloomington, Indiana, USA Wendy Hall, J.P. Rangaswami, Laura DeNardis, Daniel Tunkelang Web Science 2013 2–4 May 2013 Paris, France Vint Cerf, Cory Doctorow Web Science 2012 22–24 June 2012 Evanston, Illinois, USA Luis von Ahn, Sinan Aral, danah boyd, Jon Kleinberg, Sonia Livingstone, Siva Vaidyanathan 200Web Science 201114–17 June 2011 Koblenz, GermanyBarry Wellman, Jaime Teevan190Web Science 201026–27 April 2010 Raleigh, North Carolina, USASir Tim Berners-Lee, Jennifer Chayes, Melissa R. GilbertWeb Science 200918–20 March 2009 Athens, GreeceNoshir Contractor, Nigel Shadbolt, Jacques Bus, Sir Tim Berners-Lee300+ Impact The Web Science Trust has been influential in advancing interdisciplinary research that connects computing with the social sciences, law, and policy. Through its WSTNet laboratories and annual conferences, the Trust has encouraged studies of online trust, data ethics, and the societal impact of al
See also List of I-Schools World Wide Web Webometrics Web Engineering
Bibliography
Web Science: Studying the Internet to Protect Our Future, an article by Tim Berners-Lee.
References
External links
Press release Audio: Web Science: A Conversation with the Inventor of the Web