Thinking on the Web: Berners-Lee, Gödel and Turing

PART I

WHAT IS WEB INTELLIGENCE?

Today, the world is experiencing the excitement of a historic change. We find ourselves in the midst of an information revolution, the result of rapid advances in technology built in great part upon the shoulders of three pivotal pioneers: Kurt Gödel, Alan Turing, and Tim Berners-Lee. Through their contributions, we are witnessing the remarkable refashioning of the Information Age, which began in the 1950s, into the Information Revolution as the World Wide Web evolves into a resource with intelligent capabilities.

The contributions of Gödel (what is decidable?), Turing (what is machine intelligence?) and Berners-Lee (what is solvable on the Web?) are important milestones toward just how much “intelligence” can be projected onto the Web.

While the capabilities and scope of today’s World Wide Web are impressive, its continuing evolution into a resource with intelligent features and capabilities presents many challenges. The traditional approach of building information systems has consisted of custom-made, costly database applications. However, this is changing. Information services are beginning to use generic components and open global standards to offer widely accessible graphical presentations with easier interaction. As a result, benefits are accruing to transactions over the Web, including such areas as e-commerce, banking, manufacturing, and education.

At the heart of the Information Revolution is the transformation of the world toward a knowledge ...