The father of the web predicts its next phase

Smart Business explores the ways companies are thinking smart to thrive in our digitized world.

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Sir Tim Berners-Lee, credited as the inventor of the world wide web, shares his thoughts on the future of the internet

Data and privacy are among the key concerns that will shape how users interact with the internet, according to Berners-Lee

Devices will be cheaper, pixels will get smaller but human brains won't get smarter, says Burners-Lee

CNN  — 

Devices are getting cheaper and Internet access is slowly becoming universal, but how we use it is broken and needs to change. That is the view of acclaimed computer scientist and inventor of the world wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who offered his insights on the future of his offspring exclusively to CNN Smart Business following an event hosted by Sapient Nitro.

Information needs to be regulated and controlled, especially our health data.

“Some information needs to be locked down. Medical information needs to be protected and not given away to the wrong people, only hospitals. But the people who have access to that information – including doctors – need to be accountable and that data needs to be tracked.”

Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web

Business will need to practice greater transparency

“It’s up to each business about how it develops. Large companies can learn to be more transparent internally and externally, with some limitations.”

Banks need to practice better security

“Banks encourage bad habits by asking for passwords on the phone – they should ask consumers to call back on the number on the back of the card instead of asking you for your security details.”

Pixels will get smaller

“Screen higher resolutions than my eyes. Stereo can sound like an orchestra I want to experience when I can’t tell the difference between the wind blowing through a meadow and one which you can share. When you put me in my personal cave, I want the hi-fi to sound like a real orchestra.”

Public data is important and we will have more access to it

“In private, it is enterprise data – about your company if you didn’t have a website you didn’t exist. When all the buying is done by computer – its not going to be websites you want – it’ll be data.”

There will be a need for an Internet bill of rights to protect users

“People have the right to see how their data is being used.”

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