Wendy Hall:

We had ten years of the Web before we had Google.. We take for granted the future of the Web, but it's really only been around for a tiny fraction of time... Because we put content on the Web is why it grows. If we stop, it dies.

Technologists can't study the web alone. We need a whole interdisciplinary relay to try to understand the Web and make sure it stays good for humanity. Right now I'm worried it's on the cusp of *not* being good for humanity.

Today we're talking about the Web Observatory, and then about decentralisation of the world. They're connected by data. We want Web Observatories around the world... lots of telescopes, links to datasets eg. webobservatory.soton.ac.uk.

Twenty years ago, we started Southampton eprints. People thought we were mad. The rest of the world caught up... but I did not forsee a world where I'd have to pay thousands of dollars to publish an open access publication. That's not we envisioned. To me, a Web Science approach to studying this issue is absolutely overdue.