European University Cyprus awards Honorary Doctorate to founder of World Wide Web, Sir Timothy Berners-Lee
Today’s day was historical not only for Cyprus but for the European University Cyprus as well. The University Senate declared Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, founder of the World Wide Web, as Honorary Doctor of the School of Sciences in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. According to TIME magazine, Sir Timothy Berners-Lee is among the "100" Brightest Minds of the Century. Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee transformed the modern post-industrial era and radically changed the standards of communication in all areas of the public and private sphere, as well as everyday life.
The ceremony took place in the presence of the President of the House of Representatives Dimitris Syllouris and a large number of academics, researchers, politicians, students and entrepreneurs. The award ceremony was chaired by the Rector of European University Cyprus, Professor Kostas Gouliamos, while the Dean of European University Cyprus Professor Panagiotis Papageorgis read the resolution of the School of Sciences. The main speaker was the President of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Professor of Mathematics Marina Apiou-Nikiforou. The Rector said that “our university is scientifically and intellectually strengthened. We have the privilege and honor to have Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee as a new member of the European University Cyprus family, a person who literally transformed our times politically, economically and culturally by leading the societies of the 21st century from post-industrial modernism into postmodern digital enlightenment.” Professor Apiou-Nikiforos stated that “in 1989, when Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee submitted his proposal for the World Wide Web, he received the reply that" it is unclear but exciting.” Thirty years later, half the earth's population is connected to the World Wide Web. What began as an idea that would make it easier for scientists to exchange information eventually changed the world.”
Evidently excited, honorary doctor Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee thanked the European University Cyprus for this honor. In his speech to the public, he unfolded his new vision for a network that will unlock data and change the way we use them. As he said, Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee is working to create a smarter internet, which he calls a "semantic internet", which will allow computers to smartly process the data stored on the internet: instead of simply limiting the detection of individual "keywords”, it will process the meaning of a given text.
