Web founder wins Gottlieb Duttweiler Prize
The 12th Gottlieb Duttweiler Prize has been awarded to Timothy Berners-Lee, who laid the basis for the World Wide Web 25 years ago.
The Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, based near Zurich, is honouring Berners-Lee for his pioneering invention. He will be presented with the prize, worth CHF100,000 ($103,000), on April 29.
Berners-Lee developed the main technology behind the world’s most powerful communication tool, the World Wide Web, at the CERN research laboratory near Geneva in 1990.
In a statement on Wednesday, the institute said the Web had “transformed all aspects of our lives, from information, education, work, trade and health to personal relationships”.
In addition, Berners-Lee, who was knighted in 2004, “has placed the fruits of his work entirely at the service of the wider community. He champions an internet that is open and accessible to all. He fights for the neutrality of the net, his mission being ‘advance the Web to empower humanity’”.
The Gottlieb Duttweiler Prize is named after the founder of Swiss retail giant Migros and is awarded at irregular intervals to people who have made outstanding contributions to the well-being of the wider community. Earlier prize-winners include Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales (2011), former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan (2008) and president of the former Czechoslovakia Václav Havel (1990).
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