By Posted on Posted in Web 6 Comments

What is the web? I’ve been working in the web since the beginning of the web, and I co-chaired the W3C Technical Architecture Group for over a decade, so you think I might be able to answer this simple question. Some think anything you can do “in the browser” is the web and anything that happens outside the browser (such as in a native app) isn’t the web. However, you can have very non-webby experiences in the browser and likewise apps can sometimes be very webby. I think the web isn’t only the browser. It’s a system of globally addressable, linkable resources, built on open standards, that anyone can access, implement, and connect to. When I’m using Mastodon via an app on my phone, I’m still using the web. The Fediverse is the web. It’s linkable. It’s porous. It doesn’t lock you in. Today, I got to thinking about what a set of tests might be for a digital service, where if you can answer “yes” to all of them, then it’s most probably the web. Here’s what I came up with: Is it globally addressable? Is it linkable across boundaries? Is it built on open, interoperable standards? Is it client-agnostic? Can you move or replicate your presence without permission? Does this look right? Is this a meaningful or useful question to ask?

By Posted on Posted in Politics, Technology, Web No Comments

It’s certainly been an interesting year. And not in a good way. More in an (apocryphal) Chinese curse kind of way. As an immigrant myself, I’m horrified at the scapegoating of immigrants in the US, in the UK and elsewhere. I’m also alarmed to see a rise in authoritarianism and xenophobia (including anti-LGBT sentiment) and misogyny. A lot of this is fuelled and amplified by misinformation and disinformation shared online, and it’s also been depressing to see traditional social media channels backing away from any responsibility to actively police false information, hate speech, and harassing behaviours. By the way, the Fediverse continues to be my top choice for social media, partly because of its lack of an “engagement” based algorithm. You may continue to find me there at @torgo@mastodon.social. One of my coping strategies when it comes to all this negativity is to try to drive positive energy into my work – to try to ensure that the work I do projects and imprints my values. In accordance with my goal from last year to do more mentoring, I’ve been spending more time in activities associated with STEM Ambassadors, including giving talks to students on “avoiding dystopia.” I always get surprisingly apt questions when I give these talks. In my experience, young people are very receptive to hearing a hopeful message when it comes to the future of technology – and they ask so many good questions! Speaking of avoiding dystopia, one of the best parts of this past year was witnessing the rise of a movement …

2025 Year in Review Read more »

By Posted on Posted in Web Tagged with No Comments

Today I’ll be traveling to Geneva to attend the Global Digital Collaboration Conference which seeks to “foster wallets, credentials and trusted infrastructure for the benefit of all humans.” I want to make sure that whatever comes out of this discussion really does benefit humans, and is therefore rooted in human rights. I have spoken publicly about how we incorporate ethics into our standards and specifications in order to make sure we ground them in human rights and “avoid dystopia.” The notion of storing a government-supplied digital credential on your personal device has great potential, but could also lead to harm through increased surveillance, centralisation of trust, and widening of the digital divide. We need to design these systems carefully in order to prevent misuse and overreach and to protect privacy and dignity.

By Posted on Posted in W3C Tagged with 2 Comments

I’m very pleased to report that I have been elected to the W3C Advisory Board, and I’ll be starting my official term in July! As a result, I’ll also be stepping down from the W3C Technical Architecture Group (TAG) — a group I’ve had the honor of co-chairing for the past 12 years. It’s been an incredible journey helping to steward the architecture of the web and working with brilliant people across the industry. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved together, and I know the TAG will continue to thrive with new voices and perspectives. This new role is a chance for me to contribute to the W3C in a different way — helping to shape the future of the consortium itself. As I wrote in my candidacy blog post, the Advisory Board is where we work to ensure W3C’s governance, process, and strategic direction meet the needs of the wider web community — including developers, implementers, users, and the public interest. Thank you to everyone who supported my candidacy. I’m looking forward to the work ahead.

By Posted on Posted in Web Tagged with No Comments

People love to proclaim the death of the web. In fact, it’s been happening since the web began. That is because some people look at the web and they see a system where they can’t find an angle. There’s no single control point. It’s a system that prioritises the needs of individuals over the needs of large corporates. It’s a system that enables user choice, rather than forcing users down one of a set of pre-determined (and heavily monetized) paths. The web is global and is bigger than any one organization, country, or technological trend. The web also continues to evolve. Its anarchic nature is its strength. The web is resilient. Basically – don’t bet against the web.

By Posted on Posted in W3C Tagged with , , No Comments

I’ll never forget the day when I got the call from Tim Berners-Lee, asking me if I would co-chair the W3C Technical Architecture Group, along with Peter Linss. I had previously been an elected member of the TAG, which I already counted as a great honor. And now, I was being asked to help lead this group during a time of great change. A “new guard” had been elected to the TAG, bringing with them a new vision for change – change in what TAG should focus on and how it should operate. Tim needed Peter and myself, who had some W3C and TAG experience, to help facilitate that change. Together, as a group, we built new TAG processes, such as the mechanism of design review; we instigated developer meet-ups to make the TAG (and web standards in general) more transparent to the developer community; we moved much of our work to GitHub and Slack, and away from Email and IRC. Later, we moved to a “breakout” process to parallelize our work, both during in-person meetings and through our weekly calls. Importantly, we continued to evolve our process, most recently launching the TAG Associates to widen our community of practice. We also reimagined what Technical Architecture should mean for the W3C – by building TAG into a technical design authority, and by codifying core principles such as the Priority of Constituencies and the Ethical Web Principes. I’m immensely proud of the work that we’ve done in the TAG in the last decade+ and the role I’ve …

Why am I running for W3C Advisory Board? Read more »

By Posted on Posted in Technology 1 Comment

Lots happened in 2024. Here are some personal highlights. A Return to Samsung and Sticking with Open Source Security At the end of 2023, I was job hunting, after having been laid off from my job at the cybersecurity company Snyk. I learned a lot at Snyk, and had the opportunity to work some amazing people. Snyk also gave me the opportunity to get involved with the Open Source Security Foundation, where I’ve been working to help improve the security of the open source ecosystem. I made the decision at the end of 2023 to remain connected to the OpenSSF and to re-run as an independent for the Technical Advisory Council (TAC) election, which I won. I subsequently was hired by Samsung Open Source Group, where I’ve been working for the past year, focusing on open source security as well as authenticity and provenance. I’ve also started working more on the tech policy side of things, where I’ve been tracking the EU Cybersecurity Resilience Act, among other things.  I’m glad to report I’ll be continuing that work in 2025. You Win Some, You Lose Some I am really proud of what I’ve accomplished in the TAC this year, but unfortunately I was not selected in the current election cycle so I won’t be part of this body in 2025. One of the things I appreciate about OpenSSF is the open nature of its community. TAC calls are public and anyone can dial into them, a feature I definitely took advantage of when I first became involved …

2024 Year in Review & Looking Ahead Read more »

By Posted on Posted in W3C, Web No Comments

Today, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) published the Ethical Web Principles as a “Statement.” This has been a labor of love for me over the past few years. It started off with a blog post in 2019 and, thanks to the support and encouragement and contributions of many people, it grew into a movement and gained a surprising amount of support across the web developer ecosystem. I’m glad that it’s already been influencing the direction of web architecture and the design of new technologies, both directly and through other more “actionable” guidelines documents such as the Web Platform Design Principles and the Privacy Principles. Getting this published as a Statement means it’s now “endorsed” by the W3C – and we can be on even firmer ground when we use it as a way to guide the ongoing development and evolution of the web. You can read the full post on W3C’s blog.

By Posted on Posted in Technology Tagged with , 1 Comment

I’m running for OpenSSF TAC, as an independent, in an election that any OpenSSF participants are eligible to vote in. If you’ve been active in OpenSSF, I’d appreciate your vote. The election is open until 30 December. If you’d like to know more background, read on. In Summer 2022, I joined Snyk and became involved with the Open Source Security Foundation – the OpenSSF. The OpenSSF is a Linux Foundation off-shoot which focuses on … well … Open Source Security – and specifically on “software supply chain” security. My philosophy when it comes to open source foundations and governance bodies like this is that if you want to be involved then it’s best to do so proactively – to jump in with both feet. That is one reason why, in late 2022, I put myself forward as a candidate for OpenSSF’s Technical Advisory Council.  Given the fact that I’ve been impacted in a recent round of lay-offs at Snyk, you might wonder why am I still involved in this organization and why have I once again put myself forward for OpenSSF TAC election this year? Since becoming involved with this community, with this part of the open source ecosystem, I’ve become convinced of the importance of this way of thinking about open source software. I still believe what I wrote in 2022: “This web of software that we all rely on so much is under constant attack.” The more developers are empowered and supported to mitigate against software security issues during the development process, the stronger the defence against this …

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In navigating the landscape of technology and digital innovation, we often find ourselves having to deal with complex concepts that cross between the technical, policy and legal domains. We hear words like “open source”, “open data”, and “open standards” thrown around, each with its attached notions of transparency, accessibility, and collaboration. However, these concepts aren’t as interchangeable as they might seem, and it’s crucial to understand the different rules that govern each. Bear in mind too that the term “IP” or “intellectual property” is really a catch-all term for a bag full of different types of rights, including copyright (which can apply to software, as a so-called literary work), database rights, patents, trade marks, and more. As someone who has served as an Open Source & Open Standards Strategy Director, worked for the Open Data Institute, and sat on the Open Standards Board for the UK Government, I’ve seen first-hand the nuances that define and differentiate these domains. This understanding is crucial as we cannot simply transfer licenses or IP guidelines from one sphere to another, owing to their unique features and scopes. This post was prompted by a few examples I’ve seen this year where people are either misunderstanding the differences between these domains, or conflating them. Having said all that: I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice. I did not say this. I am not here. Open Source licenses: Code Reuse The term “open source” generally refers to a type of software whose source code is accessible to the public, allowing …

What’s the deal with Open Source, Open Data, and Open Standards licenses? Read more »