August 6, the World Wide Web (www) turned 20. This means a whole generation has grown up not knowing what the world was like before the information revolution. Tim Berners-Lee, a British physicist at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research in Geneva, created the first-ever web page – a summary of his www project along with explanations to help visitors build websites of their own and to search the web for information. Since then it has revolutionised business around the world, including logistics. It is now possible for clients to track their freight from despatch to delivery, documents are sent electronically, vehicles are re-routed around areas of congestion, trucks are tracked deep into the African continent, and clients can shop around with much greater ease. And, of course, you can read FTW online. The negatives are cyber crime, computer viruses and far less personal time.
