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Sir Tim Berners Lee: We need lawmakers who are computer-savvy

Sir Tim Berners-Lee has outed the UK government as having an insufficient grasp on computing technology.

The creator of the World Wide Web says he thinks more politicians should learn to code as well, to increase technology awareness in parliament.

Berners-Lee, speaking at the Every Second Counts Forum, said: “We need more people in parliament who can code.

He continued: “Not because we need them to spend their time coding but because they have got to understand how powerful a weapon it is, so that they can make laws the require people to code to make machines behave in different ways.”

The famed computer scientist was responsible for building the web back in 1989, so it’s unsurprising he talked up the value of coding at the event.

“Being able to code means that you understand what people can do with a computer. You need to be able to understand what people can do with a computer to make laws about it,” said Berners-Lee.

It’s not the first time the UK’s top politicos have been tagged up as being out of touch, but a lack of tech-savvy MPs is assuredly worrying in a world where tech is playing an increasingly important role.

Despite the criticisms, Berners-Lee did praise the Whitehall decision to add coding to the national curriculum: “We need to introduce people to coding early so that the people to whom it appeals can then get as much time to do it as they need and really excel.”

He added: “We need more people to have done coding to actually end up doing it for a living.”

Read More: Windows 10: What you need to know

Via: The Guardian

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