"The History of the WWW": An Audio Fiction to Rediscover the Early Years of the World Wide Web

On 30 April 1993, CERN announced that the system which would change how we access information, connect, and communicate—the World Wide Web (or WWW to its friends)—was being released into the public domain. This initiative made the Web accessible to everyone, without restrictions. In the collective imagination, this decision, taken by directors Walter Hoogland and Helmut Weber, solidified its global spread, turning the Web into an indispensable service and a backbone of the political, economic, and cultural interactions of our society. On 30 April 2026, the first episode of "The History of the WWW" will launch on the Web itself. It is an original audio fiction produced in collaboration with RSI (Swiss Radio and Television) as part of the SNF Agora project "Once Upon a Time in the Web: Exploring, Interacting and Dialoguing with the World Wide Web of the 1990s", promoted jointly by the Institute of Media and Journalism (IMeG) at Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) [Principal Investigator: Gabriele Balbi] and the Institute of Design (Ide) at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI) [Principal Investigator: Giulio Zaccarelli].

An Audio Fiction Between Academic Research and Storytelling

Written and directed by Sara Flaadt, an author and director for RSI, "The History of the WWW" is an audio fiction in seven episodes. It brings academic research to life, making a scientific subject feel vivid and relatable. Radio storytelling techniques bring these events closer to our daily experiences, turning the WWW into a character that is hard not to grow fond of. The dialogue, the actors, and the acoustic staging curated by sound engineer Thomas Chiesa all combine to make those events feel tangible and engaging. The audio fiction is based on the research results of the SNF project "The origins and spread of the World Wide Web: Rediscovering the early years of the Web inside and outside the CERN archive (1989–1995)", coordinated by Professor Gabriele Balbi and concluded in February 2025.

The narrative follows the doctoral research journey of Deborah Barcella through her work on the CERN archive sources (World Wide Web collection), where she spent many days amongst various documents: private correspondence, newspaper articles, press releases, memorandums, minutes, and much more. This work has made it possible to challenge the idea that the Web was the inevitable result of technological progress, showing instead how it emerged from a web of strategic decisions, communication practices, and organisational dynamics specific to CERN. In particular, the research highlights how the protagonists of the Web's development in the early nineties had to face several challenges, such as gaining legitimacy and funding within CERN, managing to differentiate themselves from competing technologies, and clarifying the distinction between the Web and its infrastructure, namely the Internet (a confusion that, let's face it, persists even today).

Episode Release Schedule

The seven episodes of the audio fiction will be published online weekly, every Thursday, according to the following schedule:

• 30 April 2026 – Episode 1: A Beginning
• 7 May 2026 – Episode 2: CERN
• 14 May 2026 – Episode 3: 1989
• 21 May 2026 – Episode 4: Call Me World Wide Web
• 28 May 2026 – Episode 5: Confusion
• 4 June 2026 – Episode 6: Competitors
• 11 June 2026 – Episode 7: Characters

Through these stages, listeners are guided from the origins of the Web to its cultural and social implications. It starts with the "prehistory" at CERN, before catapulting to 1989, when a "vague but exciting" proposal laid the foundations for its development. Subsequent episodes explore the process of defining the Web's identity, from the choice of its name to the persistent confusion with the Internet. The story also reconstructs the competitive landscape of the early nineties—when the Web was not the only information-retrieval technology—concluding with a collective reflection on the main characters, both famous and forgotten, of this history.

The audio fiction will also be broadcast on RSI Rete Due, within the Alphaville slot, starting from Thursday, 18 June 2026 at 12 noon, with daily programming until 26 June 2026.

The first episode is available from 30 April at the following link: www.rsi.ch/storiadelweb

A Project to Bridge Research and Society

The SNF Agora project "Once Upon a Time in the Web" was created to actively involve the public in exploring the history of the 1990s Web and to promote a dialogue between academic research and society.

The project is led by:

• Gabriele Balbi: Interim Rector and Pro-Rector for Education and Students' Experience at Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), as well as Full Professor of Media Studies at the Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society. An internationally renowned media historian, his research focuses on the history of telecommunications, digital media, and communication infrastructures from a long-term perspective.
   
• Giulio Zaccarelli: Director of the Institute of Design at SUPSI (Department of Environment, Constructions and Design), where he coordinates research and innovation activities in the field of design, with a particular focus on the intersections between design, science communication, and interactive experiences.

The research team includes:

• Deborah Barcella: Post-doc researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Media and Journalism (IMeG), Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society (USI), who earned her PhD in April 2025 on the early years of Web history.
   
• Luca Morici: Senior lecturer-researcher at the SUPSI Institute of Design and head of the "Design for Science" sector, where he develops projects that translate complex scientific content into accessible and engaging experiences for the public.
   
• Max da Rocha Fonseca: Researcher at the SUPSI Institute of Design in the "Design for Science" sector, involved in developing interactive and participatory solutions for knowledge communication and mediation.
   
• Vanessa Mazzei: Assistant at the SUPSI Institute of Design in the "Design for Science" sector; for this project, she handles the translation of scientific content into dynamic visual solutions for various communication devices and social channels.
   
• Alessandro Plantera: Graduate Assistant at the SUPSI Institute of Design in the "Design for Science" sector, involved in design activities and the development of educational and immersive experiences related to the project.

The project benefits from the collaboration of several partners: RSI (SRG SSR), the Swiss National Sound Archives, CERN, Lugano Living Lab (L*3), Locarno Film Festival, DECS, and La Filanda.

"Web Genesis": An Educational Escape Room to Rediscover the Early Web

In addition to the production of the audio fiction, the research team will bring "Web Genesis"—an educational and completely free escape room—to two major events in the Ticino region:

• LongLake Festival (Lugano): 9–26 July 2026
   
• Locarno Film Festival (Locarno): 5–15 August 2026

The experience draws participants into a story where the history of the Web is at risk of being clouded by misinformation and oversimplification. By solving puzzles based on authentic historical sources and using technology from the eighties and nineties, teams must reconstruct key events to safeguard the true story of the Web's evolution. The team with the fastest time will win a trip to CERN in Geneva.
 

Follow the Project

For updates, content, and materials:

• Instagram: @lastoriadelweb
• Web page: www.storiadelweb.ch (available from 30 April)