Researchers have a "duty" to protect the future of the world wide web, according to its inventor.

Speaking at the launch of a new research programme yesterday, Sir Tim Berners-Lee — the British computer scientist who came up with the idea of the web 19 years ago — said it was vital that scientists and engineers worked harder to understand how the web works, in order to keep it evolving.

"We designed the web, and we can change it: we have a duty to," he said in an interview with the Guardian. "Here is this system a lot of our society depends on — democracy depends on it, commerce depends on it. We should probably watch it to make sure it's stable."

With the rapid growth of the web over the past decade, there have been concerns that it could fragment under pressure from corporations and repressive governments. But Sir Tim said it was important to remember the principles of openness on which the web was built, in order to ensure that any attempt to shape the web's future would remain "pro-human".

"Systems can grow very big and very complex, like ancient civilisations can grow big and complex and then something goes wrong. Understanding what went wrong when a civilisation crumbles is complicated," he said.

"Here we've got humanity connected by a structure which, to a certain extent, we can control. I think we have a duty to make sure it will develop in a way that is stable and pro-human."

His comments came at an event to promote the new academic discipline of web science — a study of the web and the way it works.

The Web Science Research Initiative, which is being championed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Southampton, aims to encourage new technologies and systems on top of the web.

Although many of the future directions the web could go in remain unknown, one idea already approaching fruition is the semantic web — a system to make the web more intelligent — which Sir Tim has been working on for several years.

Nigel Shadbolt, a professor at Southampton, said he hoped there would be courses in web science available to undergraduates in Britain as soon as 2010.

As well as academic institutions supporting the WSRI, it is also backed by a number of organisations — including the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta) and BT.

"We know that innovation happens when different disciplines interact," said Jonathan Kestenbaum, the chief executive of Nesta. "This partnership will ensure that the UK is well positioned to capitalise on the new networked information economy enabled by the web."