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Mozilla has announced the launch of a new initiative called Mozilla Science Lab with the aim of helping researchers around the world to use the open web to spread scientific knowledge and determine the future of science.

This initiative is in many ways a return to the origins of the world-wide-web. In fact, Tim Berners-Lee developed this application of the hypertext technologies to the Internet to facilitate the exchange of information among researchers. Paradoxically, this idea has changed in many ways the lives of people but after more than two decades the world of scientific research continues to follow a way of spreading the research that was already established.

One of the reasons for the great success of science is due to the circulation of ideas that allow researchers around the world to develop and test their theories. However, in the field of research a system has long been developed that tends to be closed in which scientists must keep their ideas to themselves until the moment they are published and then have a recognized author.

Unfortunately, scientific research isn’t only an exploration that wants to extend the boundaries of knowledge but has very practical applications that especially in certain fields have strong economic consequences. Just think about certain technological applications or the pharmaceutical field, where a certain discovery may lead to huge earnings for the company that financed it.

Even in areas where the secret isn’t closely linked to the profits of a company, scientists often need to seek funding for their research. To build a reputation they need to publish scientific articles and this may be easier for those who keep their ideas confidential until their publication.

Mozilla, a foundation which considers openness one of the bases of its existence, believes that a greater diffusion of ideas in the scientific community would help progress. The Science Lab initiative aims to promote the exchange of information among researchers and find ways to improve cooperation between them.

The project will be directed by Kaitlin Thaney, a science advocate who has managed the science program at Creative Commons, worked for Digital Science, a company that deals with research instruments and the incubation of start-ups in the field of science, and was an adviser to the British government with regard to digital technologies.

In Kaitlin Thaney’s team of there will be Greg Wilson, founder of Software Carpentry, a program that teaches researchers the use of computers to help them be more productive in their activities. This collaboration aims to understand how to use the modern tools in the diffusion of scientific knowledge.

The Science Lab project is just beginning so it will take some time before we can see some results. The idea is laudable so hopefully it will be welcome by researchers around the world.