# Ruben Verborgh ![[50 Resources/51 Attachments/51.03 Public/2026-05-04 Ruben Verborgh.jpg|400]] Ruben Verborgh is an Associate Professor of Decentralized Web Technology at Ghent University (IDLab / imec) and a research affiliate at the Decentralized Information Group of CSAIL at MIT. His research sits at the intersection of Linked Data, hypermedia-driven Web APIs, and re-decentralization of the Web. He is best known for his foundational work on the [[Solid Protocol]], developed in close collaboration with [[Tim Berners-Lee]], and for introducing Linked Data Fragments — a paradigm shift in query processing at web scale that distributes query execution across servers and clients. Beyond academia, Verborgh co-founded Res PublicAI, a European foundation dedicated to responsible AI deployment, and works as a technology consultant to enterprises working with decentralized knowledge graph ecosystems. He has authored two books on Linked Data, contributed to over 250 peer-reviewed publications, and served as a technology advocate for [[Inrupt]] and the broader Solid ecosystem. His current focus centers on the "Insight Economy" — aligning technological, legal, and business incentives to make decentralized, sustainable AI viable at scale. ## Known For - Co-designing the [[Solid Protocol]] with [[Tim Berners-Lee]] - Linked Data Fragments: new paradigm for distributed query processing - Professor of Decentralized Web Technology at Ghent University - Co-founder of Res PublicAI (responsible AI foundation) - Technology advocate for [[Inrupt]] ## Recent Activity ### 2025–2026 - Active at Res PublicAI on responsible AI deployment in Europe - Consulting enterprises on decentralized knowledge graph APIs ## Quotes ```dataview LIST FROM [[]] WHERE contains(tags, "type/quote") ``` ## Books ```dataview LIST FROM [[]] WHERE contains(tags, "type/book") ``` ## Related - [[Tim Berners-Lee]] - [[Solid Protocol]] - [[Solid]] - [[Inrupt]] - [[WebID]] ## References - https://ruben.verborgh.org/ - https://ai.ugent.be/people/RubenVerborgh.en.html - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rubenverborgh/ - https://github.com/RubenVerborgh