Tim Berners-Lee published a formal proposal for the World Wide Web while working at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, in Geneva, Switzerland. His proposal was titled 'Information Management: A Proposal' and marked a significant step in the development of the internet. The document introduced the concept of hypertext, which allows users to navigate between documents and resources easily, an essential feature of web browsing today. Berners-Lee’s vision of a decentralized information system aimed to make access to information easier for researchers and the general public alike.

In his proposal, Berners-Lee detailed how the web could function by utilizing a set of protocols and software, namely HTML (HyperText Markup Language), URI (Uniform Resource Identifier), and HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). This foundational framework was essential for the interconnectivity of web pages and the seamless sharing of information across different platforms. By December that year, he had a fully functional prototype of the web that included a web browser and the first web server.

The impact of Berners-Lee’s proposal transcended its immediate goals. It initiated the rapid development of web technologies and the overarching internet infrastructure. The ability for different computer systems to communicate and share information effectively transformed how information was accessed and navigated, leading directly to the explosion of web-based services and applications over the subsequent decades.