What is Web 3.0?
Web 3.0 also known as Web3, is the third generation of the World Wide Web(WWW). Currently a work in progress, it is a vision of a decentralized and open Web with greater utility for it’s users than today’s web 2.0
Version of the Web 3.0
Web 3.0 represents the next phase of the evolution of the web/internet and could potentially be as disruptive as Web 2.0 was Web 3.0 is built upon the core concepts of decentralisation, openness and greater user utility.
Berners Lee expounded on some of these key concepts in the 1990s, including:
• Decentralization: “ No permission is needed from a central authority to post anything on the web, there’s no central controlling node, and so no single point of failure and no “kill switch! This also implies freedom from indiscriminate censorship and surveillance”.
• Bottom up design: “instead of code being written and controlled by a small group of experts, it was developed in full view of everyone, encouraging maximum participation and experimentation.
In a 2001 paper, Berners Lee discussed it he conpet of what he reffered to as the semantic web. Computers had no reliable way to process the semantics of language (i.e figure out the context in which a word or phrase is used)
Berners Lee is vision for the semantic web was to being structure to the meaningful context of webpages and enable software that would carry our sophisticated tasks for users.
Web 3.0 have moved out well being the original concept of the semantic web as conceptualised by Berners Lee in 2001. This is partly because it is very expensive and monumentally difficult to convert human language, with all it’s subtle nuances and variations into a format that can be readily understood by computers, and because web 2.0 has already evolved substantially over the past two decades.
Defining features of Web 3.0
Though there’s as yet no standard definition of Web 3.0, it does have a few defining features.
Decentralization: this is a core tenet of Web 2.0, computers use HTTP in the form of unique web addresses to find information, which is stored at a fixed location, generally on a single server web 3.0 information well be found based on it’s content and this can be stored in multiple locations simultaneously.
It becomes decentralised. This would break down the massive database currently held by internet giants like Meta and Google would hand greater control to users.
With Web 3.0, the data generated by disparate and increasingly powerful computing resources, including mobile phones, desktops, home appliances, and vehicles will be sold by users through decentralized data networks, ensuring that users retain ownership control.
Trustless and Permissionless: As it is based upon open source software web 3.0 will also be trustless (i.e the network will allow participants to interact directly without going through a trusted intermediary) and Permissionless(meaning that anyone can participate without authorization from a governing body)
As a result, web 3.0 applications will run on Blockchains or decentralized peer to peer networks or a combination thereof such decentralized apps are referred to as dAPPS.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning: In Web 3.0 computers will be able to understand information similarly to humans, through technologies based upon semantic Web concepts and natural language processing. Web 3.0 will also use machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence (AI) that uses data and algorithms to imitate how humans learn, gradually improving it’s accuracy.
These capabilities will enable computers to produce faster and more relevant results in a host of areas like drug development and new materials, as opposed to merely targeted advertising that forms the bulk of current efforts.
Connectivity and Ubiquity: with Web 3.0 information and content will be more connected and Ubiquities, accessed by multiple applications and with an increasing number of everyday devices connected to the web.
What’s a real world example of how Web 3.0 will provide greater user utility?
If you’re making plans for a vacation and are on a budget, you might currently spend hours looking for flights, accomodations and car rentals, trawling through numerous websites and comparing prices, even with the aid of today’s comparison sites with Web 3.0, intelligent search engines or bots will be able to collate all this information and generate tailored recommendations based on your profile and preferences, saving you hours of work.
Which newer Technologies in finance will be facilitated by Web 3.0?
Because of it’s key Decentralization feature, Web 3.0 lends itself to technologies such as Blockchain, distributed ledger and decentralized finance(Defi).
Summary↓
To use a cinematic analogy, if Web 1.0 represented the black and white movie Era, Web 2.0 is the age of colour/basic 3D, while Web 3.0 would be immersive experiences in the metaverse.
Just as the 2010s were the decade when Web 2.0 became the dominant force in the global business and cultural landscape, it might be Web 3.0’s turn in the 2020s. Facebook’s name change to Meta in 2021, could well be an early sign that shift to Web 3.0 is well underway.