The internet is over 30 years old, it was conceived back in 1989, by Tim Berners-Lee. The earlier version we today know as Web 1.0, were typically one-way information dissemination networks, where users consumed static information from websites with no ability to interact with website. Over a period of 10 years that one way interaction changed into a social web becoming more interactive allowing users not only to interact with the website provider, but also facilitated collaboration between users, leading to what we today call Web 2.0. Currently we are at the tipping point of a generational change, to a new generation of the internet which we call Web 3.0. Semantic Web, as it is technically called, was once again conceived by the original founder of the Web protocol. This third generation of the internet does things differently from its predecessors, unlike previous versions, Web 3.0 encodes semantic along with data. The semantic of the data enables machine-based understanding of the data leading websites and applications to cognitively process information in a way like how humans do. This in turn can foster a more intelligent, connected, and an open internet. However, by no means are we there, this is all yet to happen, and we are the tipping point of that moment, but there are several technologies that will help us achieve this soon.

Advancement in technology is the key to the generational change of the internet, and an emerging technology set not limited to Blockchain, AI, AR/VR, IoT and others would be the core technology stack required to propel us into the next generation.

Let’s for a moment look at the Web 2.0 generation and application landscape. Web 2.0, also known as Social Web, was in some form and shape driven by SMAC (Social, Mobile, Analytics & Cloud). Social applications like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Mobile experiences enabled by Apple and Android and loads, and loads of analytics severed us well. We are not sure, if we are all aware of how things are structured or organized in the Web 2.0 generation, and it is important to note that, the applications that exist today are centralized and controlled by the providers on the application. For example let’s take our identity on the internet today, we have a Facebook id that is owned by FB, our Gmail ids owned by google. We sure do have the ability to use our Facebook and Gmail ids to login to other sites, but the core point remains that the Id is still held by a centralized system owned by the service provider. If the goal is to have a more open internet, then we need to have a decentralized network and relinquish centralized control of data. One of the other important concerns of the second generation of the internet so far is that there is no way today to carry out the transfer of value on the internet. I simple case in point is, if money is digital, why can it be sent over the internet someone else in some other part of the world? This question remained unanswered until digital currency in the form on cryptocurrencies appeared on the scene.

While many technologies are needed to enable the realization of Web 3.0, blockchain has a vital role to play in this transformation. Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology, made famous by Bitcoin, but it does have application beyond cryptocurrencies. Applications are built and run on a network of nodes and transactions occur when network participants arrive at consensus on the transaction. The fundamental attribute of blockchain is decentralization, which mean no one person or entity is the owner of the network, furthermore collaboration between participants is peer-to-peer without having the need for a 3rd part intermediary.

The primary use case of blockchain network is store and transfer of value, which is held in crypto tokens, example a Bitcoin or an Ether is the native crypto token of the Bitcoin and Ethereum network respectively. This is where blockchain can play a role, on the internet of money as part of Web 3.0. Blockchain could enable peer-to-peer transfer of value over the internet leveraging Web 3.0 and reducing, if not eliminating intermediaries. It will benefit the consumer in terms in cost and time, because blockchain can reduce cost and provide instant settlement, where todays systems score poorly.

How would it be if your identity was owned by you, and you had the liberty to access the internet on your terms. You are owning the identity versus the service provider owning it, means a great deal. It means that your identity and personal information is in your control, and you choose who to share it with. You have a single identity that you use to access all services on the internet, you don’t need to have multiple ids and passwords to remember and don’t need share your phone number with multiple websites and apps. This is possible with something call Self Sovereign Identity built on the blockchain platform, the data for which is cryptographically signed with a key that only you have access to. Like we today use digital wallets for payment, we will soon have a wallet that will hold all our digital identities and can hold all our credentials starting from a school certificates to the driver’s license to our passports and everything in between that.

To summarize, we are still far from Web 3.0, but change is taking place at a faster pace. Technologies involved in realizing Web 3.0 are still emerging and we can see blockchain technology coming out of nascency, and its adoption increasing. But one thing is sure, Web 3.0 will provide a completely different experience but better. It would have structural changes and one of the key differences we can expect is a decentralized web with peer-to-peer interaction between participants and hopefully more control to the user.