Web 3.0 is the third generation of internet services focussing on using a machine-based understanding of data to provide data-driven and a semantic web. The ultimate goal of Web 3.0 is to create a more intelligent, connected and open websites.
Web 3.0 has not yet been implemented, so there is no solid definition. It took over ten years to transition from the original web, Web 1.0, to Web 2.0, and it is expected to take just as long, if not longer, to fully implement and reshape the web with Web 3.0.
However, the technologies that some people believe are going to make up and ultimately define Web 3.0 are currently being developed. Smart home appliances using wireless networks and the Internet of Things (IoT) are two examples of how Web 3.0 is already impacting technology.
If the trend of change is traced from Web 1.0, a static information provider where people read websites but rarely interacted with them, to Web 2.0, an interactive and social web-enabling collaboration between users, then it can be assumed that Web 3.0 will change both how websites are made and how people interact with them.
Web 3.0: The Decentralized Web
Web 3.0 may be constructed with artificial intelligence (AI), semantic web and ubiquitous properties in mind. The idea behind using AI comes from the goal of providing faster, more relevant data to end-users. A website using AI should be able to filter through and provide the data it thinks a specific user will find appropriate.
Social bookmarking as a search engine can provide better results than Google since the results are websites that have been voted on by users.
However, these results can also be manipulated by humans. AI could be used to separate the legitimate results from the falsified, therefore producing results similar to social bookmarking and social media, but without bad feedback.
An artificially intelligent web will also introduce virtual assistants, an element that is already emerging today as an aspect built into a device or through third-party apps.
The idea behind the semantic web is to categorize and store information in a way that helps teach a system what specific data means. In other words, a website should be able to understand words put in search queries the same way a human would, enabling it to generate and share better content.
This system will also use AI; semantic web will teach a computer what the data means and then AI will take the information and use it.
Ubiquitous computing refers to embedded processing in everyday objects, which enables the intercommunication of devices in a user’s environment. This is thought to be another property that Web 3.0 will have. The concept is similar to the Internet of Things.
The technologies which will make up these properties include microformats, data mining, natural language search and machine learning. Web 3.0 will also be more focused on peer-to-peer (P2P) technologies such as blockchain. Other technologies such as open APIs, data formats and open-sourced software may also be used while developing Web 3.0 applications.
The Evolution Of The Internet
Web 1.0. Web 1.0 was the first generation of the Web. During this phase the focus was primarily on building the Web, making it accessible, and commercializing it for the first time. Key areas of interest centered on protocols such as HTTP, open standard markup languages such as HTML and XML, Internet access through ISPs, the first Web browsers, Web development platforms and tools, Web-centric software languages such as Java and Javascript, the creation of Web sites, the commercialization of the Web and Web business models, and the growth of key portals on the Web. Web 2.0. According to the Wikipedia, “Web 2.0, a phrase coined by O’Reilly Media in 2004, refers to a supposed second generation of Internet-based services — such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies — that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users.”
Web 3.0. Using the same pattern as the above Wikipedia definition, Web 3.0 could be defined as: “Web 3.0, a phrase coined by John Markoff of the New York Times in 2006, refers to a supposed third generation of Internet-based services that collectively comprise what might be called ‘the intelligent Web’ — such as those using semantic web, microformats, natural language search, data-mining, machine learning, recommendation agents, and artificial intelligence technologies — which emphasize machine-facilitated understanding of information in order to provide a more productive and intuitive user experience.”
Web 3.0 might be defined as a third-generation of the Web-enabled by the convergence of several key emerging technology trends: Ubiquitous Connectivity
Broadband adoption
Mobile Internet access
Mobile devices
Network Computing
Software-as-a-service business models
Web services interoperability
Distributed computing (P2P, grid computing, hosted “cloud computing” server farms such as Amazon S3)
Open Technologies
Open APIs and protocols
Open data formats
Open-source software platforms
Open data (Creative Commons, Open Data License, etc.)
Open Identity
Open identity (OpenID)
Open reputation
Portable identity and personal data (for example, the ability to port your user account and search history from one service to another)
The Intelligent Web
Semantic Web technologies (RDF, OWL, SWRL, SPARQL, Semantic application platforms, and statement-based datastores such as triplestores, tuplestores, and associative databases)
Distributed databases — or “The World Wide Database” (wide-area distributed database interoperability enabled by Semantic Web technologies)
Intelligent applications (natural language processing, machine learning, machine reasoning, autonomous agents)
Conclusion
The term Web 2.0 was never clearly defined and even today if one asks ten people what it means one will likely get ten different definitions. While the innovations and practices of Web 2.0 will continue to develop, they are not the final step in the evolution of the Web. In fact, there is a lot more in store for the Web.
However, most people in the Web industry would agree that Web 2.0 focuses on several major themes, including social networking, folksonomies, lightweight collaboration, social bookmarking, and media sharing. Web 3.0 will be more connected, open, and intelligent, with semantic Web technologies, distributed databases, natural language processing, machine learning, machine reasoning, and autonomous agents.
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