The Evolution of Web 3.0

Posted by Holly Pateman Jun 12, 2008

Just as we’re getting used to the term Web 2.0, Web 3.0 is making its way to the front seat of many a conversation. So what exactly is Web 3.0? There is much debate about what the term Web 3.0 means today, and even more about what it will come to mean tomorrow.

According to Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, “…Web 3.0 is an overlay of scalable vector graphics on Web 2.0 with access to a Semantic Web that gives you access to an unbelievable data resource…”

And according to Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, “…Web 3.0 will ultimately be seen as applications which are pieced together and can run on any device, PC or mobile phone. The applications are very fast and they’re very customizable. Furthermore, the applications are distributed virally: literally by social networks, by email…”

While there is both logic and prediction to what Web 3.0 will actually become, most leading professionals in the online world agree on 3 essential elements in the evolution of Web 3.0:

1. The Data Web - The Data Web is already in motion. Massive amounts of data are being published online every minute in reusable and remotely queryable formats such as XLM, RDF, Website Parse Template and Microformats. This data is ultimately building the architecture for a more advanced categorization that will dictate the way both humans and crawlers seek and retrieve information.
2. The Semantic Web/SOA - The Semantic Web, as it is coined today, is based partially on present data grouping capability and partially on yet to be implemented or realized machine reading and understanding capability. Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) allows different applications to exchange data with one another as they participate in business processes with the goal of coupling the services of operating systems, programming languages and applications. Together, the Semantic Web and SOA are envisioned to build a highly intelligent, multifunctional wired environment for sharing and retrieving information, both for humans and machines.
3. Ubiquitous Connectivity - As PC and CE (Consumer Electronics) technologies converge with video as the primary focus, traditional television viewing, computer usage and mobile phone usage are becoming interconnected, synonymous properties. With this convergence on the horizon, ubiquitous connectivity as it’s called, appears to be an obvious backbone in the emergence of Web 3.0.

So, as we approach the world of Web 3.0 with 4.0 and 5.0 undoubtedly not too far behind, businesses and users alike will be forced to align their technical architecture with the ever-developing algorithms and formats as dictated by both human and machine evolution.