Welcome to the World of Web 3.0

In March 2019, we marked the 30-year anniversary of the launch of the world wide web, which gave the world the ability to access the internet. Nostalgically referred to as Web 1.0, users of the early web consumed information primarily in a passive way. Web 2.0 allowed users to actively create and interact with content (through social media, live streams, etc.). Now Web 3.0 is rapidly taking shape, and in some ways has already arrived. Very little about it resembles the web of years ago.

There is no consensus defining exactly what constitutes Web 3.0, but general agreement exists on the importance and impact of five developments: artificial intelligence, 3-D graphics, connectivity (think wireless 5G), ubiquity (IoT, the “internet of things,” where all kinds of devices are linked to the web), and the “semantic web,” where search engines and computers understand the meanings of words instead of just recognizing them. The web’s next wave will use these developments to create functional applications that will be faster, able to handle more data and accessed in new ways that go far beyond interactive. Life is about to get completely rewired, and that includes for businesses.

5G Changes Everything

Whether your business is asset-based or not, these changes will impact your future. 5G alone is going to be a huge game-changer that will deliver much more than just increased speeds for your smartphone.  ZDNet.com recently reported on 5G as “an overhaul of communications infrastructure unlike any other in history. Imagine if, at the close of the 19th century, the telegraph industry had come together in a joint decision to implement a staged transition to fax. That’s essentially the scale of the shift from 4G to 5G.”

For the consumer, 5G represents faster data transfer speeds, but the impact for business will center on what can be achieved with 5G’s speed and scale, especially when combined with analytics, IoT and artificial intelligence. Accenture, a leading global professional services company sees big growth in “smart cities” of the future using 5G, with telecoms investing up to $275 billion in infrastructure projects, potentially adding three million jobs and $500 billion to GDP, spread through cities of all sizes.

For the transportation sector, it means more efficient public transportation and parking systems as well as traffic management systems. The goal is to significantly reduce congestion through the use of platoons and advances in the use of autonomous vehicles. Plus, 5G-driven V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle) communications are expected to save time and increase safety. It works by communicating crashes, traffic and weather conditions with AI and analytics, instantly rerouting the vehicle to a quicker or safer course.

It Took Years to Get Here. Welcome to the Cloud.

All of this information be driven by the internet and travel through the web. However, unlike years ago, little of it will ever touch a desktop computer much less an on-premises mainframe. It will exist only in the cloud, where it will be added to ever-increasing amounts of data, to create more opportunities and to facilitate more informed decisions. All of this begs the question: What innovations will the next few years bring and are you taking advantage of what’s available today?

If you are considering positioning your company to work within the World of Web 3.0, our guide can help get you there.