Technological tools exist for the first time in human history to connect the bottom billion unbanked to the global economy, provide digital identity to stateless people, provide direct benefits to women and girls, and accelerate climate action. These tools can transform the lives of the world's population. Web 2.0 gave the world access to information. Web 3.0 will be the next iteration of the internet – “The Internet of Value” (IOV). This chapter outlines the motivation for producing a book on Web 3.0, the change model providing a framework for the book, and a summary of the chapters. The internet of value (IoV) will enable the exchange of any valued asset with another person without the need for an intermediary. This will be transformative.
TopWeb 3.0: A Framework For Understanding
The authors believe decentralization is significant and will be part of the future. Web3, in conjunction with AI, will be two of the most profound changes. These will be integrated into Metaverses, where people can interact, learn, exchange, and have experiences that were never possible. A potent possibility enabled by Web3 is the creation of community-owned economies. It is now possible for communities to form and establish a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) structure to manage the community, encode community rules, and be able to lend, borrow, exchange, and interact within a token economy. The concept of a community-owned economy is profoundly transformational, as will be outlined.
The framework for the book, which is a further extension of the framework for Blockchain outlined in Thomason et al. (2019), tries to capture some of the social, geopolitical, and technological changes that are going to lead to a future with greater decentralization and with the centralization comes greater, individual benefit and ability to be able to participate in the economy in ways that were never previously possible. First, it outlines the key influences and drivers of change. It then considers the enablers: education, government, communities, technology, regulation, and the global economy. Financially it predicts a future world of greater decentralization, a new data economy, and a world where Metaverse will be ubiquitous.
Figure 1.
Web framework for understanding
The purpose of this book is not one of persuasion. The intent of producing this book is to provide objective information regarding the technology's capability, its application, and possible evolution. Blockchain is part of a suite of Web 3.0 technologies – its potential is likely to be realized in the following years, coupled with other technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). Thus, the authors see that this book is an introduction to Web3 through the use of case studies, demonstrating which direction this innovation journey leads. The journey is only just beginning.