The Internet continues to evolve at a frenetic pace. Back in the nineties, having a website meant little more than a series of static pages that used hyper-links to allow the reader to click between pages.
Web 2.0 changed all that. Websites became based on dynamic data, so different readers might see different pages, based on their own profile. Your Facebook profile is a good example – endlessly changing whenever you update it or load new content such as photos. It became normal for readers to also become contributors.
Now the tech world is talking of Web 3.0, even as many in the enterprise are yet to fully take advantage of the dynamic information flow of Web 2.0.
But Web 3.0 is not really here just yet. It revolves around how information can be better linked through concepts such as the semantic web. In short, there will be a point at which the systems are publishing information automatically and tagging or linking the data to existing information. Like Web 2.0, but with the computers doing much of the publishing and linking for us.
The clear advantages of this are obvious. We are drowning in a sea of information at present. Just search Google for 'John Smith' and hundreds of millions of possible results come up. If your own name is 'John Smith' and the search system had some way of linking data that relates to the correct 'John Smith' then search suddenly becomes far more intelligent.
Given the amount of content now being created it is becoming essential for the systems to help connect the dots. For example, the video site YouTube gets 35 hours of new video uploaded by users every single minute. How can we make sense of this vast sea of data if it has no context?
The downside of relying on the technology is that machines make mistakes. Only time will tell how laws designed for a previous era might handle cases related to an automated system linking millions of pieces of data, where some of those links are erroneous and create a knock-on effect that invalidates other data.
It's a problem we have yet to encounter, but this world is just around the corner not decades away.
The contents of this brochure are intended as guidelines for clients and other readers. It is not a substitute for considered advice on specific issues. Consequently, we cannot accept any responsibility for this information or for any errors or omissions.
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