Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

This article begins by reporting a bit of a pivot by Don Tapscott's Blockchain Research Institute toward web3. It makes sense, given the poor reputation blockchain has enjoyed, though that of web3 is hardly any better. Here, Irving Wladawsky-Berger characterizes web3 as "a very promising set of technologies and applications in their early years." That would be my assessment as well. It's important, though, to abstract away from the token economy and financial aspect of all this, which Wladawsky-Berger doesn't really succeed in doing. But there are hints. An "anonymous single-sign-on will allow one username and authentication method across all web sites and accounts" by itself makes web3 worth investigating. Persistent and unique digital identities for resources (such as papers and images and more) should be added to the mix. There's something there, despite the corrupting influence of the financial sector.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Mar 28, 2024 1:43 p.m.

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