Data: Web2.0 vs Web3.0

Find out how in the first of a series of four blogposts on what Dataswyft does in designing markets and scaling data ecosystems, written by Dataswyft CEO Irene Ng in conjunction with her presentations at the upcoming Singapore Fintech Festival and OpenX Congress in London.

‍

In a web2.0 world, data is mostly fragmented, with disparate pieces of information about a person held across companies. This world, which we currently live in, is populated by centralized systems that have made ‘platform business models’ very popular. These businesses usually design, build and operate the technology of all three business layers:

Service ie. applications/website

Data ie. traits/attributes of people

Custodian ie. storing the data

Each of these layers in the business stack is tightly coupled with one another with centralized technologies. Almost all businesses use centralized digital technologies today, whether single service or platforms, because they are technically very efficient. Coupling between the layers can be made looser for large conglomerates looking to share data amongst multiple apps/services/businesses, but they are often also built in a centralized fashion. Building decentralized systems requires a very different mindset.

‍

In the web3.0 world (which we are actively engaged in), data is self sovereign and decentralized to individuals. This separation of data from service is important because self-sovereign data provide agency and autonomy. By providing the “nodes, pipes and plumbing” of self-sovereign data,  our clients’ data wallets and services have greater freedom to operate on more data and can also compete better in vertical markets.

This separation also matters for regulatory purposes; while self-sovereign data is compliant and portable across all global territories, services on top of self-sovereign data would still need to conform to a specific country’s regulation. For example, our client in Europe who is creating their “Bring your Own” Identity Service using our decentralized data infrastructure would still require eIDAS and QES.

‍

‍

Separated from the service, data is more portable, making it possible for data ecosystems to be designed and built.

‍

Next: How we design data ecosystems

‍

Irene is in Singapore from Nov 2 to 4 to present at the Singapore Fintech Festival’s session on Distributed Data Ecosystems in a Web3 World, and also at the Asian Development Bank's session on their sandbox. She'll be in London on Nov 7 to present at the OpenX Congress.  Do get in touch to catch her for a chat about how Dataswyft can help your business earn revenues from decentralizing your customer data.

‍

‍