Context

A 2021 report by the U.S.- India Strategic Partnership Forum states that the third-gen web will be crucial for India to realise its $1.1 trillion digital asset opportunity by 2032.

 What is the third-generation web?

• The third-generation web is a work in progress towards the evolution of World Wide Web (WWW) - the user interface that provides access to documents, applications and multimedia on the internet.
• There is no universally accepted definition of the third-generation web, some calling it "Web3", while others "Web 3.0."

 ‘Web 3.0’ vs ‘Web3’

 Web 3.0

• Web 3.0 upholds the property of the ‘semantic web,’ which is powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
  • Semantic Web is the ability to recombine information available on different websites to generate new content and knowledge resources that are more authentic and creative.
• Web 3.0 has been powered with robust capability on the data analytics front. Hence, it will create far better search engines.

Web3

• Web3 is decentralised, privacy-oriented, blockchain-driven and crypto-asset friendly.
• Of the two variants, Web3 seeks to radically transform the way data is generated, monetised, shared and circulated.
• It also advocates decentralising data storage systems from the single entity or an organisation.
• It uses file-sharing systems such as the Inter-Planetary File System which are cryptographically protected, more secure and capable of functioning off internet and off blockchains.
• Web3’s boldest element is the strategic role it assigns to non-custodial wallets that function as digital passports for users to access blockchain-enabled transaction platforms.
• These wallets aid the creation of a ‘ownership economy,’ whereby creators themselves control their content. Fundamentally, they work as digital proof of identity.
• Web3 seeks to replace micro-economic organisations with decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs).
  • At a more macro level, it seeks to create a distributed economic system, where special classes of native digital tokens and cryptocurrencies would form the media of monetary circulation.
  • In general, Web3 would raise the efficiency of peer-to-peer transactions.

 The Third-gen Web's Benefits for India

• Protection of the Handcraft Industry by Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
  • India's handcraft industry known for its design-related innovations is not protected by IPR.
  • The digital tokens minted by Web3 platforms would enable our handcraft enterprises to secure their innovations.
  • Web 3-based instruction tools enable the rapid dissemination of grassroots innovations from master artisans to fellow members.
  • This would improve the economic fortunes of craftsmen and artisan communities in north-east, western and peninsular India.
• Rural Development Projects: India’s major digital public infrastructure push and the large-scale deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) in rural development projects offer major possibilities for deploying Web3 in rural areas.
• Can help with data analytics constraints
  • Lack of data analytics capabilities at the community level, resulting in untapped data resources. For example, important data on groundwater utilisation practices and aquifer contamination under the Atal Bhujal Yojana largely remain untapped.
  • The inability of data analytics capabilities to catch up with the pace of data generation.
  • Web3’s (decentralized) analytics systems could help overcome the limitation of data analytics capabilities at the community level.
  • Web 3.0 can also yield insights from large volumes of community data generated by IoT-enabled development programs such as the Jal Jeevan Mission.
  • Web 3.0’s natural advantage of facilitating analytics at the edge provides considerable scope for mapping the water use habits of communities, providing data analytics facilities at the sub-basin level and improving early warning systems for.

 Challenges: From policy perspective, the third-web is complex because of different descriptions (Web3 and Web 3.0) and because its immense social relevance is hard to comprehend.

 What steps should be taken?

• As envisaged in Web3, there should be a provision to provide incentives for decentralised analytics and tokenising them to draw upon the talent pool for the benefit of rural communities.
• There should be a strategy that seeks to combine the welcome features of Web3 and Web 3.0.

 Conclusion

• There are ample opportunities arising from the third-gen web and India is set to benefit from them.
• India’s National Blockchain Strategy 2021 proposes to explore tokenisation and apply blockchains solutions for development programmes.
• It will be a natural progression for India to craft a third-gen web strategy that optimises public interest.