Web 3.0

Open systems and open mind go hand in hand along with a belief in collaboration for the greater good of all. The information and communication technology is at a tipping point where the business model for selling hardware and software will be non-viable, like cell phones, people will pay for the use of a service. Already the idea of cloud computing, information utility and SaaS (Software as a Service) models are beginning to gain a footing because the role of information and communication technology for tasks at hand is reaching beyond the capability of any one organization. AT&T as a monopoly had to be broken up for the growth of a vibrant telecommunication industry. Unfortunately, the breaking up of the monopoly in itself does not make for an user centric information system.

There are many examples where collaborative effort have led to transformational tools. LINUX is one such example.  Apple's aborted VITAL (Virtually Integrated Technical Architecture Lifecycle) was a methodology which could create an unified and harmonious user view of the information out in the world. But genuinely open systems built with an open mind is the next generation technology. Let's call it Web 3.0.

The pieces are there. Thousands of programmers across the world have written millions of lines of code which are freely available to everyone to use and change the world by an intelligent and effective use of information and communication technology for a better world.

What is missing is an openness of mind which does not seek to control but collaborate. caBIG (Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid) and BIG Health Consortium are two attempts in the United States aspiring to carry that openness and collaboration to enterprise of medical research and healthcare in the United States.