Tim Berners-Lee Launches Solid Open Source Project to Decentralize Web and Allow Users to Control Data



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Tim Berners-Lee

Tim Berners-Lee is famous for inventing the World Wide Web, and he is now ready to take the next step with an ambitious open source project called Solid. Noting that the Web has become "an engine of inequity and division", Berners-Lee wants to restore the power and free will of individuals online and to distance the balance of power from "powerful forces that use it. for their own purposes. "

Solid is not a completely new company. Berners-Lee has been working on this for a while and relies on the existing Web as we know it. Where it differs is that it gives each user the choice of where to store the data, the specific people and groups that can access certain items and the applications you use. It's about decentralizing the Web.

It is described as an evolution of the Web and aims to empower people. In a blog post revealing his idea, Berners-Lee says, "Solid changes the current pattern that users must pass on their personal data to digital giants in exchange for perceived value." As we all discovered this has not been the case We are evolving the web to restore balance – by giving each of us full control over the data, whether personal or otherwise, in a revolutionary way ".

The data is absolutely essential for Solid. It is based on the principle of "personal empowerment through data" and is ready to face the likes of Google, Facebook and Amazon who dominate the online world and control huge amounts of data.

Berners-Lee says:

Imagine if all your current apps were talking to each other, collaborating, and designing ways to enrich and streamline your personal life and business goals? This is the kind of innovation, intelligence and creativity that solid applications will generate.

With Solid, you'll have many more personal agencies than data – you decide which applications can access them.

He pursues:

There is a wave of worry and energy related, desperate for change. People want to have a web that they can trust. People want applications that help them do what they want and what they need to do – without spying on them. Apps that have no motive for distracting them with proposals to buy this or that. People will pay for this type of quality and insurance. For example, today, people pay for storage in places like Dropbox. Solid and the different and beneficial approach it offers are necessary.

It will take a lot of effort to build the new Solid platform and elicit widespread adoption, but I think we have enough energy to bring the world to a new tipping point.

Due to the time and effort needed to get Solid out of the group, Berners-Lee not only takes a sabbatical from MIT, he also reduces his involvement in the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). In addition to that, he created the startup called Inrupt, whose mission is "to make sure that Solid is widely adopted by developers, companies and ultimately … everyone, that it becomes an integral part web fabric ".

Berners-Lee and his team recognize that there is a long way to go, but the same goes for the World Wide Web.

In an ineffective website post, the team says:

In recent months, we have been working with talented thinkers and actors around the world and distributing resources and workload appropriately. Everyone working on Inrupt and Solid is incredibly dedicated to the future of the Web. With Inrupt's resources, the open source Solid community is becoming more robust, feature-rich, and increasingly ready for large-scale adoption.

What is equally exciting is the reaction of partners and potential companies. There is clearly a growing appetite for the solid; a recognition that Solid can free us from stifling data silos and create a blank slate for innovation. Everything we can imagine is made possible.

On the web as we envision it, there are opportunities for everyone. Totally new businesses, ecosystems and opportunities will surely emerge and prosper. And we will need hosting companies, application providers, business consultants, designers and developers. The list continues. But the real opportunities are all companies to invent.

We all have a long and exciting journey in an uncertain but certain future.

Image credit: drserg / Shutterstock

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