By Shane Tews

The next
generation of the internet, also known as Web3, is poised to permanently change
how the online world functions — namely through blockchain technology,
decentralization, and token-based economics. What are the underlying
technologies behind Web3, and can it solve the many policy issues we still
haven’t gotten right with today’s internet?

On the latest episode of “Explain to Shane,” I was joined by Gabrielle Hibbert, a Web3 researcher and developer, to discuss the opportunities and challenges posed by Web3, and how policymakers should approach this new generation of the internet. In the coming year, Gabrielle will also serve as a fellow for the newly created Decentralized Future Council — an initiative to educate policymakers about the decentralized web.

Below is an edited and abridged transcript of our talk. You can listen to this and other episodes of “Explain to Shane” on AEI.org and subscribe via your preferred listening platform. You can also read the full transcript of our discussion here. If you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review, and tell your friends and colleagues to tune in.

Shane Tews: Tell us about Web3, the concept
of a decentralized internet, and your upcoming work with the Decentralized
Future Council.

Gabrielle
Hibbert: To put it succinctly, Web3 is the web of trust, immutability, and
authentication. To kind of orient ourselves and frame everything, we are currently
in Web2. This is the iteration of the internet most people are familiar with,
and we are moving towards the new iteration, which is a more decentralized
architecture — or Web3.

From a
systems-engineering perspective, Web3 will differ in terms of that
decentralized architecture. If we think about Web2 in terms of systems
engineering, Web2 relies on a centralized authority which all trust is funneled
through. But Web3 is an interconnected, peer-to-peer information system in
which no single entity has sole authority. At a thousand-foot level, this makes
the internet more equitable, democratized, and secure.

On the cybersecurity
side, the Web2 sole-authority model makes the process of security a bit more
difficult. So let’s say that sole authority experiences an outage, or is
compromised in some way by an attack. This has the potential to affect all
other entities connected to it. In Web3, a single outage does not necessarily
have that cascading effect due to its decentralized nature. So from a security
standpoint, having those interconnected peer-to-peer nodes talking to one
another, along with that decentralized structure, helps bolster the web’s
secure foundation.

The basic
mission of the Decentralized Future Council is to educate policymakers and
regulators on how to better embrace both the centralized and decentralized web
so we can spread and support the positive impacts these new technologies can
have on our greater community. The topics our work covers include privacy,
security, and online trust and safety. Specifically, my work there will really
focus on articulating the public-interest potential for the decentralized web
as being a more equitable web that can enhance commerce, communications, and
democracy, in addition to discussing how the future internet can represent the
values and causes of all people, regardless of geography or economy.

In addition,
we want to support open-source protocols to ensure information is never
compromised, abused, or ruled by a single entity.

You called Web3 “the web of
authentication,” among other things. Give us an idea of what you’re thinking
about there, because I think it’s very important.

The
relationship between authentication and Web3 can be boiled down to hashing
algorithms. Hashing algorithms are basically one-way encryption algorithms. So
you can’t go back after a piece of data has entered that hashing algorithm.
It’s that form of authentication that I believe people may be looking for in
this new iteration of the web. So its application is pretty practical.

Another
example people can hang their hat on in terms of that authentication method is
with the idea of permanence and preservation within the Web3 ecosystem. In
Web2, we have a lot of link-rot — in essence, broken links that populate our
internet. The average lifespan of a webpage is around 100 days before it’s
gone, so this has huge implications for preserving humanity’s history.

What can
combat link-rot in Web3, which ties back to that authentication piece, is the
idea of a decentralized file system, or the interplanetary file system (IPFS)
created by Protocol Labs. IPFS can effectively combat link-rot and the
inefficiencies of our current internet through the use of a content identifier
(or CID). The CID utilizes that hashing algorithm to authenticate different
files and records that you may have.

How does cryptocurrency fit into Web3?

I think
cryptocurrency is just one aspect of the decentralized web that policymakers
and the greater community are really only vaguely familiar with. But
cryptocurrencies are such a small part of the wider decentralized web
ecosystem. And there’s so much more outside of that, such as smart contracts or
computer programs that can automatically execute, control, and document events
and actions.

So there is
a lot out there beyond cryptocurrencies. Part of my purpose at the
Decentralized Future Council — and in coming on this podcast — is to make sure
the public-interest elements of this technology are expressly talked about and
discussed.

You’ve written a lot about the idea of
“distributive justice.” How does that fit into what we’re discussing?

In August of 2021, I wrote this piece for Brandeis University’s Institute for Economic and Racial Equity titled, “Technology needs to achieve distributive justice.” The crux of my thesis is: To achieve the best possible internet that best serves the public, we need an internet that reflects the great diversity of our country while also achieving equity and democracy.

In terms of how
the concept of distributive justice intersects with the decentralized web, it
really comes down to building a diverse ecosystem and squaring that with public
interest, in addition to making sure sectors such as trust and safety,
commerce, communications, and democracy as a whole are enhanced to ensure
everyone gets their equitable slice of the pie.

What future developments should we be
keeping an eye out for with you in mind?

In addition
to the Decentralized Future Council getting started, something I should mention
is the idea of identity management. The idea of a decentralized identity is
something that’s being actively researched, and is something I find
fascinating. Instead of having a fixed profile that stays within a centralized
authority, your identity could be more flexible and move with you through a
unique identifier in Web3. This could bring us really close to how we operate
in the real world as we move throughout different spaces and different times.

This is one
of those topics I encourage folks to look into in addition to the work being
done at Protocol Labs with IPFS. You can also sign up for our email updates
from the Decentralized Future Council once we get our website up and running.

The post Web3 and the future of the internet: Highlights from my conversation with Gabrielle Hibbert appeared first on American Enterprise Institute – AEI.