Internet technologies are evolving to transform information into a giant distributed database structure that can be exploited not only by human beings, but also by fully independent machines.

There are quite a few definitions of Web 3.0, but all of them attempt to answer the question: The Web was born as a means of easily and rapidly distributing information; it evolved into the so-called 2.0 incarnation with the rise of social networks, but what will the next evolution be like?

Most frequently the answers include the adjective "semantic", or otherwise mention the future "Internet of things".

Let's try to understand what these terms concretely mean, beyond the esoteric PowerPoint presentations reserved for academics, and focus instead on the effects that these new technologies could have on information systems in practice.

Towards autonomous information mining machines

The machines, understood as the organized aggregation of hardware and software, such as for example an automated book-print dispenser, or a food produce packer, typically operate according to a specific plan designed by the designer of the machine.

The operation of the machine can be adjusted both according to specific local conditions (if a book sells out, it can't be dispensed any more; if a temperature sensor is not working, the packer has to be stopped) and on the basis of commands typically sent from a remote site by an oversight system managed by the owner of the machines (in order to promote a book, apply promotional discounts; if there is an increase in orders, increase the rate of the packer).

Let's consider a scenario where the machines are constantly connected to the network. This is a rather common arrangement, if not for any other reason than it is already implemented in the standard operations of remote management and assistance.

Let us however take an additional step and consider machines that can access the Internet on their own in order to collect useful information for decision making and optimization.

We are not referring to accessing the company information systems that belong to the owner of the machine, but the possibility of accessing the open universe of information freely available on the Internet from the most diverse sources, so that it would be impossible to predict in advance by the designer of the machine or its operator.

Let us go back to the example of automated book distribution. The machine could browse the Internet and discover by itself the books with the most positive reviews or the most interest in social networks.

Based on what it found, it could then decide to apply particular promotions for a book instead of another one, or otherwise list on the screen the three latest positive comments left on the leading social network to stimulate the desire to purchase the latest trend at that particular time and location.

Essentially all the information released by all the stakeholders must be collected, and first of all from the potential readers of the books going on sale. This aggregated information may help in taking the operating decisions in real time in order to reach the objective of optimization, in this case the sale of the largest number of books available at the automated teller.

The exploitation of information freely available on the web for the benefit of an economic goal is often referred to by the buzz-word "crowdsourcing", the modern version of the exploitation of the unaware masses; in this case utilizing the information released by single individuals independently on the web.

The necessary components

In order to transform the collaboration between autonomous machines into reality, several conditions are necessary.

The first one is obviously connectivity: The machines must be connected to the web in a reliable, secure, and economical way.

In many locations this is a condition that is substantially already met, but in order to fully enjoy the benefits of web 3.0, it will be necessary to be the case everywhere.

The solution will probably be obtained by means of a mix of technologies: optical fiber, traditional copper networks, and wireless links. The "hunger" for connectivity by "consumer" applications will drive the demand for low cost universal connectivity, so that industrial applications will also benefit in the process, as it has already occurred in the past.

Connectivity, however, is only one of the necessary components. In order for the machines to connect to each other a new, and possibly universal, language is needed.

This is where the greatest challenges and difficulties are to be found. As a matter of fact, if a human being browses a web page published by a news site, there is no difficulty in distinguishing between a comment related to a movie, a comment related to a news event that actually occurred, and a comment related to a book that perhaps describes the same facts told in the film.

Making a "semantic" distinction of this kind is, however, much more difficult for a machine. Adding context to the information available on the Internet to make them also useful for the machines is one of the principal requirements for transforming the Web 3.0 from a mere slogan to a series of concrete applications.

Information as a structured data-base

One of the approaches to achieve the practical exploitation of information by machines is to establish a common language; that is to say the language of data-bases, where each piece of information is interpreted according to the precise value of various attributes.

For example, the same term "red" inserted into the HTML code of a web page could refer to the colour, the state of a traffic light, the last name of the owner of the largest manufacturer of jeans in Italy (Renzo Rosso, meaning "red" in Italian), or who knows what.

If the web pages were to contain semantic information coded into the attributes of the important terms, the machines would have an easier time in transforming the entire web into a true distributed data-base updated in real-time.

It's clear that in order to be able to exploit the data universally, it is necessary to establish (possibly open and flexible) universal standards shared by everyone; a condition that is presently still far from being achieved.

The issues and the variables are all in place. If the standard is developed by an independent entity or by an organization designated for this purpose, it would be an optimal situation. Otherwise it's likely that given the huge interest in this technology, a company will solve the problem by itself, and by having reached the critical mass of adoptions first, it will cause all the other players to follow suit, as has already occurred many times in the brief history of the Internet.

An example of a recent attempt at standardization to facilitate machine interpretation of information publicly available on the Internet is that by Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo as documented on the site schema.org.

In practice all the webmasters of the world would have to augment the HTML code of their pages with additional attributes clearly defining what the significant information on a web page refers to.

For example, the term "red" could therefore be defined as "the colour of a shirt", "the appearance of a traffic light", or "a negative comment for a book".

If a sufficient number of web sites would adopt this modified style of coding, it would be much easier for the search engines (which not coincidentally are the ones pushing for the changes) to do a better job at cataloguing the information.

Att the same time, the software developers from the world over would be able to implement machine applications crawling the Internet automatically for the information relevant to them without the risk of making a mistake.

Way out in the future? I don't think so. In my opinion this future is around the corner; and the time has come to take the turn.