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Web 4.0 a walk in the clouds

Summary: Demands of digital natives are pushing early arrival of Web 3.0 with Web 4.0 a possibility in five years, during which Internet users will interact in visualized environments, one IT veteran predicts.

SINGAPORE -- The Internet's development is accelerating at such a speed that in two years' time, Web 3.0 will arrive, at least twice as faster than the shift from Web 1.0 to the current 2.0, according to Tom Jenkins, executive chairman of Open Text.

Speaking to ZDNet Asia during a visit to Singapore, Jenkins pointed out that digital natives, described as extremely tech-savvy Web users aged 30 and below, cannot demand enough of new gadgets and applications that tout productivity and time savings. it is this demand that is driving the early arrival of Web 3.0, or the Semantic Web, the IT veteran, who is also Open Text's strategy officer, said.

While users are now starting to be more connected on mobile devices through social networking, he noted that they would experience an even higher level of personalization in the next stage.

"With a GPS locator in my smartphone, I'll be able to search for people or things literally next to me; the relevancy in distance will change the entire Internet experience," said Jenkins.

And in five years' time, Web 4.0 may dawn upon users, Jenkins predicted. Virtual environments are no longer restricted to research labs, and that 3D glasses for movies may be used more often than ever.

Web 4.0, he explained, is "avatar-based virtualization", similar to the storyline of James Cameron's science fiction epic "Avatar".