Page 80 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

58 2 E-Commerce: Mechanisms, Platforms, and Tools

• Enable smarter machines (Gartner 2015) • Security and privacy concerns. Shoppers, as
• Enable much wider bandwidth users of e-banking and other services, and mem-
• Enable better visualization including 3-D tools bers of social networks, worry about online secu-
• Simplify the use of mobile computing and mobile rity and privacy. The Web needs to be made safer.
commerce • Lack of Net neutrality. If the big telecommuni-
cations companies are allowed to charge compa-
nies for a guarantee of faster access, critics fear
For additional capabilities, see O’Connell’s (2015) slide that small innovative Web companies could be
show. demolished by the big companies that can afford
to pay more for efficient Internet usage.
Web 3.0 and the Semantic Web • Copyright complaints. The legal problems of
YouTube, Craigslist, Wikipedia, and others may
One of the major possible platforms of Web 3.0 technologies result in a loss of originality, dedication, and cre-
is the Semantic Web. The term was presented by the inventor ativity of user-generated content.
of the Web, Tim Berners-Lee, who visualized the Semantic • Insufficient connectivity. Upstream bandwidths
Web as the platform for making the Web smarter. There is no are still constraining applications, making
standard definition of Semantic Web. It is basically a group uploading of video files a time-consuming task.
of methods that focus on machines (in contrast with Web 2.0 • Language Fitness. There will be a need to recon-
that focuses on people). The technology attempts to enable sider the existing spoken languages with Web 3.0
computers to understand the semantics (i.e., the meaning) of taxonomies and schemes.
information, by using natural language understanding tools. • Standards. There will be a need for architectural
For a video titled “Evolution Web 1.0, Web 2.0 to Web 3.0” standards for Web 3.0.
(3.58 min), see youtube.com/watch?v=bsNcjya56v8.
A similar view regarding the role of the Semantic Web is
expressed by Borland (2007), who believes that new Web 3.0 Therefore, some believe that the Semantic Web will never
tools (some of which are already helping developers put work (see the 91 min video at youtube.com/watch?v=
together complex applications) will enhance and automate oKiXpO2rbJM).
database searches, assist people in choosing vacation desti- Despite these concerns, Web 3.0 and e-commerce could
nations, and make sorting through complicated financial data thrive due to several innovations in the technological environ-
more efficient. ment.
An experimental Semantic Web browser has been in use
lately. This browser enables users to display data, draw
graphs, and make browsing more interactive (e.g., see w3. The Technological Environment
org/standards/semanticweb). Another example would be
“friend-of-a-friend” networks, where individuals in social The future of EC and the Semantic Web is dependent on how
networks provide data in the form of links between them- far the relevant information technology advances (e.g., see
selves and friends. Gartner 2015). Of the many predictions, we cite two here.
For a video titled “Web 3.0—The Internet or Things” Also, see Gartner’s annual reports about Strategic Technology
(4:29 min), see youtube.com/watch?v=F_nbUizGeEY. Trends at gartner.com/technology/research.

Concerns Web 4.0

The following are a few concerns regarding the implementa- Web 4.0 is the Web generation after Web 3.0. It is still an
tion of Web 3.0 and the future of EC. unknown entity. It is known as Symbiotic Web. For a discus-
sion, see Koren (2013).

Web 5.0
• Future Threats. According to Stafford (2006),
Laurent (2010), and the authors’ experiences, the According to Patel (2013), “Web 5.0 is still an underground
following trends may slow the growth of EC and idea in progress and there is no exact definition of how it
Web 3.0, and may even cripple the Internet. would be. Web 5.0 can be considered as a Symbionet Web,
decentralized.” Patel provides some technical information.