Firms must learn how Web3.0 will impact operations, profit: Report

SINGAPORE: As entrepreneurs make a beeline to launch Blockchain and Web3.0 startups, an IDC study has said that firms need to first gain a clear understanding of the current technology and how it will impact their shift towards Web3.0.

Over the last few years, there have been concerted efforts to build an efficient, decentralised, and more trustworthy internet to address issues of control, privacy, security, and trust, and at the same time, support the seamless, transparent, and cost-efficient interactions and transactions central to our digital economy.

Web3.0 has elicited significant interest and activity within industry circles, which abounds with projects and start-ups spanning diverse components of the Web3 ecosystem, such as Blockchain, cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs).

"Firms must gain a clear understanding of how their organisation is reliant on the existing Web, in its current form as Web 2.0, and the impact a shift toward Web3 would have on their operations and profit," said Dr Christopher Lee Marshall, Associate Vice President, IDC Asia Pacific.

Web3.0 is defined as "a collection of open technologies and protocols, including blockchain, that support the natively trusted use and storage of decentralised data, knowledge, and value."

"The question to ponder is not whether Web3 is coming, the question is the form which Web3 will take within the next few years," said Phillip Silitschanu, Research Director, Worldwide Blockchain, Crypto, NFT, and Web3 Strategies at IDC.

"Targeting low-hanging fruit first in the evolution toward Web3, DAOs will enable content creators, gamers, and social media users to rebalance the power, which traditional corporations that controlled Web 2.0 jealously guarded," he added.

The global Web3.0 market size reached $3.2 billion in 2021 and is expected to register a CAGR of 43.7 per cent to reach $81.5 billion in 2030, according to the latest analysis by Emergen Research.