This lecture took place on 18 October 2023.

There is a growing unease about technology and its impact on our lives. Tech giants have grown too powerful. Our privacy is undermined. Social media is hurting our kids. Creators are not getting paid fairly. Disinformation and polarization are the norm.

While the solutions to these problems are largely human, (perhaps ironically) a new set of technologies can help to put us back on course: Blockchains, which enable individuals and businesses to move and store value, automate complex business processes are the first digital medium for value. AI is pushing the boundary of human and machine capability. The Internet of Things connects everyday objects, robots and even self-driving cars to the web, forming an intelligent network for our connected world. Augmented and virtual realities, extends our 2D web into a spatial web.

In this webinar, Alex Tapscott, author of the new book “Web3: Charting the Internet’s Next Economic and Cultural Frontier” explains how these technologies are not separate but related. The Web is entering a new era and with it bringing a new internet and a new platform for the other technologies of a new digital age. In much the same way as the term “Internet” has expanded from its original narrow inter-networking technical definition to describe an era that included many technologies, business models and social behaviors, so too is the term Web3 evolving to describe the next era with these technologies playing the defining role.