Web Numbering

The early and commonly heard numbers of Web 1.0, Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 are generally fairly widely accepted, although anything higher is arguably more made-up and used for envisioning a concept, which may or may not deliver a tangible outcome. Some realistic and probably not so realistic possibilities are given in this article.

Let's start with Web 1.0, which was the original passive web which started it all off and allowed for the display and operation of hypertext links. The World Wide Web (WWW) was invented by Tim Berners Lee in 1989 and who led the development of HTML. This kick started the Internet-WWW revolution.

You need to start somewhere, and this was it: Search engines evolved, and the concept of greater interactivity was explored.

We are all immersed into Web 2.0 at the moment, which the Oxford English Dictionary (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/Web_2.0) defines as "The second stage of development of the Internet, characterized especially by the change from static web pages to dynamic or user-generated content and the growth of social media."

Web 2.0 has seen the main period of growth on the web, which has been continually evolving. This led to an explosion in social media sites and applications, user generated content and further collaboration and sharing amongst users. This is really where the core of the web is in 2022, but there is still much that can still be done to create a more joined up, open and collaborative community from a learning perspective.

In practice the technologies of the Web 2.0 will be with us for many years yet and will be the major component of the WWW, with newer web developments being added, or bolted, on to the web as an additional service.

Web 3.0 is often called the 'Sematic Web' which is looking at the use of interconnected data to aid support decision making. Big data and the various applied algorithms used to (hopefully) make sense and use of this vast data sits within web 3.0 and this is an area where grounds managers can utilise connected data to make much better-informed decisions.

"The Semantic Web is a Web of data — of dates and titles and part numbers and chemical properties and any other data one might conceive of." (Source: W3C Semantic Web, http://www.w3.org/standards/semanticweb/)

The wide use of sensors within an outdoor environment to feed data into a central hub will be a core feature for sports turf management. This will all provide valuable information in helping to determine how best to manage surfaces in a sustainable way. Internet enabled Customer Relationship Management systems, Chat Bots, Voice activated systems, face recognition, video capture, weather driven applications, and similar applications will become the norm as the web evolves from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0.

With the rise of 'fake news' an effective and open semantic web also offers the prospect of challenging false news stories, helping to better inform the general public.

Web 3.0 may also see the further development of 3D web objects as a way of visualising and demonstrating the connections from a web of data. This could be of particular value in explaining complex interactions to the general public. One inference here though is the need for experts to prepare the information and the maintenance of trust in the general public of the experts, something which has taken a battering since events in 2016.

Web 4.0: This will be building on the web of data and will include, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), MR (Mixed Reality - combination of AR and VR). There will be widespread use of biometrics, pervasiveness of sensors to aid decision making (creating a sensor driven web), automated work programmes based on real-time information and the wide deployment of realistic robotic devices. The connection of face recognition with other web services could also provide an additional personalised service to users, especially when interacting with mobile phone technology.

There could be a quick transition from Web 3.0 to Web 4.0 because many features of the latter will be reliant on the data generated by the web of data. Effectiveness and efficiency within the workplace will gain from Web 4.0 technologies, in particular decision support systems will become more ubiquitous and relied on by managers. Will this mean greater specialisation of tasks though and will this be like the approach taken by that of 'scientific management' in the early 1900s, from Frederick Taylor, which resulted in monotonous work routines for humans with limited variability, whilst digital technology carries out the knowledge aspect of the work?

By contrast, widespread deployment of Web 4.0 technologies, however, could lead to a more thoughtful, qualitative lifestyle based on experiences, rather than market driven consumption (consumerism). Unfortunately, there will probably also be an even wider gap between the rich and poor within developed countries and between developed and developing countries.

Web 5.0: The web will have elements of a sentient framework, it will be 'self-aware', a sentient web. It will be capable of sensations which are reacting to stimuli. This is only
possible following the effective building blocks of the web of data and the technological deployments of Web 4.0; something which will be many years in the making. Are we now in the realm of 'The Terminator'? Hopefully the developed technology will be used for more benign purposes.

Autonomous robotic mowers, reacting to environmental data obtained via the web would initiate mowing without human assistance, essentially starting at a base point, carrying out the required work and then returning to their base point to be recharged, cleaned and prepared ready for the next mowing activity.

Web 6.0: This is where it might get a bit scarier for humankind. The replicating web: the web can reproduce objects of its own accord, potentially creating an artificial world where the decision has been made (by advanced artificial intelligence) to reproduce whatever is deemed desirable by the decision outcome. We already have 3-D printers, which are pretty basic, but the concept has been demonstrated that objects can be created through digital code being communicated to a certain type of printer. In some ways this might encompass the stage of the technological singularity as described by the futurist Ray Kurzweil.

Web 7.0: Well, here it gets a bit too far-fetched (even if some of the previous stages were far-fetched also). A transcendental or spiritual web. A web that exceeds human experiences and understandings. We get into the realms of time-space disruptions and the dichotomy of physical v spiritual entities. Let's leave it there!